By Hannah Hanson
This coming summer, Dr. Ryan Stouffer has an amazing opportunity for Longwood Students to study abroad in Havana, Cuba.
Why Cuba? Commercial airlines to Cuba have just recently become available to the United States again, making this a perfect opportunity to explore the country before commercialization and heavy tourism of the country begins.
Dr. Stouffer has many exciting events planned for the upcoming study abroad class. He will be leading a group of students through Havana to create videos, blogs, and documentaries by interviewing everyday Cubans. This trip is going to be different than most study abroad trips; instead of visiting popular tourist sites and taking pictures, students will learn about Cuba themselves by creating a story with a translator and camera by their side.
While at his previous institution, Dr. Stouffer led six study abroad trips with students, five of which were to Israel and another to Brazil. He has helped create 29 student lead foreign documentaries over his career and has high hopes for students who plan to join him in Cuba. Stouffer said, “Telling and creating stories is an amazing way to explore a country and every student should have that experience.” This trip is a once in a lifetime opportunity that will truly be tailored to each student’s interest.
The Communication Studies Department is thrilled to be building their reputation with study abroad programs. This past summer, Dr. Hosterman led a study abroad trip with Dr. Maureen Walls-McKay to London, Normandy, and Paris where students toured the countries and important World War II historic sites. Students learned about narrative storytelling and how stories shape the way we communicate: “Students could see the recovery process of different country’s from World War II and had a new appreciation of culture.”
Dr. Hosterman and Students During Summer 2016 Study Abroad
The summer of 2018 already has two study abroad trips in the process of being planned. Dr. Alec Hosterman and Dr. Jake Milne (in Sociology) are organizing a trip to take students to Scotland to immerse them in the culture, arts, sports, history, landscape, and food of the country. Similarly, Dr. Kris Paal and Dr. Jennifer Miskec (in English) are planning to take students to Hungary, Yugoslavia, and Romania to learn about imaginative narrative and fairytales, and how stories help people identify the region of where they are and come from.
Study abroad trips are a great opportunity for students to learn outside of their own cultures. If you or anyone you know are interested in heading to Cuba in the summer of 2017, have them contact Dr. Ryan Stouffer directly at stoufferrr@longwood.edu.