Ashland University offers numerous study-abroad opportunities for students to discover the world and experience a new culture. These options include faculty-led tours, exchange programs and other trips around the globe.

AU’s Global Education Office recently created a new website that contains a variety of information regarding the study-abroad trips available, applications, financial aid, scholarships, contact information and other important forms. The address to the home page of the new website is http://ashland.abroadoffice.net/

This new site allows students to have a login account where they can access relevant paperwork.

Scholarships are also more accessible to students via the website. Another feature is a searchable map function that highlights and provides information about potential destinations.

“It will be easier for students to find study-abroad programs,” Director of Global Education Rebecca Parillo said.

This year, several faculty-led tours are planned. Over Spring Break, faculty-led trips to Ireland and Mississippi will be available. The Ireland tour, entitled “Cuisine and Culture in Ireland,” will enhance students’ knowledge about the country’s food and history. The “Religion, Race, and Reconciliation in Mississippi” tour also provides an educational experience, as participants can sightsee and learn about civil rights issues.

Faculty-led tours to various locations are open to students this summer. One trip includes the “Honors Grecian and Turkey Odyssey.” On this tour, participants can see these countries’ various landmarks. Another destination this summer is South Africa. Students on the “African Literature Tour to South Africa” can experience relevant places around the country and talk with writers from South Africa.

Additionally, students can participate in the AU in Germany summer program, which entails taking classes in Germany over the course of the trip. A faculty-led tour for nursing students to a Native American Reservation in Arizona is also set for this summer.

Besides these faculty-led tours, AU offers the COBE in Taiwan and Costa Rica programs.

On these trips, students can earn credit for classes while exploring the culture of the country and gaining valuable experience in a foreign country.

Other trips scheduled for this year entail the choir traveling to Italy as well as AU Religious Life mission trips.

Individuals interested in studying abroad also have the opportunity to take part in the low-cost exchange programs. Lasting the entire semester, students can attend classes while in a foreign country. The exchange programs for this year include the Netherlands, Brazil, Spain, Taiwan and France.

To make studying abroad more affordable, the Global Education Office provides opportunities to apply for scholarships and grant money.

The application deadline for the Global Education grant is Oct. 1. Likewise, students can apply to be an AU ambassador to receive additional scholarship money for their study-abroad plans.

Regardless of the destination selected, the opportunity to study abroad holds several benefits for those who participate and visit a foreign country.

“They can take unique classes not offered at AU’s campus,” Parillo said. “It is an opportunity to learn a foreign language, travel and see places and meet new people.”