By Haley Costen
Contributing Writer

The Study Abroad office is offering three faculty-led travel courses for the spring and summer of 2014.

Undergraduates can learn about Spanish language and culture in Spain, sustainability and cultural ecology in Iceland, and human rights in South Africa.

Meanwhile SOM graduate students have the option to learn about sustainable businesses in emerging global markets in China, and GSLIS students can learn organization and management of corporate libraries or visual communication in France, along with information ethics and the principles of management in South Korea.

The undergraduate programs all cost around $5,200 according to handouts from the Study Abroad office. However, according to a representative from the office, the costs of the trips are subject to change.

Applications for the program and scholarship applications can be found on the study abroad website and are due by Oct. 15.

Informational papers about scholarships outside the Study Abroad office state that the College gives away about $25,000 in scholarships each semester. A variety of internal and external scholarships can be found on the Study Abroad website.

According to the Study Abroad office’s website, a $400 deposit is required upon acceptance to a program.

A representative from the Study Abroad office said that students usually hear about scholarships around the same time that they are accepted to a study abroad program.

Margaret Teague spent a semester in Bilbao, Spain in the spring of her sophomore year and called the decision to go one of the best she’d ever made.

“I had an absolute blast traveling around Europe, including Amsterdam, Rome, Tuscany, Holland, London, and Portugal,” Teague said. “I have so many memories of Europe.”

Communications Professor Dan Connell is leading the South Africa trip. According to Connell, the trip would give students the opportunity to travel to Johannesburg and Cape Town to learn about what life is like for citizens after the apartheid.

Some things the three-week long trip include are a visit to the black township of Soweto, a trip to the Human Rights Commission courthouse, a two-night stay at a bed and breakfast in Khayelitsha, and a nature reservation visit to see penguins.

“There’s a mix of exposure to the human condition and to the natural beauty of the place,” Connell said.

More information on study abroad options can be found at: http://www.simmons.edu/offices/provost/study-abroad/index.php.