Junior Year Abroad

What can we learn from attention to a global conversation?

A Junior Year Abroad in a program and country of the student’s choice, with monthly meetings with a local university scholar on the topic of how to live in a good society.

It is the expectation of the Brady Program that our students will spend all or part of their Junior year in an international program of study abroad. It is hoped that each will become skilled in a language other than English. During the year abroad, each student will be matched with a philosopher, ethicist, or humanities scholar for a monthly lunch meeting and discussion. The student will be given funding to host these lunches. The goal of the year is to reflect with a scholar of that place about that place. We will ask the student to try to learn about three things. First, about particularity: how particular cultures and societies view our American place through their eyes; next, about scope: how wide is the scope and complexity of the world; and finally about ingenuity: how innovation and action can solve daunting problems, to achieve good places in every culture. In particular, our students will look for innovative solutions to the problems faced in our community. On their return, they will have a second retreat to learn from each other about what these cultures and societies did to resolve these problems in their countries.