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.

Class of 2011

Junior Brady Scholars are studying abroad, this year, in Argentina, Australia, Chile, Egypt, France, Germany, Japan, Scotland, South Africa, and the United Kingdom

Travel Notes

From Japan:

"One thing I've come to realize in my time abroad so far, is that the interesting differences between societies are frequently the ways in which societal problems from one society are NOT addressed in another, rather than HOW they are addressed." 

From Germany:

"My first few months in Germany have been a sampler of the country’s markedly different regions.  I spent my first month in business-powerhouse Baden Württemberg, before paying a brief Bavaria and moving on to the former East German state of Saxony.  I finally made my way back to Baden-Württemberg for the start of the winter semester this October.  If my travels in Germany have taught me anything, it is that small changes in geography amount to rather large differences in both culture and language--even within a country that, in terms of land area, is comparable to Montana.  While certain regions are noted for their adherence to a clear and at least semi-official “High German,” others, such as the area around Tübingen—the city in which I am studying—are not.  A simple trip of 50-100 miles might produce such a strong difference in comprehension.

While I have only just started taking actual classes at the university, I have already been struck by several differences, many of them revolving around the organization of classes.  Almost all classes meet only once a week, putting more of the onus on the students to take charge of learning the material on their own.  Additionally, one is registered for a class simply by showing up for class (often without filling out any attendance marker).  The only proof that you were in a class consists of the knowledge in your head and a final test that you may or not take, depending on the professor.  That’s enough to make anyone feel a bit uneasy. 

Perhaps most interesting has been the opportunity to observe an election cycle in a foreign country.  The whole month of September, leading up to the election on the 27th, was dominated by election posters, discussions, and events.  I found it to be rather tame in comparison to the American version, due in part to the mixed nature of Germany’s last governing coalition.  In terms of our senior year project that will deal with citizen involvement in government, I could not have asked for a better time to be in Germany as a political observer."