2007-08 - Pitzer College

20 STUDY ABROAD
To further its educational objective of intercultural understanding, Pitzer has carefully
developed its own study abroad programs and cultivated exchanges with overseas
universities that support responsible exploration of the world and sustained engagement
with its diverse communities. Pitzer programs employ a nationally recognized cultural
immersion model integrating intensive language instruction, family stays, a core course
on the host culture, and the opportunity to pursue an independent study project. The
same model informs our Pitzer exchange programs, which require students to navigate a
different educational system, often in another language, at selected institutions abroad
while bringing international students and their diversity of linguistic and cultural
perspectives to the classrooms and residence halls in Claremont. Pitzer is a member of an
organization called International Student Exchange Programs (ISEP) to provide
additional options for study locations.
A semester of study abroad is not an experience that is considered separate from the rest
of a Pitzer education. Students are expected to complete coursework prior to going
abroad that will facilitate a sustained engagement with another culture. Ongoing critical
reflection is expected of all study abroad participants through a portfolio of writing and
opportunities for independent research projects. The process continues as students
analyze their experience through a popular International and Intercultural Studies
colloquium designed for students returning from abroad or as students apply their new
intercultural skills to addressing social issues in communities here upon their return.
Having a study abroad program fully integrated into a Pitzer education is a key factor
contributing to the record breaking number of prestigious post graduate grants and
fellowships like the Fulbright, Watson, Rotary, and Coro awarded to Pitzer students since
2003. Students who study abroad make up 85 percent of those winning such awards.
Pitzer leads the nation for a school its size in the number of Fulbright awards received.
A semester of study abroad is a demanding academic experience that may not be for
everyone. Seen not as a “break from college” but as a key component of Pitzer’s
challenging liberal arts and sciences curriculum, Pitzer Study Abroad has strong support
from faculty. More than 60 percent of Pitzer students will complete a study abroad
program during their undergraduate career at Pitzer. Nationally only 8 percent of US
college students study abroad and only 46 percent of those do so for a semester or longer.
In comparison, of the Pitzer students who study abroad, nearly 90 percent are on full
semester or year-long programs. The remaining students participate on Pitzer’s own sixweek
summer programs that are particularly demanding due to the intensive program
structure. This level of participation ranks Pitzer in the top 25 for private liberal arts
institutions in the U.S.. The College is pleased that the destinations chosen by Pitzer
students are more diverse and widely distributed around the globe than the national
averages with the majority of Pitzer students choosing programs outside of Western
Europe and the English-speaking world. Pitzer College encourages students to stretch
beyond their comfort zone to become engaged, thoughtful and critically reflective citizens
both of their own country and the contemporary world.