Each summer, Penn State students participate in cultural and academic exchange through study-abroad programs facilitated by Penn State Outreach and The Office of International Programs.
The featured dispatch shares one student's experience while participating in an education abroad program though Penn State's Department of Human Development and Family Studies. For the past five years, the department has implemented a mutually beneficial faculty and graduate student exchange program with the Department of Developmental Psychology at the Friedrich Schiller University of Jena, Germany. Penn State students receive travel support and also some funds towards additional expenditures. Stephanie Saunders, a graduate student in Human Development and Family Studies, is among the students taking advantage of the opportunity this summer.
For more information about education-abroad programs, visit http://www.outreach.psu.edu/summerabroad/ and http://www.international.psu.edu/students_study_abroad/
Dispatches from Abroad: Enjoying some old, some new and lots of chocolate in Germany
By Stephanie Saunders, graduate student
June 2005
It has been a little over a month since five students from Penn State came to study and take part in graduate-level developmental psychology at the University of Jena in Germany. This is the first year that the relationship between Penn State and the Friedrich-Schiller University of Jena has offered the opportunity for students to study for a full semester. Our group here consists on three Penn State Human Development and Family Studies (HDFS) graduate students, one graduate student in nutrition and one undergraduate HDFS student.
In the fall semester, The University of Jena will be sending five graduate students of their own to study HDFS in Penn State's College of Health and Human Development.
Upon arrival here in Jena, we were greeted with open arms. There were two receptions to welcome us in the first week alone. Additionally, each of us was assigned a German student as "study buddy" for our research work. Since then, we have cultivated our friendships and collegiate relationships over dinner, many cups of "kaffee" and, of course, desserts laden with the best chocolate that I have had in my life.
As far as day-to-day life goes here in Jena, I think, to my surprise, the food is my favorite part. A cappuccino, complete with small cookies, costs less than a large plain coffee. The vegetables are fresh; the cheese is great... and did I mention the chocolate? In my imagination, Germany offered mostly sausage and sauerkraut. Of course, these are still options at traditional restaurants and the vending trucks.
The city of Jena is situated in a valley surrounded by large rolling hills. The most interesting thing to me is how the city blends the modern glass structures with medieval city walls. The old and new come together so naturally here. It is as if this is the way things have always been, and it is hard to imagine the city any other way. The architecture and sculpture are beautiful here, modern and historic alike.
We have been hiking in the hills around the city. On the surface, the forest around here looks very similar to State College: green and temperate. It is only when you look closely that you can notice how different things really are: the trees, flowers and the small animals. There are so many giant snails here and a legless amphibian that looks like a brown snake.
Last weekend, our group got to attend an expert workshop on "Human Agency during times of Social Change." There we got to hear from and meet some academics in the area of developmental psychology and sociology. Glen Elder Jr., from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, spoke about his longitudinal work with the children of the Great Depression, men of World War II and the rural families of the farm crisis in Iowa. It was great to see such a fabulous American speaker while I was here in Germany.
Other adventures that members of our group have had include trips to neighboring Weimar and Erfurt, plus more adventurous trips to places like Madrid and Casablanca. We are about half done with our time here in Jena; however, I am sure there are many more sights and excursions to be had.