Study Abroad Without Leaving Campus

A recent article in the New York Times discussed the extension of many American universities to overseas campuses, specifically NYU's new campus in Abu Dhabi.  At these overseas campuses, students can expect to receive the same education as in the US, taught by experienced American faculty members for the same price as a degree "back home."  This movement towards a truly international higher education seems to be born from the belief that exposure to diverse cultures and environments is crucial for well-formed students, which is a truth that any study abroad advisor could tell you.  Yet is a four-year degree in an American university located overseas as fulfilling as a shorter period of immersion in a foreign culture?

In my opinion, the answer to this is a firm "no".  While such a program can be applauded for teaching American students a whole new kind of independence -- learning to do laundry in a dorm room for the first time is one thing; learning to do laundry with detergent labels written in Arabic is another -- it seems highly unlikely that these students are benefitting from the exposure to a foreign culture that is often a hallmark of the study abroad experience.  Faculty trained in the American educational style can only offer one perspective in the classroom; these NYU students and others like them will therefore miss the ideosyncracies of learning how the business of education is performed in different cultures.  The emphasis on creative thinking, for example, is a wholly American trait; that other societies prefer memorization and strict if not hostile student-teacher relationships can offer an intriguing insight into the local value system.  As with any study abroad experience, an extra push is required in-country to ensure that students leave their comfort zones and begin to understand and appreciate the different traditions around them; staying in an American university setting with American professors and American classmates implies that the only thing different about this "study abroad" experience is the scenery.

So what, then, is the value of such a program?  To me, the true value of an international education like this is in the diverse group of students who may find this attractive.  Although NYU is a very diverse institution in Manhattan, the Abu Dhabi campus boasts truly impressive statistics -- students from 39 countries speaking 43 languages, with an average SAT score of 1445.  This exposure to international affairs on a micro level, as classmates share with each other the news of the world from their own perspectives, can help to broaden worldviews and lend a more personal insight into the challenges faced by people from all backgrounds.  Ultimately, study abroad is about more than learning a foreign language or visiting a new place -- it is about developing personal connections and allowing conversations and experiences to reshape your perception of the world.  While the Abu Dhabi campus of NYU may not provide these things in the curricula or in the town-and-gown community, the relationships forged among the students may be the saving grace of this new project in international education.