Engineering/Social Sciences Teaming in a Faculty-Led Study Abroad Program for Undergraduates

Lafayette College offers a faculty-led study abroad experience for all Engineering majors. In coming years, roughly twenty-five percent of the College’s Engineering graduates will have spent a semester abroad. The current program is in partnership with Jacobs University Bremen in Germany and operates under a contractual arrangement. The College is now preparing for a fifth consecutive year with Lafayette Engineers living and studying for a full semester at a truly international university. This paper describes the evolution of the original Jacobs/Lafayette Study Abroad Program and its current ambition to combine BS Engineering majors with Bachelor of Arts majors within a study abroad context. The group will be led by two faculty members – one from Engineering and one from the Social Sciences. The paper details the educational format for the semester abroad, the role of the faculty leaders, the myriad arrangements for setting up the program, the targeted program outcomes and objectives, and finally those issues, when not considered, that could undermine success. This paper is useful to engineering educators and administrators who offer (or are contemplating offering) a semester-long study-abroad experience for their undergraduate majors. It is especially useful to those Engineering programs seeking further integration of Engineering, Liberal Arts, and study abroad