NEWS/BLOG

More Scholarships for Study Abroad

A total of $600,000 in study abroad scholarships, more than twice last year’s total, is now offered by The American Institute for Foreign Study. Nearly one third of that amount is earmarked for diversity scholarships such as the AIFS-HACU (Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities) Scholarship or the AIFS-NAFEO (National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education) Scholarship.

AIFS is dedicated to ensuring that students from various backgrounds can take advantage of international education opportunities. Traditionally underrepresented students can apply for diversity scholarships such as the AIFS-HACU (Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities) Scholarship or the AIFS-NAFEO (National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education)Scholarship.

In 2008, the number of students studying abroad reached a record high after a decade of unprecedented growth, nearly 150% over 10 years, according to the Institute of International Education. A Forum on Education Abroad study earlier this year reports that 58% of private U.S. colleges and universities show a drop in participation in their study abroad programs. The downturn of the economy was cited as the reason.

AIFS has reduced its fees for certain programs, including nearly $1,000 off selected European locations. In addition, AIFS continues to offer guaranteed rates, immune to currency fluctuations. AIFS programs include housing, meals, transcripts and insurance as well as cultural activities and excursions.

AIFS sends more than 5,000 students abroad each year. Since its founding in 1964, AIFS has had 2 million student participants from more than 500 colleges and universities.

More information is available from http://aifsabroad.com/ or 800/727-2437. 

Living Abroad Enhances Creativity

A new study confirms what many have long suspected: living abroad changes the way one looks at the world. The results of this study by organizational behavior specialists Adam Galinsky and William Maddux appeared recently in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

Maddux, a professor at INSEAD, a business school in Fontainebleau, France, notes that this experience should involve integration into a foreign culture, not just exposure to one. The experience of traveling in foreign countries is not nearly as effective. Those who adapt to a new culture derive the maximum benefit.

Studies related to creative problem solving have been conducted since 1945. In one, the Duncker candle problem, Psychologist Karl Duncker gave his subjects a candle and a box of tacks, and then asked them to find a way to attach the candle to the corkboard, so that when it is lit, wax will not drip on the floor. Typically fewer than 30% participants find the solution: attaching the candle to the cardboard box and tacking the cardboard box to the corkboard.

Galinsky, of the Kellogg School of Management in Chicago, and Maddux presented 155 American business students and 55 foreign students in the U.S. with the candle problem. They found 60% of students who were either currently living abroad or had spent some time living abroad solved the problem, while only 42% of those who had not lived abroad did so.

Another experiment, a one-on-one negotiation, required participants to find a mutually acceptable deal on the sale of a gas station. Participants were 72 Americans and 36 foreigners, who were divided into teams of two. The teams who introduced a negotiating variables other than price were considered creative. When both negotiators had lived abroad, 70% struck a deal in which the seller was offered a management job at the gas station in return for a lower asking price. When neither of the negotiators had lived abroad, none reached a solution. 

What is it about living abroad that changes people? For one thing, the experience of a new culture provides access to a greater number of novel ideas and concepts, which stimulate for the creative process. Second, living abroad allows individuals to approach problems from different perspectives. Living in foreign cultures makes individuals aware that certain behaviors (kissing on the cheek, talking loudly) have different meanings in different cultures. Third, experiences in foreign cultures can increase one’s readiness to accept and utilize ideas from unfamiliar sources.

It could also be that individuals who decide to live abroad are more creative to begin with. Or that individuals who come to the U.S.from other countries to study are more creative as well as being exceptional in other ways.

A worthwhile, but more difficult study would be to evaluate the real world performances of individuals who have lived abroad. Meanwhile, it might be useful to look at the number of foreign born entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley.

Meanwhile, research into how the brain works is becoming more sophisticated all the time. How We Decide was mentioned in Editor’s Notes earlier this year. Another book that’s been recommended is Proust Was a Neuroscientist.
.

Restore Sight, Fight Poverty

In recognition of World Sight Day on Oct. 8, 2009, nonprofit Planeterra Foundation announces a donation drive and a video contest to assist the global issue of avoidable blindness and visual impairment.

The World Health Organization has stated that one of the most cost-effective ways to reduce poverty is to restore sight, and through Planeterra’s efforts, a $50 donation enables a patients to see and change his or her life forever.

Planeterra supports eye camps in remote Tibetan villages. Over the past two years, Planeterra-funded camps have restored the sight of hundreds of Tibetans and provided eye care to hundreds more. The 2009 camp in Chabcha this September resulted in 86 successful sight restoration surgeries.

“Tibet has one of the highest rates of blindness in the world. Most of this blindness is due to cataracts, a disease associated with aging but also prevalent among children and the working class. Many are unable to reach a hospital because of poverty and lack of transportation. With scattered populations spread across great distances, surgical eye camps are the most efficient way to treat the high rate of disease,” said Richard Edwards, Planeterra director.

Generous donors and tour participants make contributions each year to fund annual sight camps in Tibet. On Sept. 26 staff and supporters of Planeterra and its parent company, Gap Adventures, launched “Take a Hike for Planeterra” and raised over $3,000 towards a $10,000 goal for the 2010 eye camp. For more details, please see:
http://www.planeterra.org/pages/world_sight_day/123.php.

To raise awareness of the gender inequity in eye care (many more girls and women go untreated than do men), Planeterra’s partner in sight solutions, Seva Canada, has launched an online video contest, “Her Sight Is Worth It.” Seva Canada is asking young and aspiring filmmakers to create a short video about vision impairment and gender.

Planeterra is sponsoring the grand prize, a new MacBook, $1500 value. The three winning videos will be screened at the World Community Film Festival in eight locations across Canada. The top three winners will also be honored by having sight restored to one girl and one woman in their name. For contest details, see http://www.seva.ca/contest.htm.

Planeterra Foundation is a global non-profit dedicated to sustainable community development through travel. It was founded in 2003 by Gap Adventures, the largest independent adventure travel company in the world. Planeterra evolved out of a long history of travelers committed to finding ways to give back to the people and places they visit. Planeterra selects the projects and works with Gap Adventures to arrange voluntour travel programs worldwide.

For information on Planeterra’s year-round programs, see http://www.planeterra.org/pages/voluntours/4.php or call 416-260-0999.