Accidents. Diseases. Rioting.
These are some of the calamities Duke students could face while studying abroad.
Such disruptions are not just a parent's nightmare--they are an administrator's, too.
"The greatest thing that we're concerned with is the safety and security of our students," said Margaret Riley, director of the Office of Study Abroad.
Because Duke does not run its programs in areas under U.S. Department of State travel warnings, students who are set on studying in the danger zone must make independent plans and sign a waiver releasing the University from any liability.
In past years, students have braved warnings and visited various locales, including Kenya, Lebanon and Israel.
"We recognize that Duke students are adults and that they make decisions about their education on a daily basis," Riley said. "They have the right to make that choice, but we have the right to discourage them."
But even students taking part in Duke-sponsored programs sometimes find themselves in unexpected situations.
In Fall 2003, political unrest broke out in Bolivia and 14 students in the Duke in the Andes program were temporarily evacuated. After it happened again last summer, the Office of Study Abroad made the decision to change the program's location to Ecuador, beginning this spring.
With the outbreak of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome in 2004, students signed up for the summer Duke in China experience found the program inaptly named upon its forced relocation to Beaufort and Durham.
Another instance of political unrest worried administrators when riots erupted in Paris, France, in Fall 2005. The University's study-abroad team responded by promptly outlining safety precautions such as key areas for students to avoid.
"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure," Riley said.
Joseph Harris, a senior, recalled getting in a tussle with a disgruntled Parisian on the first night of the events. He also said a Pizza Hut near his home was burned-but he added he found the atmosphere more stimulating than scary.
"Pizza Hut in Paris sucks, and I don't think anyone was hurt," he said. "So it just created a pleasant smell."
The Duke in France program faced more serious disruptions in the following spring, when politically frustrated youth took to the streets and suspended traditional school life for weeks.
In response, students were assigned tutors to keep them on track with their studies during the riots.
Senior Jackson Musker described one memorable event when he blundered into a mob while coming off the metro.
"I was a little unnerved by how many enraged people there were around me," Musker said.
However, he noted the climate of the city generally felt safe.
"I didn't really feel like I was in danger," he said. "I was just a spectator to a scene that would never happen in the U.S."
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