Studying abroad was once equated solely with Big Ben, Parisian cafes and cute Spanish boys.
But though the attractions of Western Europe still entice tens of thousands of American students looking to expand their global perspective through a semester of international learning, more are looking to visit the Great Wall or stroll through Tiananmen Square instead.
According to a recent report by the Institute on International Education, there has been an exceptionally large growth in the number of students spending a semester in China over the past year-in tandem with a record number of American college students choosing to study abroad.
But Duke has not manifested the same recent increases exhibited by the Institute's report-which found that the number of Americans studying in China in the 2006-2007 academic year rose by 25 percent from the previous year-Margaret Riley, director and associate dean for Study Abroad, wrote in an e-mail.
Instead, Duke has had substantial numbers of students going abroad to China and other "non-traditional" countries for years, she said. In the nine years Riley has been at Duke, 41 to 46 percent of each graduating class has participated in study abroad programs.
On the whole, however, the enrollment of Duke students in study abroad programs declined over the past year, in contrast with the trends identified by the national report.
"This may be because we have introduced DukeEngage, so students are embracing that fully-funded opportunity to experience service, much of which takes place in less traditional locations," Riley said.
According to the Institute's report, however, China is becoming more traditional-it is now the fifth-most popular study abroad location nationally, lagging only behind Britain, Italy, Spain and France.
"My understanding is that the global economy and how successfully China has transformed itself in the past two decades have shown the potential of the country and its future," said Carolyn Lee, director of the Chinese Language Program at Duke. "We have more students coming with a science-engineering background ready to study a very hard language and trying to understand a very different culture and language in order to increase their professional opportunities."
Duke Study in China was founded in 1982 and is one of the longest-running credit-granting programs in China administered by an American university, according to the program's Web site.
"The enrollment number has been consistently high, showing how many students are willing to commit their summer time for very hard work," Lee said. "This shows their seriousness about the study, and many of them continue to take more China-related cultural, historical and economic... courses [upon their return to Duke]."
Last year, however, Duke Study in China extended its application deadline for Spring 2008 until Nov. 5 because of low enrollment. In the Spring program's first year, 15 enrolled, compared to 12 participants-only three from Duke-registered as of October 2007, The Chronicle reported.
Lee told The Chronicle then that the problem could have been attributed to a lack of promotion, and that she did not anticipate it would continue.
In contrast, the Duke Study in China summer program in Beijing has seen significant increases in the total number of participants. But Riley said this increase has come primarily from non-Duke students. Last summer, about 80 students participated in the program, with about 30 of these students coming from Duke, Lee said.
"There have been a lot of stories going on about China's rising power and economics," said sophomore Janice Jeong, a Korean international student who participated in the program this past summer. "Chinese is going to be more useful in the future, and that's why I chose to learn Chinese and that's why I chose to go to China."
Sophomore Amanda Sun saw in the program an opportunity to reconnect with her Chinese heritage.
"For me, I'm Chinese myself, and I guess one of the biggest motivators was I really wanted to brush up on my Chinese and improve my language skills," Sun said. "I'm pre-med, and I'm thinking later on if I become a physician, learning Chinese could become useful because there are so many people who speak Chinese."
Despite decreased participation in study abroad programs, Riley sees the results of the report as evidence that Duke has simply been ahead of its peer institutions in popularizing international travel. Duke's Fuqua School of Business recently announced international expansion of its Cross-Continent MBA Program, with five outposts in cities around the world, including Shanghai.
"Many campuses around the United States only recently have embraced globalization, and now their students are enjoying the opportunity to explore the world that several generations of Duke students have enjoyed," she said.
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