Design Your Custom Study Abroad Program: CET Journeys

Getting Started

To get started, contact CET to discuss initial program ideas and needs. CET Director, Mark Lenhart, may be reached at: 202-349-7347, or by email.

Program Implementation

After we’ve discussed your initial ideas and needs, here’s how we proceed:

1. Program Proposal: CET prepares a proposal including program details and cost.
2. Letter of Agreement: Both parties agree to solidify our working relationship.
3. Program Development: During this phase, we communicate regularly about itinerary progress and particulars.
4. Program Operation: All programs are accompanied by a CET staff member.
5. Follow Up and Evaluation: We like to hear what went well and what can be improved, from both students and our partners.
6. Repeat Operation: Many CET Journeys become annual programs that can be run with less initial work from faculty and staff.

Sample Journeys

Textiles in Vietnam

This program, operated for North Carolina State University, focused on Vietnamese textiles—their production and the subsequent global supply chain. Students took two 3-credit courses during their short time in Vietnam and attended a traveling seminar to the Mekong Delta.

The Journey included:

• Site visits to a fabric market, a tailor and an embroidery shop
• Chances to engage with locals involved in the textile industry
• A visit to a Mekong Delta village sustained by handicrafts
• Homestays in the Mekong Delta region and Vietnamese roommates in Ho Chi Minh City

Click here to download the Textiles in Vietnam itinerary.

Image and Word in Prague, Czech Republic

This program, operated for the University of Texas-Austin, focused on photojournalism against a backdrop of modern Czech cultural history. CET arranged the Journey around the faculty member’s Photojournalism course.

The Journey included:

• A bicycle orientation of Prague
• Guest lectures by Czech experts, such as the Director of the Center for Democracy and Free Enterprise
• An excursion to Lidice, a village destroyed by Nazis in World War II, with a tour led by a Lidice survivor
• Film screenings by local filmmakers, often with the filmmaker in attendance
• Photojournalism projects targeting pockets of modern Czech life, such as the Roma (gypsy) community, Czech puppet theater and street artists at the Charles Bridge

Click here to download the Image and Word itinerary.

Cold War Flashpoints in Central and Eastern Europe

This program, operated for Providence College, offered students experiential insights into the Cold War era in Central and Eastern Europe. The Journey began with a 5-day intensive course on the home campus. It then departed for Europe and took students to Germany (Berlin), Poland (Gdansk, Sopot, Warsaw) and Hungary (Budapest).

The Journey included:

• An underground Berlin guided walking tour
• A day trip to Sopot, the Baltic resort town that served as playground of many Communist elites
• Lectures by local scholars
• A trip to Potsdam’s Cecilienhof, the palace where Churchill, Stalin and Truman met at the end of WWII

Click here to download the Cold War Flashpoints itinerary.

Diplomats in China

This Journey, operated for the Junior Statesmen of America, provided high school students an introduction to Chinese language, and an overview of Chinese history and government. Excursions and service-learning activities complemented courses and guest lectures.

The Journey included:

• Service-learning activities at local NGOs
• Scavenger hunts around the city, to familiarize students with important historical and cultural neighborhoods
• A briefing by US Embassy officials

Click here to download the Diplomats in China itinerary.

Cities and Human Health in Italy

This program, operated for SUNY Albany, focused on human health, from prehistoric to current times, and how it is, and has been, affected by city life. The Journey combines a series of lectures with visits to pivotal locations in three cities in Italy: Florence, Siena and Rome.

The Journey included:

• A potluck dinner with Italian roommates to accompany a lecture on the Western diet and its effect on health
• Walking tours to public spaces to discuss how the creation of such spaces impacted public health
• Tours of religious monuments—the Vatican, cathedrals—to understand the role of religion in the historical cultivation of human health

Click here to download the Cities and Human Health itinerary.