Through a partnership between the University of Kansas and the University of Oregon, interested journalism students can attend the University of Ghana and complete an internship in the African country.
Adrienne Rivers, a University of Kansas journalism professor, coordinated the program, which is designed to give students journalistic experience and a taste of a foreign country. The program will last from June 23 to July 30 and is open to no more than 10 students from both universities.
Rivers and Leslie Steeves, a University journalism professor, both spent two years on Fulbright Scholarships in Ghana and became friends. Because of this, Rivers said, the three campuses on the two continents are coming together.
“My colleagues at the University of Ghana wanted to maintain a relationship, and we thought a study abroad program with a media internship component was one of the ways we could do it,” she said.
Steeves said students at the University should take advantage of this opportunity because of its specifics.
“It’s a great experience for students,” she said. “There’s no course like this at the University of Oregon.”
Rivers said students who attend should take away a better understanding of Africa, which she said is often associated with wild animals, deprivation and war.
Students who take the trip will be required to attend a four-week course on media studies at the University of Ghana and serve an internship, Rivers said.”We strongly encourage all of our journalism students to get hands-on experience via an internship,” she said. “I think it’s an added benefit when that experience includes an international component.”Steeves said students would be placed in radio, TV and possibly public relations internships.
The price of the trip is estimated at $5,100, which includes instructional costs, insurance and passport fees, visa and immunization fees, meals, books and supplies, and incidental fees, Steeves said.
Students will gain six to eight quarter credits for their experience overseas through the University of Kansas. Tim Gleason, dean of the University’s journalism school, said because Kansas’ journalism school is accredited, Oregon students will have those credits transferred.
“As long as it is from an accredited university, we will take it,” Gleason said.
Steeves said that while there are other study abroad programs on campus, this trip is more reasonably priced.
“Because of the expense of the study abroad program, this trip makes it more realistic for students,” she said.
Financial aid also may be available to students who wish to go on the trip. Steeves plans on making a proposal to the Foreign Study Programs Committee in April that will decide whether the trip can reach program status. The trip will be eligible for financial aid if the committee passes the proposal, said Thomas Mills, director of international education and exchange.
Gleason believes the trip can be important for students to attend.
“Most international trips are valuable to students who take them,” he said.
Steeves said she has already received five inquiries about the trip, a number that has surprised her.
“There is more interest in Africa than I thought there was in the school of journalism,” she said.