Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
From the EAP Associate DirectorSusan Berg Arnold
Welcome to the third edition of The Global Gaucho, UCSB’s Education Abroad Program newsletter. We be-
gin the new academic year with a sense of excitement. As of September 2007, nearly 900 UCSB students are scheduled to study overseas with the Education Abroad Program in the coming year. This is a new record for UCSB and represents a 26% in-crease over 2006-07. The UCSB group will be part of some 4,500 University of California students. Western European destinations continue to dominate students’ in-terests – Italy, Spain, and the UK are the most popular – but two South American countries, Brazil and Chile, drew record numbers of UCSB applicants. The Far East also continues to attract students, par-ticularly Japan and China.
In addition to its traditional im-mersion programs in foreign uni-versities, EAP has designed a variety of programs to enable students to study abroad for shorter periods, including semester- and quarter-long “language and culture” pro-grams, the UC-designed “great cit-ies” programs (London, Paris, and Rome), and several summer pro-grams, including a new language program in Paris. The “classic” EAP option, however, is the year-long
continued on page 2
Education Abroad Program, Campus OfficeUniversity of California, Santa BarbaraSanta Barbara, CA 93106-3040
NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONU.S. POSTAGE
PAIDSANTA BARBARA, CAPERMIT NUMBER 104
RETURN ADDRESS REQUESTED
continued on page 4
Exploring Chile’s Indigenous CulturesBy Cassandra Nattrass
The past year I spent in Chile was greatly enriched by the opportunity the Jeanie Anderson Memorial Fund gave me to explore an aspect of Chile many Chileans are unfamiliar with: local indigenous cultures. I was inspired by the topic in a class in my EAP language and culture program in Concepcion that was specifically geared towards learn-ing about the largest indigenous com-munity in Chile, the Mapuche. Begin-ning with an overview of all of the in-digenous communities that are present in Chile, we learned about the declining populations, integration, and current socio-political issues.
Returning to my homestay after class, I tried to talk about the Mapu-che with my host family. I quickly dis-covered they were uninterested in both these cultures and in the history of the occupation of the land. My family’s impression of the Mapuche was sim-ply that they were “violent warriors.” It was then that I realized the lack of pub-lic knowledge in Chilean society about the indigenous cultures – people who had been living in Chile long before the majority of the country. This realization inspired me to investigate some of these native people on my own.
When I learned of the Jeanie Anderson Memorial Fund, I knew immedi-ately that this scholarship could provide me the opportunity to research and visit various indigenous communities in Chile. I decided to discover for my-self three different indigenous groups in Chile: the Mapuche in the south, the Pascuense on Easter Island, and the Aymara in the north (on the border of Bo-livia and Peru).
I set off to explore the unexplored. An American I knew through the uni-versity in Concepcion had contacts with a Mapuche village in the south. Be-fore I knew it, I found myself in a two-bedroom house made out of tin with electricity only a few hours a night, speaking with a Mapuche family about re-ligious and cultural traditions. I also learned about the hardships of being in-digenous and the racism they experience. My host father told me about how the Chilean government had forced many communities off of fertile land and then planted foreign eucalyptus and pine trees in their community that ended up killing off many of the plants and herbs the Mapuches use for medical and
Cassandra with a Mapuche boy in Elikura, Chile
EAP Donors HonoredEllen and Rob Raede, both UCSB graduates, were honored at a lunch at the UCSB Faculty Club last year to thank them for being such enthusiastic supporters of the EAP Scholarship Fund. Attending the event were four of the fortunate EAP students (pictured below) who benefited from the Raedes’ largess. Ellen reflects on what is so special about being an EAP donor:
My husband, Rob, and I proudly sup-port the EAP scholarship program at UCSB. We are blessed with the ability to enable stu-dents at UC Santa Barbara to study abroad and enjoy an experience I know will enrich their lives forever. Giving to Education Abroad Program feels different than giving elsewhere. We actually help specific individ-uals and can see exactly where our donations go. In fact, we were thrilled to meet several of the students we supported. We loved hearing from them directly about how their time abroad impacted them and we were able to get a sense of how their experiences will con-tinue to shape them in the years to come.
I encourage other alumni and parents to consider giving generously to support other EAP students in the future. Based on my own experience, I can assure you it will be every bit as much a gift to you as to the students you support! Cali Henderson, Stephen Israel, Ellen & Rob Raede, Sayre Ziskin, Sara Griffith
An Alumni Scholarship Fund to Support the Education Abroad Program!
EAP alumni like you have learned first-hand what it means to make immersing yourself in another culture a key com-ponent of your undergraduate experience at UC Santa Barbara. Because so many of you have expressed a desire to extend your experience to others, we have created a new EAP Alumni Scholarship Fund. This fund is designed to help students who want to follow in your footsteps but don’t have the resources to do so without your help. We hope you will agree that provid-ing scholarships like this to assist aspiring EAP students is a wonderful giving option for some of the following reasons:
1) A Big Gift at a Reasonable Cost: EAP scholarships generally cost $1500/year per student to be truly effective. While we always hope donors will make the maximum gift possible, the truth is you can contribute to the EAP Alumni Scholar-ship Fund with a contribution of any size. Whenever possible, we do ask that you consider a multi-year pledge for at least that amount per year, which makes your gift something we can plan for in advance and arrange to pool with other funds.
2) A Unique Opportunity to Make a Meaningful Gift: While only full scholarships can be individually named and targeted, more modest contributions can still be customized. While designating your gift as unrestricted gives us maxi-mum flexibility, you can also ask that it be given to enhance a particular skill, experience, or in the service of some other worthy objective.
3) An Opportunity to Impact Individual Students: As an EAP Alumni Scholarship Fund donor, you will stand more than ten feet tall in the eyes of those students who receive your support! Whenever possible, we will try to ensure that you and other donors hear from students directly about the impact of your gift(s) on their experiences abroad.
We sincerely hope this is a giving opportunity you will want to consider. To learn more, please contact Sudi Staub, our Director of Development, at 805-893-2190 or [email protected]. Or, if you are ready to contribute now, just fill out the enclosed envelope and return it to us. We do hope you will decide to become among the inaugural supporters of our new EAP Alumni Scholarship Fund.
EAP Photo Contest Winners!These photos were among the winners in our 2007 EAP photo contest
The Grotto, Victoria, AustraliaHeather Van HoutenEAP Brisbane, 2005-06
Berber guide, Western SaharaMiles GalbraithEAP Madrid, 2005-06
Itsukushima shrine, JapanPhilip WalkerEAP Yokohama, 2005-06
MARK YOUR CALENDARS!November 2–4, 2007 Parents’ & Family Weekend
with EAP Open House on November 2 at 12-1pm in 2431 South Hall
April 25–27, 2008All-Gaucho Reunion with Special EAP Event
immersion program, in which stu-dents are fully enrolled in a univer-sity abroad and take courses along-side both foreign and native students in that university. UCSB was recently ranked fifth in the nation among insti-tutions sending the largest numbers of students on year-long programs.
Among the featured articles in this issue of The Global Gaucho is one writ-ten by Cassandra Nattrass who studied abroad in two locations – Germany and Chile – and completed a project examining Chilean indigenous cultures funded by the Jeanie Anderson Me-morial Fund. Cassandra also worked in our office as a student peer advisor in 2006-07 and was able to share her enthusiasm for study abroad with hundreds of prospective applicants.
Helping students finance their ex-perience abroad has been made easi-er by the generous scholarship con-tributions of all the EAP alumni listed on this page. Our long-time donors,
Associate Director’s Lettercontinued from page 1
Exploring Chile’s Indigenous Culturescontinued from page 1
Ellen and Rob Raede, were honored at a lunch at the UCSB Faculty Club at which they were able to meet four recently returned EAP students who were recipients of Raede scholarship funds. See photo on page 5.
Also included is a letter we re-ceived from an alumna of the 1975 Beirut program, Marilynn C. Mathews, who describes her experi-ences in the Middle East in the mid-seventies, a time no less turbulent for that region than today (see above).
In other exciting news, UCSB’s EAP Faculty Director, Michael O’Connell, was named Interim Uni-versitywide Director of EAP sys-temwide following the retirement of John Marcum in June 2007. We are delighted to welcome William J. Ashby, Provost emeritus of the UCSB College of Creative Studies and Professor emeritus of French, as Interim EAP Faculty Director.
religious purposes. Many factors, such as political and so-cial pressure to conform to modern norms, have contrib-uted to the loss of traditional religion and ritual in the past generation. Only recently has solidarity in the community led to recuperation of religious traditions and language in the current generation. However, many of the complaints and concerns of these communities still remain unheard and unaddressed by the Chilean government. I learned a few phrases in the language Mapudungun and, after a few days, I realized that I could stay happily for months living the simple life barely touched by the outside world.
My next stop was to travel with a friend to Easter Island to explore the Polynesian culture of the small island halfway between Tahiti and Chile. I found that the Pascuense people there didn’t really identify themselves as Chileans (though they are all legally Chilean). The culture on the island as far as dance, religion, and rituals are more comparable to that of Polynesian culture rather than Andean or Latin. We stayed in a tent in the backyard of a local family who gave us access to their kitchen and facilities. We often sat down to have breakfast or lunch with the family. It was interesting to lis-ten to the father’s slightly accented Spanish and realize that the majority of people in this part of “Chile” spoke Spanish as a second language, as their native language is Rapanui. I went to a church ceremony in which half of the sermon was conducted in Spanish and all of the songs were sung in Rapanui. The Rapa Nui family also told us about how they are planning to send their daughter to the mainland for the rest of her high school education so that she can continue on and get a university degree and be more integrated into the global workforce.
A month later, I found myself alone on a 24-hour bus to the north of Chile to see “La Fiesta de la Tirana,” a huge annual festival celebrated in an Aymara pueblo. I arrived at night and was taken in by a sweet old couple, where I learned the history of the fiesta, ate alpaca and quinoa, and enjoyed the 24-hour/7-day music and dance groups per-forming outside the window. Over 200 groups practice for
six months to show grati-tude to the Virgen Carmen. This experience was in-credible; not only because of all the song and dance, but because of the modes-ty I found among the peo-ple. My interest in their culture was reciprocated with their interest in mine. They told me stories of why llamas were sacred to their culture, telling personal ex-periences about the pro-tection they have felt from these animals against evil spirits. In return, I told them what it was like to come from California and to live near the beach and the mountains. I told them I had never experienced weather or conditions as harsh as theirs in the “altiplano.” The hum-ble way of life and ability to cope with environmental, po-litical, and social hardships I found among the Aymara in-spired me to continue my studies of indigenous cultures in Latin America.
Through the experience that the Jeanie Anderson Me-morial Fund made possible, I was able to “conocer,” real-ly get to know, instead of only “saber,” aspects of Chilean culture that even many Chileans haven’t explored. I lis-tened with my own ears and saw with my own eyes three of the most culturally rich communities that live barely no-ticed in that small skinny country in the southern part of the globe.
Cassandra Nattrass graduated from UCSB in June, 2007 with a major in Global Studies and minors in
Spanish and German. She plans to spend next year in Brazil teaching English and learning Portuguese.
UCSB National Research Award WinnerJason Nossiter, a 2006 political science graduate from UCSB studied on EAP in Paris, France
in 2004-05 and was one of only three recipients of a 2006 national Undergraduate Research Award sponsored by the Forum on Education Abroad. Jason’s entry, “France says ‘Non’: Elites, Publics and the Defeat of the EU Constitutional Treaty,” looked at the dynamics that shaped France’s historic referendum on the European Constitution of May 29, 2005. Jason presented his research at the an-nual Forum conference in Austin, Texas in March 2007 and told us it was “a tremendous experi-ence” that gave him “an opportunity to promote not only the wonders of the EAP program that was
the source of my inspiration, but more importantly, the academic strength and incredible faculty and staff of UCSB.”Jason is currently working at an investment bank in San Francisco. He says, “While I like the finance world so far, I hope
to return to school within the next two years to pursue either a Masters in International Relations or an MBA. Hopefully, I can carve out a good slice of time in the middle somewhere to do what I really enjoy, which is travel!”
I was thinking about my experi-ences as an Education Abroad Pro-gram participant in 1975 and decid-ed to share my thoughts with you. I was part of the American University in Beirut (Lebanon) group in 1975. While we were not able to complete - or even start- our year at AUB, the experiences I had are some of the best I’ve ever had.
The civil war started a few days after we arrived. We were taken to stay with local families in Chemlane in the mountains. We stayed for three weeks hoping the hostilities would cease. They did not. We were then brought to the AUB campus/dormi-tories to wait it out. While waiting, some of us traveled to Cyprus, Jor-dan, Syria, Israel, and Egypt.
Study Abroad: Still Transforming Hearts, Minds, and LivesWe asked our student peer advisors, recent returnees who assist our office with recruitment, selection and orientation
activities, to write brief reflections on what their year of study abroad meant to them. Here are three written by students who studied in China, Spain, and Italy.
It was late afternoon when I ar-rived in Beijing and the city’s freeways were extremely congested. As my cab sat in traffic, I looked around, hop-ing to catch my first glimpse of the city through the thick summer smog. I couldn’t distinguish any buildings, but I did notice that people riding the crowded buses were all staring and pointing at me- after all a redhead is a fairly rare sight in Beijing! I felt very uncomfortable and wondered if I had perhaps made a mistake decid-ing to study in China for six months. Thankfully, I adapted rapidly to life in China. I met wonderful friends, ate amazing food in alleyways with mi-grant workers, and eventually moved
out of the university dorms and com-muted from my apartment by bus. This was perhaps the best decision I could have made. I soon overcame my initial discomfort of being stared at by the other passengers, and used my commute on the bus to fully inte-grate myself into Chinese society and practice my Mandarin. When my six months in China came to an end, I was not ready to return to California. My experience on EAP was definite-ly the best of my college career and I hope to return to work and live in China in the near future.
— Katherine O’ConnellBeijing, China
Kat (the redhead), first day in Beijing.
Living in Barcelona, Spain meant living in a city and depending on pub-lic transportation for the first time in my life. I learned more during my 30 minute train ride to my university than I did in the classrooms. Boundaries about personal space were non-exis-tent on my daily commute. Getting a seat was like winning the lottery, and the coveted positions against a wall to lean on went fast. People crammed in wherever they fit; for a California girl used to the privacy of a car, this was a completely new experience. I adjust-ed and became comfortable with the reality that one square foot for me and my backpack was all I needed.
After meeting other students on the train, my commute soon became a time to practice my language skills. I learned regional pronunciation and slang on my daily commute. My new friends taught me about the towns we passed and about strategies to navigate the UAB campus. In an odd way, the train ride made me feel more adjust-ed than any other singular experience. I never expected it, but the time I spent riding back and forth to class in Bar-celona ended up being time that felt most like true immersion in Spain.
— Mollie HaileyBarcelona, Spain
Mollie in front of La Sagrada Família in Barcelona.
Getting off the bus in Siena, Italy at 1:30 in the morning, I had no idea what to expect from my new home. I certainly didn’t realize that the next three months would dramatically change my life. The biggest les-son I learned was that noth-ing is impossi-ble. When I ar-rived in Siena, I couldn’t speak a word of Italian; yet, I decided to participate in an internship at the Santa Maria della Scala Museum. Twice a week I learned about the mu-seum in Italian and at the end of my three months, I led a tour of the mu-seum in Italian for everyone in our program. Italian culture focuses on enjoying time with those who love you the most: friends and family. Many people, including myself, prac-ticed this by hanging out in the piaz-za and taking a “siesta.” The lessons I learned and experiences I had in Sie-na changed the way I now approach life and they have prepared me for my life after college.
— Tim GatelySiena, Italy
Enjoying life in the Piazza del Campo, Siena, Italy.
The UC Santa Barbara EAP Office wishes to thank the following for their generous
donations received during 2007:
Deborah AlbinPatricia AmadeoJames W. ArrottRandall B. Bell
Michele R. BellopedeSusan M. Berg
Peggy A. Carlson-BowenKaren S. Carothers
Sharon & Chan Chiu*Kathryn & Kirk DaytonBecky & John P. Doody
David S. EngelderFannie Mae Foundation
Debra J. & William M. FinsterBeth Lind & R. Hale Foote
Leslie A. GersonLisa Golden Balfus
Wendy E. Haddock-MilliganTimothy J. Harris
Nancy & Jim HopperSherrie F. Hurwitz SicamCandi & James Johnson**
Richard S. KarplusLisa M. Kelter
Jo Ann Lach & Paul SmithKathleen E. & Mark A. LindbladChristine & Kenneth McCannMargaret & James P. McMillan
Brenda N. & Michael J. McNamara**Roberta H. McReynolds
Judy & Gregory A. Misbach**Vali Suzan Muro Molly T. MurphyNancy A. Myers
Allyson NgPatricia & Robert Nixon
Anette J. NunnPatricia L. & Stephen J. Owen, Jr.
Anne D. OzzimoFarion & Kent PearceJoanne K. Pon-Rubin
Lonna Q. PowersDarren A. Presher
Charisse & Sam Prieto, Jr.Kimberly S. ProckMichael J. Pullen
Ellen S. & Robert L. Raede, Jr.**Nancy & Lawrence H. Reichner, Sr.*
Mary Jane Riccardi*Nilla & Louis Rittenhouse*Deborah & Steven D. Rose*
Esther J. RudnickChristopher L. SahlinElizabeth A. Sanger
Renee Charnow-Schaffer & Michael Schaffer
Suzie ShaoVirginia G. & Stephen J. Short
Cheryl Lynne StoopsSun Microsystems Foundation, Inc.
Stephen SunEric W. Taylor
Joan Mann Thomas & Richard ThomasElena Butler Thompson &
John R. Thompson**Patricia D. Viernes
Suzi L. & James D. VogtKaren F. Walters
Wellpoint Associate Giving CampaignMarie J. Williams*
Rita & Kamen N. ZakovMary Lee & David M. Zalk
*indicates a donation between $500 and $999; **indicates a donation of $1,000 or more.
After receiving the call to evac-uate the country, we returned to UCSB. Even though some of the ex-periences were a bit harrowing dur-ing the few months in the Middle East, I still had a great time.
Because of my experiences in the Middle East, I was eager to re-turn. In 1983, I jumped at the chance to participate in a five week confer-ence in Cairo, Egypt on Law and Social Structure in the Middle East. Once again, I had a great time. I learned a lot, met some wonder-ful people, and had a chance to travel a bit in Egypt.
By the way, I received my BA in 1977, MA in 1979 and Ph.D. in 1984 from UCSB.
— Marilynn C. Mathews, Ph.D.EAP Beirut, 1975
Reminiscence of 1975 Beirut Evacuation We received the following letter from an EAP alumna:
Aymara dancer at La Fiesta de la Tirana near Iquique, Chile.
immersion program, in which stu-dents are fully enrolled in a univer-sity abroad and take courses along-side both foreign and native students in that university. UCSB was recently ranked fifth in the nation among insti-tutions sending the largest numbers of students on year-long programs.
Among the featured articles in this issue of The Global Gaucho is one writ-ten by Cassandra Nattrass who studied abroad in two locations – Germany and Chile – and completed a project examining Chilean indigenous cultures funded by the Jeanie Anderson Me-morial Fund. Cassandra also worked in our office as a student peer advisor in 2006-07 and was able to share her enthusiasm for study abroad with hundreds of prospective applicants.
Helping students finance their ex-perience abroad has been made easi-er by the generous scholarship con-tributions of all the EAP alumni listed on this page. Our long-time donors,
Associate Director’s Lettercontinued from page 1
Exploring Chile’s Indigenous Culturescontinued from page 1
Ellen and Rob Raede, were honored at a lunch at the UCSB Faculty Club at which they were able to meet four recently returned EAP students who were recipients of Raede scholarship funds. See photo on page 5.
Also included is a letter we re-ceived from an alumna of the 1975 Beirut program, Marilynn C. Mathews, who describes her experi-ences in the Middle East in the mid-seventies, a time no less turbulent for that region than today (see above).
In other exciting news, UCSB’s EAP Faculty Director, Michael O’Connell, was named Interim Uni-versitywide Director of EAP sys-temwide following the retirement of John Marcum in June 2007. We are delighted to welcome William J. Ashby, Provost emeritus of the UCSB College of Creative Studies and Professor emeritus of French, as Interim EAP Faculty Director.
religious purposes. Many factors, such as political and so-cial pressure to conform to modern norms, have contrib-uted to the loss of traditional religion and ritual in the past generation. Only recently has solidarity in the community led to recuperation of religious traditions and language in the current generation. However, many of the complaints and concerns of these communities still remain unheard and unaddressed by the Chilean government. I learned a few phrases in the language Mapudungun and, after a few days, I realized that I could stay happily for months living the simple life barely touched by the outside world.
My next stop was to travel with a friend to Easter Island to explore the Polynesian culture of the small island halfway between Tahiti and Chile. I found that the Pascuense people there didn’t really identify themselves as Chileans (though they are all legally Chilean). The culture on the island as far as dance, religion, and rituals are more comparable to that of Polynesian culture rather than Andean or Latin. We stayed in a tent in the backyard of a local family who gave us access to their kitchen and facilities. We often sat down to have breakfast or lunch with the family. It was interesting to lis-ten to the father’s slightly accented Spanish and realize that the majority of people in this part of “Chile” spoke Spanish as a second language, as their native language is Rapanui. I went to a church ceremony in which half of the sermon was conducted in Spanish and all of the songs were sung in Rapanui. The Rapa Nui family also told us about how they are planning to send their daughter to the mainland for the rest of her high school education so that she can continue on and get a university degree and be more integrated into the global workforce.
A month later, I found myself alone on a 24-hour bus to the north of Chile to see “La Fiesta de la Tirana,” a huge annual festival celebrated in an Aymara pueblo. I arrived at night and was taken in by a sweet old couple, where I learned the history of the fiesta, ate alpaca and quinoa, and enjoyed the 24-hour/7-day music and dance groups per-forming outside the window. Over 200 groups practice for
six months to show grati-tude to the Virgen Carmen. This experience was in-credible; not only because of all the song and dance, but because of the modes-ty I found among the peo-ple. My interest in their culture was reciprocated with their interest in mine. They told me stories of why llamas were sacred to their culture, telling personal ex-periences about the pro-tection they have felt from these animals against evil spirits. In return, I told them what it was like to come from California and to live near the beach and the mountains. I told them I had never experienced weather or conditions as harsh as theirs in the “altiplano.” The hum-ble way of life and ability to cope with environmental, po-litical, and social hardships I found among the Aymara in-spired me to continue my studies of indigenous cultures in Latin America.
Through the experience that the Jeanie Anderson Me-morial Fund made possible, I was able to “conocer,” real-ly get to know, instead of only “saber,” aspects of Chilean culture that even many Chileans haven’t explored. I lis-tened with my own ears and saw with my own eyes three of the most culturally rich communities that live barely no-ticed in that small skinny country in the southern part of the globe.
Cassandra Nattrass graduated from UCSB in June, 2007 with a major in Global Studies and minors in
Spanish and German. She plans to spend next year in Brazil teaching English and learning Portuguese.
UCSB National Research Award WinnerJason Nossiter, a 2006 political science graduate from UCSB studied on EAP in Paris, France
in 2004-05 and was one of only three recipients of a 2006 national Undergraduate Research Award sponsored by the Forum on Education Abroad. Jason’s entry, “France says ‘Non’: Elites, Publics and the Defeat of the EU Constitutional Treaty,” looked at the dynamics that shaped France’s historic referendum on the European Constitution of May 29, 2005. Jason presented his research at the an-nual Forum conference in Austin, Texas in March 2007 and told us it was “a tremendous experi-ence” that gave him “an opportunity to promote not only the wonders of the EAP program that was
the source of my inspiration, but more importantly, the academic strength and incredible faculty and staff of UCSB.”Jason is currently working at an investment bank in San Francisco. He says, “While I like the finance world so far, I hope
to return to school within the next two years to pursue either a Masters in International Relations or an MBA. Hopefully, I can carve out a good slice of time in the middle somewhere to do what I really enjoy, which is travel!”
I was thinking about my experi-ences as an Education Abroad Pro-gram participant in 1975 and decid-ed to share my thoughts with you. I was part of the American University in Beirut (Lebanon) group in 1975. While we were not able to complete - or even start- our year at AUB, the experiences I had are some of the best I’ve ever had.
The civil war started a few days after we arrived. We were taken to stay with local families in Chemlane in the mountains. We stayed for three weeks hoping the hostilities would cease. They did not. We were then brought to the AUB campus/dormi-tories to wait it out. While waiting, some of us traveled to Cyprus, Jor-dan, Syria, Israel, and Egypt.
Study Abroad: Still Transforming Hearts, Minds, and LivesWe asked our student peer advisors, recent returnees who assist our office with recruitment, selection and orientation
activities, to write brief reflections on what their year of study abroad meant to them. Here are three written by students who studied in China, Spain, and Italy.
It was late afternoon when I ar-rived in Beijing and the city’s freeways were extremely congested. As my cab sat in traffic, I looked around, hop-ing to catch my first glimpse of the city through the thick summer smog. I couldn’t distinguish any buildings, but I did notice that people riding the crowded buses were all staring and pointing at me- after all a redhead is a fairly rare sight in Beijing! I felt very uncomfortable and wondered if I had perhaps made a mistake decid-ing to study in China for six months. Thankfully, I adapted rapidly to life in China. I met wonderful friends, ate amazing food in alleyways with mi-grant workers, and eventually moved
out of the university dorms and com-muted from my apartment by bus. This was perhaps the best decision I could have made. I soon overcame my initial discomfort of being stared at by the other passengers, and used my commute on the bus to fully inte-grate myself into Chinese society and practice my Mandarin. When my six months in China came to an end, I was not ready to return to California. My experience on EAP was definite-ly the best of my college career and I hope to return to work and live in China in the near future.
— Katherine O’ConnellBeijing, China
Kat (the redhead), first day in Beijing.
Living in Barcelona, Spain meant living in a city and depending on pub-lic transportation for the first time in my life. I learned more during my 30 minute train ride to my university than I did in the classrooms. Boundaries about personal space were non-exis-tent on my daily commute. Getting a seat was like winning the lottery, and the coveted positions against a wall to lean on went fast. People crammed in wherever they fit; for a California girl used to the privacy of a car, this was a completely new experience. I adjust-ed and became comfortable with the reality that one square foot for me and my backpack was all I needed.
After meeting other students on the train, my commute soon became a time to practice my language skills. I learned regional pronunciation and slang on my daily commute. My new friends taught me about the towns we passed and about strategies to navigate the UAB campus. In an odd way, the train ride made me feel more adjust-ed than any other singular experience. I never expected it, but the time I spent riding back and forth to class in Bar-celona ended up being time that felt most like true immersion in Spain.
— Mollie HaileyBarcelona, Spain
Mollie in front of La Sagrada Família in Barcelona.
Getting off the bus in Siena, Italy at 1:30 in the morning, I had no idea what to expect from my new home. I certainly didn’t realize that the next three months would dramatically change my life. The biggest les-son I learned was that noth-ing is impossi-ble. When I ar-rived in Siena, I couldn’t speak a word of Italian; yet, I decided to participate in an internship at the Santa Maria della Scala Museum. Twice a week I learned about the mu-seum in Italian and at the end of my three months, I led a tour of the mu-seum in Italian for everyone in our program. Italian culture focuses on enjoying time with those who love you the most: friends and family. Many people, including myself, prac-ticed this by hanging out in the piaz-za and taking a “siesta.” The lessons I learned and experiences I had in Sie-na changed the way I now approach life and they have prepared me for my life after college.
— Tim GatelySiena, Italy
Enjoying life in the Piazza del Campo, Siena, Italy.
The UC Santa Barbara EAP Office wishes to thank the following for their generous
donations received during 2007:
Deborah AlbinPatricia AmadeoJames W. ArrottRandall B. Bell
Michele R. BellopedeSusan M. Berg
Peggy A. Carlson-BowenKaren S. Carothers
Sharon & Chan Chiu*Kathryn & Kirk DaytonBecky & John P. Doody
David S. EngelderFannie Mae Foundation
Debra J. & William M. FinsterBeth Lind & R. Hale Foote
Leslie A. GersonLisa Golden Balfus
Wendy E. Haddock-MilliganTimothy J. Harris
Nancy & Jim HopperSherrie F. Hurwitz SicamCandi & James Johnson**
Richard S. KarplusLisa M. Kelter
Jo Ann Lach & Paul SmithKathleen E. & Mark A. LindbladChristine & Kenneth McCannMargaret & James P. McMillan
Brenda N. & Michael J. McNamara**Roberta H. McReynolds
Judy & Gregory A. Misbach**Vali Suzan Muro Molly T. MurphyNancy A. Myers
Allyson NgPatricia & Robert Nixon
Anette J. NunnPatricia L. & Stephen J. Owen, Jr.
Anne D. OzzimoFarion & Kent PearceJoanne K. Pon-Rubin
Lonna Q. PowersDarren A. Presher
Charisse & Sam Prieto, Jr.Kimberly S. ProckMichael J. Pullen
Ellen S. & Robert L. Raede, Jr.**Nancy & Lawrence H. Reichner, Sr.*
Mary Jane Riccardi*Nilla & Louis Rittenhouse*Deborah & Steven D. Rose*
Esther J. RudnickChristopher L. SahlinElizabeth A. Sanger
Renee Charnow-Schaffer & Michael Schaffer
Suzie ShaoVirginia G. & Stephen J. Short
Cheryl Lynne StoopsSun Microsystems Foundation, Inc.
Stephen SunEric W. Taylor
Joan Mann Thomas & Richard ThomasElena Butler Thompson &
John R. Thompson**Patricia D. Viernes
Suzi L. & James D. VogtKaren F. Walters
Wellpoint Associate Giving CampaignMarie J. Williams*
Rita & Kamen N. ZakovMary Lee & David M. Zalk
*indicates a donation between $500 and $999; **indicates a donation of $1,000 or more.
After receiving the call to evac-uate the country, we returned to UCSB. Even though some of the ex-periences were a bit harrowing dur-ing the few months in the Middle East, I still had a great time.
Because of my experiences in the Middle East, I was eager to re-turn. In 1983, I jumped at the chance to participate in a five week confer-ence in Cairo, Egypt on Law and Social Structure in the Middle East. Once again, I had a great time. I learned a lot, met some wonder-ful people, and had a chance to travel a bit in Egypt.
By the way, I received my BA in 1977, MA in 1979 and Ph.D. in 1984 from UCSB.
— Marilynn C. Mathews, Ph.D.EAP Beirut, 1975
Reminiscence of 1975 Beirut Evacuation We received the following letter from an EAP alumna:
Aymara dancer at La Fiesta de la Tirana near Iquique, Chile.
immersion program, in which stu-dents are fully enrolled in a univer-sity abroad and take courses along-side both foreign and native students in that university. UCSB was recently ranked fifth in the nation among insti-tutions sending the largest numbers of students on year-long programs.
Among the featured articles in this issue of The Global Gaucho is one writ-ten by Cassandra Nattrass who studied abroad in two locations – Germany and Chile – and completed a project examining Chilean indigenous cultures funded by the Jeanie Anderson Me-morial Fund. Cassandra also worked in our office as a student peer advisor in 2006-07 and was able to share her enthusiasm for study abroad with hundreds of prospective applicants.
Helping students finance their ex-perience abroad has been made easi-er by the generous scholarship con-tributions of all the EAP alumni listed on this page. Our long-time donors,
Associate Director’s Lettercontinued from page 1
Exploring Chile’s Indigenous Culturescontinued from page 1
Ellen and Rob Raede, were honored at a lunch at the UCSB Faculty Club at which they were able to meet four recently returned EAP students who were recipients of Raede scholarship funds. See photo on page 5.
Also included is a letter we re-ceived from an alumna of the 1975 Beirut program, Marilynn C. Mathews, who describes her experi-ences in the Middle East in the mid-seventies, a time no less turbulent for that region than today (see above).
In other exciting news, UCSB’s EAP Faculty Director, Michael O’Connell, was named Interim Uni-versitywide Director of EAP sys-temwide following the retirement of John Marcum in June 2007. We are delighted to welcome William J. Ashby, Provost emeritus of the UCSB College of Creative Studies and Professor emeritus of French, as Interim EAP Faculty Director.
religious purposes. Many factors, such as political and so-cial pressure to conform to modern norms, have contrib-uted to the loss of traditional religion and ritual in the past generation. Only recently has solidarity in the community led to recuperation of religious traditions and language in the current generation. However, many of the complaints and concerns of these communities still remain unheard and unaddressed by the Chilean government. I learned a few phrases in the language Mapudungun and, after a few days, I realized that I could stay happily for months living the simple life barely touched by the outside world.
My next stop was to travel with a friend to Easter Island to explore the Polynesian culture of the small island halfway between Tahiti and Chile. I found that the Pascuense people there didn’t really identify themselves as Chileans (though they are all legally Chilean). The culture on the island as far as dance, religion, and rituals are more comparable to that of Polynesian culture rather than Andean or Latin. We stayed in a tent in the backyard of a local family who gave us access to their kitchen and facilities. We often sat down to have breakfast or lunch with the family. It was interesting to lis-ten to the father’s slightly accented Spanish and realize that the majority of people in this part of “Chile” spoke Spanish as a second language, as their native language is Rapanui. I went to a church ceremony in which half of the sermon was conducted in Spanish and all of the songs were sung in Rapanui. The Rapa Nui family also told us about how they are planning to send their daughter to the mainland for the rest of her high school education so that she can continue on and get a university degree and be more integrated into the global workforce.
A month later, I found myself alone on a 24-hour bus to the north of Chile to see “La Fiesta de la Tirana,” a huge annual festival celebrated in an Aymara pueblo. I arrived at night and was taken in by a sweet old couple, where I learned the history of the fiesta, ate alpaca and quinoa, and enjoyed the 24-hour/7-day music and dance groups per-forming outside the window. Over 200 groups practice for
six months to show grati-tude to the Virgen Carmen. This experience was in-credible; not only because of all the song and dance, but because of the modes-ty I found among the peo-ple. My interest in their culture was reciprocated with their interest in mine. They told me stories of why llamas were sacred to their culture, telling personal ex-periences about the pro-tection they have felt from these animals against evil spirits. In return, I told them what it was like to come from California and to live near the beach and the mountains. I told them I had never experienced weather or conditions as harsh as theirs in the “altiplano.” The hum-ble way of life and ability to cope with environmental, po-litical, and social hardships I found among the Aymara in-spired me to continue my studies of indigenous cultures in Latin America.
Through the experience that the Jeanie Anderson Me-morial Fund made possible, I was able to “conocer,” real-ly get to know, instead of only “saber,” aspects of Chilean culture that even many Chileans haven’t explored. I lis-tened with my own ears and saw with my own eyes three of the most culturally rich communities that live barely no-ticed in that small skinny country in the southern part of the globe.
Cassandra Nattrass graduated from UCSB in June, 2007 with a major in Global Studies and minors in
Spanish and German. She plans to spend next year in Brazil teaching English and learning Portuguese.
UCSB National Research Award WinnerJason Nossiter, a 2006 political science graduate from UCSB studied on EAP in Paris, France
in 2004-05 and was one of only three recipients of a 2006 national Undergraduate Research Award sponsored by the Forum on Education Abroad. Jason’s entry, “France says ‘Non’: Elites, Publics and the Defeat of the EU Constitutional Treaty,” looked at the dynamics that shaped France’s historic referendum on the European Constitution of May 29, 2005. Jason presented his research at the an-nual Forum conference in Austin, Texas in March 2007 and told us it was “a tremendous experi-ence” that gave him “an opportunity to promote not only the wonders of the EAP program that was
the source of my inspiration, but more importantly, the academic strength and incredible faculty and staff of UCSB.”Jason is currently working at an investment bank in San Francisco. He says, “While I like the finance world so far, I hope
to return to school within the next two years to pursue either a Masters in International Relations or an MBA. Hopefully, I can carve out a good slice of time in the middle somewhere to do what I really enjoy, which is travel!”
I was thinking about my experi-ences as an Education Abroad Pro-gram participant in 1975 and decid-ed to share my thoughts with you. I was part of the American University in Beirut (Lebanon) group in 1975. While we were not able to complete - or even start- our year at AUB, the experiences I had are some of the best I’ve ever had.
The civil war started a few days after we arrived. We were taken to stay with local families in Chemlane in the mountains. We stayed for three weeks hoping the hostilities would cease. They did not. We were then brought to the AUB campus/dormi-tories to wait it out. While waiting, some of us traveled to Cyprus, Jor-dan, Syria, Israel, and Egypt.
Study Abroad: Still Transforming Hearts, Minds, and LivesWe asked our student peer advisors, recent returnees who assist our office with recruitment, selection and orientation
activities, to write brief reflections on what their year of study abroad meant to them. Here are three written by students who studied in China, Spain, and Italy.
It was late afternoon when I ar-rived in Beijing and the city’s freeways were extremely congested. As my cab sat in traffic, I looked around, hop-ing to catch my first glimpse of the city through the thick summer smog. I couldn’t distinguish any buildings, but I did notice that people riding the crowded buses were all staring and pointing at me- after all a redhead is a fairly rare sight in Beijing! I felt very uncomfortable and wondered if I had perhaps made a mistake decid-ing to study in China for six months. Thankfully, I adapted rapidly to life in China. I met wonderful friends, ate amazing food in alleyways with mi-grant workers, and eventually moved
out of the university dorms and com-muted from my apartment by bus. This was perhaps the best decision I could have made. I soon overcame my initial discomfort of being stared at by the other passengers, and used my commute on the bus to fully inte-grate myself into Chinese society and practice my Mandarin. When my six months in China came to an end, I was not ready to return to California. My experience on EAP was definite-ly the best of my college career and I hope to return to work and live in China in the near future.
— Katherine O’ConnellBeijing, China
Kat (the redhead), first day in Beijing.
Living in Barcelona, Spain meant living in a city and depending on pub-lic transportation for the first time in my life. I learned more during my 30 minute train ride to my university than I did in the classrooms. Boundaries about personal space were non-exis-tent on my daily commute. Getting a seat was like winning the lottery, and the coveted positions against a wall to lean on went fast. People crammed in wherever they fit; for a California girl used to the privacy of a car, this was a completely new experience. I adjust-ed and became comfortable with the reality that one square foot for me and my backpack was all I needed.
After meeting other students on the train, my commute soon became a time to practice my language skills. I learned regional pronunciation and slang on my daily commute. My new friends taught me about the towns we passed and about strategies to navigate the UAB campus. In an odd way, the train ride made me feel more adjust-ed than any other singular experience. I never expected it, but the time I spent riding back and forth to class in Bar-celona ended up being time that felt most like true immersion in Spain.
— Mollie HaileyBarcelona, Spain
Mollie in front of La Sagrada Família in Barcelona.
Getting off the bus in Siena, Italy at 1:30 in the morning, I had no idea what to expect from my new home. I certainly didn’t realize that the next three months would dramatically change my life. The biggest les-son I learned was that noth-ing is impossi-ble. When I ar-rived in Siena, I couldn’t speak a word of Italian; yet, I decided to participate in an internship at the Santa Maria della Scala Museum. Twice a week I learned about the mu-seum in Italian and at the end of my three months, I led a tour of the mu-seum in Italian for everyone in our program. Italian culture focuses on enjoying time with those who love you the most: friends and family. Many people, including myself, prac-ticed this by hanging out in the piaz-za and taking a “siesta.” The lessons I learned and experiences I had in Sie-na changed the way I now approach life and they have prepared me for my life after college.
— Tim GatelySiena, Italy
Enjoying life in the Piazza del Campo, Siena, Italy.
The UC Santa Barbara EAP Office wishes to thank the following for their generous
donations received during 2007:
Deborah AlbinPatricia AmadeoJames W. ArrottRandall B. Bell
Michele R. BellopedeSusan M. Berg
Peggy A. Carlson-BowenKaren S. Carothers
Sharon & Chan Chiu*Kathryn & Kirk DaytonBecky & John P. Doody
David S. EngelderFannie Mae Foundation
Debra J. & William M. FinsterBeth Lind & R. Hale Foote
Leslie A. GersonLisa Golden Balfus
Wendy E. Haddock-MilliganTimothy J. Harris
Nancy & Jim HopperSherrie F. Hurwitz SicamCandi & James Johnson**
Richard S. KarplusLisa M. Kelter
Jo Ann Lach & Paul SmithKathleen E. & Mark A. LindbladChristine & Kenneth McCannMargaret & James P. McMillan
Brenda N. & Michael J. McNamara**Roberta H. McReynolds
Judy & Gregory A. Misbach**Vali Suzan Muro Molly T. MurphyNancy A. Myers
Allyson NgPatricia & Robert Nixon
Anette J. NunnPatricia L. & Stephen J. Owen, Jr.
Anne D. OzzimoFarion & Kent PearceJoanne K. Pon-Rubin
Lonna Q. PowersDarren A. Presher
Charisse & Sam Prieto, Jr.Kimberly S. ProckMichael J. Pullen
Ellen S. & Robert L. Raede, Jr.**Nancy & Lawrence H. Reichner, Sr.*
Mary Jane Riccardi*Nilla & Louis Rittenhouse*Deborah & Steven D. Rose*
Esther J. RudnickChristopher L. SahlinElizabeth A. Sanger
Renee Charnow-Schaffer & Michael Schaffer
Suzie ShaoVirginia G. & Stephen J. Short
Cheryl Lynne StoopsSun Microsystems Foundation, Inc.
Stephen SunEric W. Taylor
Joan Mann Thomas & Richard ThomasElena Butler Thompson &
John R. Thompson**Patricia D. Viernes
Suzi L. & James D. VogtKaren F. Walters
Wellpoint Associate Giving CampaignMarie J. Williams*
Rita & Kamen N. ZakovMary Lee & David M. Zalk
*indicates a donation between $500 and $999; **indicates a donation of $1,000 or more.
After receiving the call to evac-uate the country, we returned to UCSB. Even though some of the ex-periences were a bit harrowing dur-ing the few months in the Middle East, I still had a great time.
Because of my experiences in the Middle East, I was eager to re-turn. In 1983, I jumped at the chance to participate in a five week confer-ence in Cairo, Egypt on Law and Social Structure in the Middle East. Once again, I had a great time. I learned a lot, met some wonder-ful people, and had a chance to travel a bit in Egypt.
By the way, I received my BA in 1977, MA in 1979 and Ph.D. in 1984 from UCSB.
— Marilynn C. Mathews, Ph.D.EAP Beirut, 1975
Reminiscence of 1975 Beirut Evacuation We received the following letter from an EAP alumna:
Aymara dancer at La Fiesta de la Tirana near Iquique, Chile.
From the EAP Associate DirectorSusan Berg Arnold
Welcome to the third edition of The Global Gaucho, UCSB’s Education Abroad Program newsletter. We be-
gin the new academic year with a sense of excitement. As of September 2007, nearly 900 UCSB students are scheduled to study overseas with the Education Abroad Program in the coming year. This is a new record for UCSB and represents a 26% in-crease over 2006-07. The UCSB group will be part of some 4,500 University of California students. Western European destinations continue to dominate students’ in-terests – Italy, Spain, and the UK are the most popular – but two South American countries, Brazil and Chile, drew record numbers of UCSB applicants. The Far East also continues to attract students, par-ticularly Japan and China.
In addition to its traditional im-mersion programs in foreign uni-versities, EAP has designed a variety of programs to enable students to study abroad for shorter periods, including semester- and quarter-long “language and culture” pro-grams, the UC-designed “great cit-ies” programs (London, Paris, and Rome), and several summer pro-grams, including a new language program in Paris. The “classic” EAP option, however, is the year-long
continued on page 2
Education Abroad Program, Campus OfficeUniversity of California, Santa BarbaraSanta Barbara, CA 93106-3040
NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONU.S. POSTAGE
PAIDSANTA BARBARA, CAPERMIT NUMBER 104
RETURN ADDRESS REQUESTED
continued on page 4
Exploring Chile’s Indigenous CulturesBy Cassandra Nattrass
The past year I spent in Chile was greatly enriched by the opportunity the Jeanie Anderson Memorial Fund gave me to explore an aspect of Chile many Chileans are unfamiliar with: local indigenous cultures. I was inspired by the topic in a class in my EAP language and culture program in Concepcion that was specifically geared towards learn-ing about the largest indigenous com-munity in Chile, the Mapuche. Begin-ning with an overview of all of the in-digenous communities that are present in Chile, we learned about the declining populations, integration, and current socio-political issues.
Returning to my homestay after class, I tried to talk about the Mapu-che with my host family. I quickly dis-covered they were uninterested in both these cultures and in the history of the occupation of the land. My family’s impression of the Mapuche was sim-ply that they were “violent warriors.” It was then that I realized the lack of pub-lic knowledge in Chilean society about the indigenous cultures – people who had been living in Chile long before the majority of the country. This realization inspired me to investigate some of these native people on my own.
When I learned of the Jeanie Anderson Memorial Fund, I knew immedi-ately that this scholarship could provide me the opportunity to research and visit various indigenous communities in Chile. I decided to discover for my-self three different indigenous groups in Chile: the Mapuche in the south, the Pascuense on Easter Island, and the Aymara in the north (on the border of Bo-livia and Peru).
I set off to explore the unexplored. An American I knew through the uni-versity in Concepcion had contacts with a Mapuche village in the south. Be-fore I knew it, I found myself in a two-bedroom house made out of tin with electricity only a few hours a night, speaking with a Mapuche family about re-ligious and cultural traditions. I also learned about the hardships of being in-digenous and the racism they experience. My host father told me about how the Chilean government had forced many communities off of fertile land and then planted foreign eucalyptus and pine trees in their community that ended up killing off many of the plants and herbs the Mapuches use for medical and
Cassandra with a Mapuche boy in Elikura, Chile
EAP Donors HonoredEllen and Rob Raede, both UCSB graduates, were honored at a lunch at the UCSB Faculty Club last year to thank them for being such enthusiastic supporters of the EAP Scholarship Fund. Attending the event were four of the fortunate EAP students (pictured below) who benefited from the Raedes’ largess. Ellen reflects on what is so special about being an EAP donor:
My husband, Rob, and I proudly sup-port the EAP scholarship program at UCSB. We are blessed with the ability to enable stu-dents at UC Santa Barbara to study abroad and enjoy an experience I know will enrich their lives forever. Giving to Education Abroad Program feels different than giving elsewhere. We actually help specific individ-uals and can see exactly where our donations go. In fact, we were thrilled to meet several of the students we supported. We loved hearing from them directly about how their time abroad impacted them and we were able to get a sense of how their experiences will con-tinue to shape them in the years to come.
I encourage other alumni and parents to consider giving generously to support other EAP students in the future. Based on my own experience, I can assure you it will be every bit as much a gift to you as to the students you support! Cali Henderson, Stephen Israel, Ellen & Rob Raede, Sayre Ziskin, Sara Griffith
An Alumni Scholarship Fund to Support the Education Abroad Program!
EAP alumni like you have learned first-hand what it means to make immersing yourself in another culture a key com-ponent of your undergraduate experience at UC Santa Barbara. Because so many of you have expressed a desire to extend your experience to others, we have created a new EAP Alumni Scholarship Fund. This fund is designed to help students who want to follow in your footsteps but don’t have the resources to do so without your help. We hope you will agree that provid-ing scholarships like this to assist aspiring EAP students is a wonderful giving option for some of the following reasons:
1) A Big Gift at a Reasonable Cost: EAP scholarships generally cost $1500/year per student to be truly effective. While we always hope donors will make the maximum gift possible, the truth is you can contribute to the EAP Alumni Scholar-ship Fund with a contribution of any size. Whenever possible, we do ask that you consider a multi-year pledge for at least that amount per year, which makes your gift something we can plan for in advance and arrange to pool with other funds.
2) A Unique Opportunity to Make a Meaningful Gift: While only full scholarships can be individually named and targeted, more modest contributions can still be customized. While designating your gift as unrestricted gives us maxi-mum flexibility, you can also ask that it be given to enhance a particular skill, experience, or in the service of some other worthy objective.
3) An Opportunity to Impact Individual Students: As an EAP Alumni Scholarship Fund donor, you will stand more than ten feet tall in the eyes of those students who receive your support! Whenever possible, we will try to ensure that you and other donors hear from students directly about the impact of your gift(s) on their experiences abroad.
We sincerely hope this is a giving opportunity you will want to consider. To learn more, please contact Sudi Staub, our Director of Development, at 805-893-2190 or [email protected]. Or, if you are ready to contribute now, just fill out the enclosed envelope and return it to us. We do hope you will decide to become among the inaugural supporters of our new EAP Alumni Scholarship Fund.
EAP Photo Contest Winners!These photos were among the winners in our 2007 EAP photo contest
The Grotto, Victoria, AustraliaHeather Van HoutenEAP Brisbane, 2005-06
Berber guide, Western SaharaMiles GalbraithEAP Madrid, 2005-06
Itsukushima shrine, JapanPhilip WalkerEAP Yokohama, 2005-06
MARK YOUR CALENDARS!November 2–4, 2007 Parents’ & Family Weekend
with EAP Open House on November 2 at 12-1pm in 2431 South Hall
April 25–27, 2008All-Gaucho Reunion with Special EAP Event
From the EAP Associate DirectorSusan Berg Arnold
Welcome to the third edition of The Global Gaucho, UCSB’s Education Abroad Program newsletter. We be-
gin the new academic year with a sense of excitement. As of September 2007, nearly 900 UCSB students are scheduled to study overseas with the Education Abroad Program in the coming year. This is a new record for UCSB and represents a 26% in-crease over 2006-07. The UCSB group will be part of some 4,500 University of California students. Western European destinations continue to dominate students’ in-terests – Italy, Spain, and the UK are the most popular – but two South American countries, Brazil and Chile, drew record numbers of UCSB applicants. The Far East also continues to attract students, par-ticularly Japan and China.
In addition to its traditional im-mersion programs in foreign uni-versities, EAP has designed a variety of programs to enable students to study abroad for shorter periods, including semester- and quarter-long “language and culture” pro-grams, the UC-designed “great cit-ies” programs (London, Paris, and Rome), and several summer pro-grams, including a new language program in Paris. The “classic” EAP option, however, is the year-long
continued on page 2
Education Abroad Program, Campus OfficeUniversity of California, Santa BarbaraSanta Barbara, CA 93106-3040
NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONU.S. POSTAGE
PAIDSANTA BARBARA, CAPERMIT NUMBER 104
RETURN ADDRESS REQUESTED
continued on page 4
Exploring Chile’s Indigenous CulturesBy Cassandra Nattrass
The past year I spent in Chile was greatly enriched by the opportunity the Jeanie Anderson Memorial Fund gave me to explore an aspect of Chile many Chileans are unfamiliar with: local indigenous cultures. I was inspired by the topic in a class in my EAP language and culture program in Concepcion that was specifically geared towards learn-ing about the largest indigenous com-munity in Chile, the Mapuche. Begin-ning with an overview of all of the in-digenous communities that are present in Chile, we learned about the declining populations, integration, and current socio-political issues.
Returning to my homestay after class, I tried to talk about the Mapu-che with my host family. I quickly dis-covered they were uninterested in both these cultures and in the history of the occupation of the land. My family’s impression of the Mapuche was sim-ply that they were “violent warriors.” It was then that I realized the lack of pub-lic knowledge in Chilean society about the indigenous cultures – people who had been living in Chile long before the majority of the country. This realization inspired me to investigate some of these native people on my own.
When I learned of the Jeanie Anderson Memorial Fund, I knew immedi-ately that this scholarship could provide me the opportunity to research and visit various indigenous communities in Chile. I decided to discover for my-self three different indigenous groups in Chile: the Mapuche in the south, the Pascuense on Easter Island, and the Aymara in the north (on the border of Bo-livia and Peru).
I set off to explore the unexplored. An American I knew through the uni-versity in Concepcion had contacts with a Mapuche village in the south. Be-fore I knew it, I found myself in a two-bedroom house made out of tin with electricity only a few hours a night, speaking with a Mapuche family about re-ligious and cultural traditions. I also learned about the hardships of being in-digenous and the racism they experience. My host father told me about how the Chilean government had forced many communities off of fertile land and then planted foreign eucalyptus and pine trees in their community that ended up killing off many of the plants and herbs the Mapuches use for medical and
Cassandra with a Mapuche boy in Elikura, Chile
EAP Donors HonoredEllen and Rob Raede, both UCSB graduates, were honored at a lunch at the UCSB Faculty Club last year to thank them for being such enthusiastic supporters of the EAP Scholarship Fund. Attending the event were four of the fortunate EAP students (pictured below) who benefited from the Raedes’ largess. Ellen reflects on what is so special about being an EAP donor:
My husband, Rob, and I proudly sup-port the EAP scholarship program at UCSB. We are blessed with the ability to enable stu-dents at UC Santa Barbara to study abroad and enjoy an experience I know will enrich their lives forever. Giving to Education Abroad Program feels different than giving elsewhere. We actually help specific individ-uals and can see exactly where our donations go. In fact, we were thrilled to meet several of the students we supported. We loved hearing from them directly about how their time abroad impacted them and we were able to get a sense of how their experiences will con-tinue to shape them in the years to come.
I encourage other alumni and parents to consider giving generously to support other EAP students in the future. Based on my own experience, I can assure you it will be every bit as much a gift to you as to the students you support! Cali Henderson, Stephen Israel, Ellen & Rob Raede, Sayre Ziskin, Sara Griffith
An Alumni Scholarship Fund to Support the Education Abroad Program!
EAP alumni like you have learned first-hand what it means to make immersing yourself in another culture a key com-ponent of your undergraduate experience at UC Santa Barbara. Because so many of you have expressed a desire to extend your experience to others, we have created a new EAP Alumni Scholarship Fund. This fund is designed to help students who want to follow in your footsteps but don’t have the resources to do so without your help. We hope you will agree that provid-ing scholarships like this to assist aspiring EAP students is a wonderful giving option for some of the following reasons:
1) A Big Gift at a Reasonable Cost: EAP scholarships generally cost $1500/year per student to be truly effective. While we always hope donors will make the maximum gift possible, the truth is you can contribute to the EAP Alumni Scholar-ship Fund with a contribution of any size. Whenever possible, we do ask that you consider a multi-year pledge for at least that amount per year, which makes your gift something we can plan for in advance and arrange to pool with other funds.
2) A Unique Opportunity to Make a Meaningful Gift: While only full scholarships can be individually named and targeted, more modest contributions can still be customized. While designating your gift as unrestricted gives us maxi-mum flexibility, you can also ask that it be given to enhance a particular skill, experience, or in the service of some other worthy objective.
3) An Opportunity to Impact Individual Students: As an EAP Alumni Scholarship Fund donor, you will stand more than ten feet tall in the eyes of those students who receive your support! Whenever possible, we will try to ensure that you and other donors hear from students directly about the impact of your gift(s) on their experiences abroad.
We sincerely hope this is a giving opportunity you will want to consider. To learn more, please contact Sudi Staub, our Director of Development, at 805-893-2190 or [email protected]. Or, if you are ready to contribute now, just fill out the enclosed envelope and return it to us. We do hope you will decide to become among the inaugural supporters of our new EAP Alumni Scholarship Fund.
EAP Photo Contest Winners!These photos were among the winners in our 2007 EAP photo contest
The Grotto, Victoria, AustraliaHeather Van HoutenEAP Brisbane, 2005-06
Berber guide, Western SaharaMiles GalbraithEAP Madrid, 2005-06
Itsukushima shrine, JapanPhilip WalkerEAP Yokohama, 2005-06
MARK YOUR CALENDARS!November 2–4, 2007 Parents’ & Family Weekend
with EAP Open House on November 2 at 12-1pm in 2431 South Hall
April 25–27, 2008All-Gaucho Reunion with Special EAP Event
