10
Hope Wilde
I would like to see more sources incorporated into the chapter.
Introduction
2020 has been a year like no other, something no one has ever experienced before. COVID-19 has affected college students in many ways, but one of the main ways is not allowing them to travel anymore. COVID-19 has negatively impacted college students and the places they plan to travel to by putting restrictions on students interested in studying abroad, not allowing students to travel for breaks, and hurting the industries they would use to have those experiences.
Connection to STS Theory
Students Cannot Study Abroad
First, we will discuss how students can no longer study abroad and how this affects them. Studying abroad shapes many student’s college experience and is not the same with COVID-19. Though some schools are offering virtual options, they miss out on the physical experience itself. For example, The State University of New York at Buffalo (UB) normally takes a select group of students on an annual two-week summer trip to Tanzania for research. Due to COVID-19, Dr. Mara Huber, associate dean of undergraduate research and experiential learning at UB, has decided to make the switch for the program to be conducted online. Students will now follow a similar itinerary to the trip by “visiting” the same areas through digital maps, photographs, and videos. According to Sarah Wood, in her 2020 article “Colleges Cancel Fall Study Abroad Programs”, “For the fall, it will be the only virtual, global course offered at UB. However, Huber is “hopeful” that “people will be more open to seeing how
technology can actually enhance global types of engagement and learning” so the program can expand to include other countries and institutions” (Wood, 2020). This is just one example of many, where universities are expanding students’ technological knowledge to help them engage in an experience they would usually get to witness in person. Study abroad programs and locations are also both suffering financially because people are obviously not willing to pay if they cannot travel. NAFSA, Association of International Educators, “94% of institutions with study abroad programs reported shortened or canceled spring and summer programs, resulting in losses of $115 million; when estimated across all of U.S. higher education, potential losses total nearly $1 billion”(NAFSA, 2020). So, not only is the cancellation of programs hurting study abroad programs financially, but college students are also missing out on the unique experience of studying abroad. Even though there are some ways to still gain parts of the opportunity, it is not entirely the same.
Voices of Clemson Undergraduate Students
“I personally was planning to study abroad in the spring of 2021. Due to COVID-19, I can no longer go then. I now have to figure out when else I can go, or if I will even be able to.”
“COVID-19 has altered my college experience by not allowing students to return to campus after Thanksgiving. I