Students at Temple\u2019s respected Rome and Japan campuses are having unforgettable semesters\u2014and a welcome taste of normalcy\u2014at a time when the vast majority of study abroad programs around the world have been shut down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Temple undergraduates Julie Kim, Class of 2022, and Emily Wilson, Class of 2021, may be among the rarest of American college students this spring. It\u2019s not because they\u2019re having wonderful semesters with engaging classes, productive internships, and plenty of excursions exploring one of the world\u2019s great cities. What makes them so unusual at this moment in the history of American higher education is where they\u2019re doing it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kim and Wilson are studying abroad\u2014Kim in Italy at Temple University Rome; Wilson at Temple University, Japan Campus in Tokyo. At a time when the vast majority of study abroad programs for U.S. students have been shut down, they are among about 100 Temple students who have benefitted from the months of painstaking planning by Temple administrators and faculty on three continents that was required to safely open the university\u2019s two flagship study abroad programs this spring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The payoff, say the grateful students, has been enormous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been the best experience,\u201d said Kim, a communication studies major at Temple\u2019s Klein College of Media and Communication. \u201cIt\u2019s such a privilege to study in Rome. I wake up every day and ask, \u2018How is it possible that I\u2019m here?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kim is taking classes at the Villa Caproni, Temple Rome\u2019s facility along the banks of the Tiber River. Her internship course has placed her with a Roman employer, the travel guide service Romeing, for whom she\u2019s serving remotely as a social media assistant. She enjoys extracurricular activities, from a wine tasting in the Villa Caproni to touring Rome\u2019s wonders (her favorite so far has been the Vatican). Best of all, she says, is the feeling of safety. Kim is reassured by Temple Rome\u2019s strict public health protocols and local residents\u2019 strong sense of civic responsibility. Almost all Romans faithfully wear masks, she says, and when they don\u2019t, police officers politely but firmly ask them to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kim knows she\u2019s not getting the full Temple Rome experience she would have had before the pandemic. There are no home stays and travel outside of Italy\u2019s Lazio region is restricted for now. But there are also unexpected perks, including no lines in places that are normally packed with tourists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wilson also has been taking advantage of reduced tourist traffic in Japan. She likes to take weekend trips from Tokyo and rent Airbnb properties, which are currently available at historically low prices. TUJ is offering in-person classes this semester, but Wilson is one of only a few study abroad students whose courses are all online, so she rents rooms with Wi-Fi and participates in class remotely from exciting nearby destinations. She recently took Japanese language and Asian philosophy tests from a room at the base of Mt. Fuji.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For Wilson, a sociology major in Temple\u2019s College of Liberal Arts, the highlight of her study abroad experience in Japan so far has been her internship. Study abroad students at TUJ can choose from a portfolio of internships that are either in person or remote. Hungry for an immersive experience, Wilson elected for the former, picking a position as an assistant English teacher at Yokohama EIRI Girls High School. She loves the internship and the commute between Tokyo and Yokohama\u2014and not just because of the spectacular views from the train.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI love everything about the job,\u201d Wilson said. \u201cI love the students, my boss is really nice and I get to interact with my coworkers in the flesh, which is awesome. It\u2019s shaping my worldview and influencing my plans for the future. I\u2019ve started seriously considering English teaching in Japan as a career.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How did Temple manage to open its study abroad programs in Rome and Tokyo at a time when so few other programs were willing or able to open? Temple leaders in Philadelphia, Rome and Tokyo credit a dedicated staff that shares a total commitment to international education and student safety. Dozens of Temple staff and faculty members worked tirelessly in the fall and over winter break to communicate with students, families and local authorities and develop plans for every aspect of the study abroad experience during a pandemic, from picking students up at the airport to rethinking the way academic content would be delivered. It helps that Temple\u2019s study abroad programs in Italy and Japan\u2014each among the oldest, largest and most respected in their host nations\u2014have their own facilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe have a plan for every scenario,\u201d said Temple Rome Dean Emilia Zankina. \u201cThe plan is not that things will go smoothly. We know they won\u2019t. The question is: Are you prepared? That\u2019s how you do it\u2014you plan in a rational, pragmatic way, being very honest and direct with everybody involved.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe one question that kept us going through all the planning exercises was: Would students be better off here with us? The answer was a resounding \u2018yes.\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cWe knew that if we stayed open, we could offer them a unique and magical experience.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Temple Rome\u2019s plans for every scenario were tested in March when, in response to an increase in COVID-19 cases, government authorities declared Rome and the Lazio region to be a \u201cred zone\u201d until early April, requiring nonessential shops to close, travel to be limited and schools to shift to online learning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe students are disappointed, of course, but we appreciate Italy\u2019s safety-first approach,\u201d Zankina said. \u201cWe knew this was a possibility. We were prepared, and it\u2019s been inspiring to see the resilience and adaptability of our students, faculty, and staff.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to Matthew Wilson, dean of Temple Japan (no relation to Emily Wilson), that magic is coming from a new source in 2021\u2014the prospect of normalcy. At Temple Japan\u2019s new home at the campus of Showa Women\u2019s University in the Setagaya-ku ward of Tokyo, many classes are in person. Beyond class, the pool is open once a week, the basketball and volleyball clubs are practicing and students are visiting shrines, going on hikes, participating in scavenger hunts, learning traditional Japanese crafts and bicycling back streets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI walk, bike and ride the train around Tokyo just in amazement at how normal things are,\u201d Wilson says. \u201cYou\u2019re able to get out and do things. Restaurants are open; people are eating inside. I go out on the weekends. I play baseball. I go to movie theaters. You\u2019re able to have conversations. It\u2019s a great time to be here in Japan.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Even so, the decision to pursue studying abroad during a global pandemic wasn\u2019t easy for any of the Temple students at Temple Rome or Temple Japan. For Emily Wilson, it helped to look at the statistics. A few weeks before she left, Pennsylvania was experiencing more than 10,000 new COVID-19 cases daily. Japan, with a population nearly 10 times as large, was seeing only about a quarter as many new cases each day. After quarantining when she arrived, she had a chance to witness the social forces that have kept COVID-19 incidence and mortality low in Japan, despite its dense population.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPeople follow rules here,\u201d she said. \u201cMask-wearing isn\u2019t a political statement in Japan.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Observing and comparing how different cultures respond to crises is part of what makes study abroad now especially valuable, says Associate Director of Education Abroad and Overseas Campuses Sara Sequin, who oversees Main Campus operations for all aspects of Temple\u2019s study abroad programs at Temple Rome and Temple Japan, including the management of student health and safety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cRight now, students have an opportunity to see how people are responding differently, how governments are responding differently and how health systems are responding differently to a pandemic.\u201d Sequin said. \u201cThat\u2019s part of what study abroad always is\u2014an immersive learning experience that extends far beyond the classroom.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By Hillel Hoffmann Students at Temple\u2019s respected Rome and Japan campuses are having unforgettable semesters\u2014and a welcome taste of normalcy\u2014at a time when the vast majority of study…<\/p>\n
Feature photography by Ryan S. Brandenberg
Article originally appeared on Temple Now<\/a>
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"