A huge aspect of the college experience is studying abroad. So many college students travel across the world for a semester (sometimes more) to experience a new culture and live in a new world.
Other students want to study abroad but don’t want to spend the money to fly across the world, or want to study in a political or legal setting. If you are a student who doesn’t want to go abroad, but wants to study away from Lasell for a semester, fear not! Here at Lasell you have the opportunity to take a semester and study away… in Washington, D.C.
Lasell partners with The American University School of Professional and Extended Studies (SPExS) to send Lasers down to the Nation’s Capital to study in a wide variety of programs. The Washington Semester Program (WSP) offers the following areas of study: American politics, foreign policy, global economics and business, international law and organizations, journalism and new media, justice and law, and sustainable development.
“As the program’s Journalism and New Media director,” said Gil Klein, “I draw on my years of experience as a national correspondent to take my students everywhere from the Washington Post to NBC, SiriusXM Radio, BuzzFeed, Politico and the National Press Club.” Journalism students speak with people who explain how they do their work and how they adapt to rapid technological changes that transform the profession of journalism as well as public relations.
Through WSP, students are completely immersed in what is happening now in the career they are pursuing. Students make connections with current professionals in their fields and travel around the city for class.
Studying in D.C. is a way for students to advance their professional goals. “It is the opportunity of a lifetime,” said Angela Connolly, a WSP Journalism and New Media alum. “I was part of the press for the Nuclear Security Summit, where I was able to take photos of former President Obama during his closing press conference. I wouldn’t have had this opportunity otherwise.”
While many people do choose to study abroad, studying in D.C. is a career move like no other. Abbey Rollins, another Journalism and New Media alum, said, “Every professor or professional I met with was so willing to help me explore options in my desired career field and put me in contact with the right people. The program opened up so many doors for me professionally and of course enabled me to make so many new friends from all over the country and world.”
For more information about WSP, visit Lasell’s Domestic Abroad page or American University’s WSP page.
*Photos provided by author.