2 i The Blue Banner I 4.4.2012
Photo courtesy of Hillary Martin
Kate Shirley, Phoebe Wahl and Lizzy Woolf relax near ancient standing stones on Scotland's Orkney Islands, while studying at the Findhorn Ecovillage.
Bulldogs abroad: Stones, scooters and sustainability
Students experience global perspectives through study program
Sidney Setzer
sse/zer@unco.edu - Staff Writer
In northern Scotland lies the
Orkney Islands, where stu
dents participating in UNC
Asheville’s study abroad pro
gram were able to experience
standing sacred stones firsthand
which date before the pyramids
and Stonehenge. These sacred
sites are just one aspect of the
study abroad experience.
“An ecovillage is a human-
scaled community, harmlessly
integrated with nature, sup
portive of healthy human de
velopment and sustainable,”
said Kate Shirley, a senior at
UNC A studying psychology
and women, gender and sex
uality studies. She is studying
abroad in Findhorn Ecovillage
in northern Scotland.“Other
than being an ecovillage. Find-
horn is a spiritual community
and education center.”
The study abroad program
at UNCA offers different ways
to gain worldwide experience
while receiving course credit.
Exchange programs and faculty
led programs can transfer in as
credit for UNCA classes.
“There’s a Cambridge pro
gram that goes every sum
mer and one of the programs
is Humanities 324, so that’s
a requirement. But instead of
taking it here on campus, stu
dents have the option to take
it abroad,” said Cara Gil
pin, study abroad advisor at
UNCA.
Shirley said her classes are
much more unusual than UN-
CA’s, though.
“The classes I am taking are
on topics that I haven’t studied
while at UNCA so it’s been nice
to break away from the usual
coursework and delve into
some new subjects. I feel like
UNCA encouraged me to think
outside of the box and look at
topics from a bunch of different
viewpoints, and that has proven
to be really useful in my classes
here,” Shirley said via email.
Shirley participates in cours
es in environmental design,
communications, service learn
ing and education while at
Findhorn.
“Of all of the classes I’ve tak
en while at UNCA, my LSIC,
Women and the Environment,
best reflects my classroom ex
periences I’ve had at Findhorn.
Similar to that class, I spend a
lot of time looking at the inter
section of different belief sys
tems, cultures and disciplines
as well as experiential learning
through gardening and farm
ing,” Shirley said.
Apart from course credit,
students said they also receive
useful life experience for the
future.
“Anyone who has studied
abroad will have a certain level
of adaptability and flexibility,
which is highly coveted. Even
if they choose to not work in
ternationally, we are working
with a large diverse population
and it only helps to have that
kind of aptitude,” Gilpin said.
The Study Abroad office
works closely with the Career
Center at UNCA to help stu
dents see the value of studying
abroad in the workforce today.
Gilpin said studying abroad
also provides personal experi
ence as well.
“Sometimes students will
find out that they have a strong
interest in a certain area of
study or they may come back
with a newfound passion that
they didn’t have before they
left,” Gilpin said. “There’s a
new sense of self many times,
and sense of independence that
they didn’t have before or con
fidence that they’ve navigated
see ABROAD on page 5