In January 2025, UMBC will facilitate its STEM-focused research study abroad program in Barcelona, Spain.

The program, developed by UMBC’s Center for Global Engagement’s Education Abroad Office and the College of Natural and Mathematical Sciences, was created to provide students with an affordable study abroad experience while expanding study abroad access for students in technology, engineering and mathematics fields. 

Steven Caruso, principal lecturer of biological sciences, will lead up to 18 undergraduate students on a three-week program to Barcelona to investigate bacteriophage biology research. Caruso ’94, Ph.D. ’02, biological sciences, is the co-leader of UMBC’s SEA-PHAGES program, called Phage Hunters, a two-course undergraduate genetics and bioinformatics sequence.

In 2023, UMBC received the institution’s first capacity-building grant for study abroad from the U.S. Department of State’s Increase and Diversify Education Abroad for U.S. Students (IDEAS) initiative to develop the “Phage Hunters in Barcelona” program. The study abroad program combines asynchronous online learning and hands-on training opportunities at research institutes in Barcelona.

“The IDEAS grant helps to make education abroad more accessible for UMBC students,” said Katherine Heird, UMBC’s director of education abroad and global learning. “This innovative program offers students an unparalleled opportunity to delve into biomedical research, hone their intercultural communication skills, and build connections across the globe.” 

Find out more about the UMBC faculty-led Phage Hunters in Barcelona, Spain, study abroad program. 

During her office hours, President Valerie Sheares Ashby makes it a point to meet weekly with students and hear about their UMBC experiences and their aspirations for life after UMBC. Today, Jenna Beshara, a senior English and visual arts double major, shares her Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement Day (URCAD) project with the president. Beshara, who spent last summer on a study abroad program in Wales, painted a series of Welsh watercolor landscapes with paints she made herself using only natural ingredients. In this excerpt of their conversation, she and President Sheares Ashby discuss the importance of pursuing art and research through a sustainability lens.

President Sheares Ashby: These paintings are just beautiful. I feel like the water is just coming off the page. Is that the way you painted it or is it actually texture?

Jenna Beshara: Thank you! It’s a little bit of both, because the pigment—no matter how much you grind it or sift it—it’s still going to be a little bit coarse and gritty. I found out that it takes about a week to make one batch of pigment. You start with flowers or vegetables or plants—red cabbage actually makes the best blue—and you put them in a pot and pour boiling water over it. Then it’s a sequence of simmering and letting it rest. After you strain out all the materials, you add in a salt compound and baking soda. You grind what’s left, which turns into a mud-like consistency. It needs a week to dry and then you grind it and strain it several times. 

But to make the paint, there’s quite a bit of chemistry involved. The idea just kind of came to me because acrylic paint is like liquid plastic. It’s really bad for the environment.

Sheares Ashby: I am a polymer chemist, so I know what you mean. I appreciate that you did watercolor and environmentally friendly materials. That is very impressive. How did you decide to start this project?

Beshara: After I came back from Wales, I knew I wanted to apply for a Fulbright student grant to do more arts research. My mentor, Timothy Nohe, a professor in visual arts, suggested I use URCAD as a jumping-off point for my research project.  He supports me in everything that I do. I’ll come to him and I’m like, “Hey, I want to do this.” And he’s like, “Awesome, do it.” 

At one point in this project, I was so frustrated because I wanted to make oil paintings. The homemade oil wasn’t drying, and it looked so gritty. So I went to Professor Nohe and said, “I don’t know what I’m doing.” And he said, “Well, if the medium isn’t working, just change it.” And that blew my mind, and I was like, “Whoa, I can do that?”

Sheares Ashby: When I look at these paintings of these beautiful landscapes, it reminds me that from an environmental framework that if we do not care for this, it will not continue to look like this. This beauty that you have captured is not guaranteed. We have a responsibility to keep this as beautiful as it is.

Beshara: I’m applying for an Undergraduate Research Award to keep studying this because the supplies to make the paint can get a little pricey. But it’s so important, with climate change, that sustainability and art can go hand-in-hand.

Sheares Ashby: I love UMBC because our students are so focused on making some version of difference in the world, no matter the discipline. It is rare that I run into a student who doesn’t think about whatever they care about in an interdisciplinary way. Most of my students—like you—are thinking about how they are going to change something in the world to make it better. 

David L. Di Maria, Associate Vice Provost for International Education, UMBC.

India is up. China is down. Very few U.S. students studied abroad during the first year of the pandemic.

Those three points, in a nutshell, represent key findings from recent data released jointly on Nov. 14, 2022, by the U.S. Department of State and the Institute of International Education.

The “Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange” is published each year at the start of International Education Week. It provides detailed insights regarding study abroad and international students.

Rise in virtual study abroad

This year’s report shows a 91% decline in the total number of U.S. students who studied abroad during the 2020-2021 academic year. The pandemic also led colleges to develop more online global learning opportunities. In fact, 62% of colleges offered virtual internships with multinational companies, collaborative online coursework with students abroad and other experiences.

While virtual learning cannot replace the immersive experiences of study abroad, it can expand access to other cultures and international perspectives for greater numbers of students. For this reason, technology is likely to continue to serve as a key part of international education programming.

Number of international students grows in the US

While the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to a 45.6% decline in new international students in 2020, the latest data, covering the 2021-2022 academic year, indicates that the total number of international students in the U.S. – 948,519 – has started to recover. This can be seen in a 3.8% increase over the 914,095 international students in the U.S. in 2020. Still, the number is well below the nearly 1.1 million international students reported in 2018. Much of the recent growth is driven by an increase in the number of new international students – 261,961 – which is up 80% over the 145,528 from 2020 but still 2.14% below the 267,712 from 2019.

Students from China and India comprise more than half – 52% – of all international students. That isn’t anything new, but what is noteworthy is that during the 2021-2022 academic year, Chinese student enrollment fell 9% and the number of Indian students increased by 19% over the prior year. This has big implications for international diversity at U.S. colleges. This is because Chinese students tend to enroll in a range of majors, while most Indian students – 66.4% – study in just a handful of programs: engineering, math and computer science.

Souring relations with China

Over the past decade, U.S. colleges enrolled more students from China than from any other country. While the onset of the global pandemic effectively halted travel between China and the U.S. due to flight restrictions and widespread lockdowns, the decline in Chinese enrollment began years earlier.

Contributing factors include Chinese parents’ concerns for their children’s safety in the U.S., development of China’s own world-class universities and souring relations between the two countries, which has spilled over into the higher education sector. In fact, in 2019, China’s Ministry of Education warned students against studying in the U.S. due to the risk of encountering visa problems.

College and careers draw many out of India

China and India each have around 1.4 billion people, but by 2023 the United Nations predicts that India will overtake China as the world’s most populous country. This continued growth will further strain India’s higher education system, leading to more students pursuing advanced degrees abroad. At the same time, poor job prospects at home are driving many Indian students to pursue academic and career pathways that lead away from India. This is especially true in high-paying, high-growth fields like computers and information technology.

Other contributing factors to the increase from India include a change in tone on the part of the U.S. government. The Biden administration is working to reestablish the U.S. as a welcoming destination for international students by enacting reversals of Trump-era immigration policies. Those policies caused uncertainty and fear among international students. The Biden administration has also prioritized the processing of student visas in India.

Looking forward

The Institute of International Education also released data from a Fall 2022 Snapshot Survey, which includes responses from more than 600 U.S. colleges and universities. The findings point to a 7% increase in new international students enrolled.

While the U.S. Department of State continues to prioritize student visas in India by adding more staff and streamlining the process, Chinese visa approvals are trending lower than in years past, although it’s difficult to pinpoint a single factor as to why. A further decline in Chinese students presents major challenges for the U.S., its colleges and the communities in which they are based. This is because in addition to the US$32 billion that international students collectively contribute to the U.S. economy, the friendships and cultural insights that they develop while studying at local colleges serve to promote U.S. foreign policy in the form of positive relations between the U.S. and other countries.

As the number of U.S. college students is projected to decline across much of the country, college recruiters will increase outreach to international students in order to fill empty seats. However, whether international student recruitment alone can fill those empty seats is yet to be seen.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Imagine having the chance to put down your books and computers and hit the open road. For a growing number of UMBC students, summer study abroad offers the opportunity to explore new cultures, meet interesting people, and see the beauties of the world first-hand.

This summer, UMBC’s Office of Study Abroad sent groups of eager students to four amazing locations — Italy, Colombia, Spain, and the Netherlands — and lucky for us, they captured photos and special moments all along the way!

Siena, Italy

Student: Tenzin Yangchen, global studies
Course: Italian Politics
Read Tenzin’s full blog from Italy

“My favorite things about my host location so far is definitely the number of designated stores for wine, pizza, and gelato that the place has to offer… Siena is famous for its magnificent art and architecture that are reminders of the renaissance period. So naturally, we had a couple guided tours of cathedrals around the town. One of the best schools in the country, University of Siena, is also located here and luckily our program allows us access the library and cafeteria amongst other Italian students.”

“The farewell dinner last night officially marked the last agenda of our program with the group leaving next day alongside the professor. My bus however leaves in the evening towards Rome, so I’m exploring Siena for one last time in the morning. I have formed a special bond towards this place and have scribbled ample memories into my journal that will last a long time.”

We bid Florence goodbye and headed back to Sienna. The bus ride was a peaceful one since everyone was exhausted and was busy catching up on some