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| While Studying abroad, Travis
White's travels included a stop in Germany at the Berlin Wall. |
As international borders become increasingly
transparent, so do the classroom walls of Purdue’s School
of Agriculture.
International Programs in Agriculture (IPIA)
adds an international dimension to teaching, research and Extension
in Purdue Agriculture. IPIA collaborates with educational institutions,
agencies and organizations around the world in a wide range of activities
that include welcoming international students to West Lafayette,
faculty exchanges, and technical assistance and technology transfer.
But most agriculture students view IPIA as the point of departure
for overseas adventure. IPIA helps them see the world thanks to
academic programs that involve 25 institutions in 21 countries.
“Such world events as the Persian Gulf
War and 9/11 have caused our students to be much more aware of the
world,” says Michael Stitsworth, associate director of IPIA.
“Increasingly, students are interested in study abroad when
they arrive at Purdue.”
Growing global
It hasn’t always been that way. Although
IPIA has existed for 30-plus years, historically, few Purdue Agriculture
majors studied overseas, only 19 total from 1975 to 1990. All that
changed when then-Dean Robert Thompson, former assistant secretary
of agriculture under President Reagan, made internationalizing the
undergraduate experience a high priority. Stitsworth credits Thompson
for understanding the importance of international exposure for Purdue
students. In the context of the period—the fall of the Berlin
Wall and dramatic changes in Europe—the Purdue Agriculture
initiative fit perfectly with increasing interest in internationalization
campus-wide.
Supporting agriculture programs abroad were more
than $1 million in federal grants that the university received to
develop exchanges in central Europe and the former Soviet republics—not
necessarily first-choice destinations, but made highly appealing
by the low cost of getting there. “This jump-started our program,”
Stitsworth says.
Among the students who took advantage of the
subsidized travel was Curt Hasselbring ’93, a grain farmer
and farm manager in Decatur and surrounding counties. The agricultural
economics graduate made his first trip overseas on a summer program
to Ukraine. The program included classroom study of the Russian
language and the country’s economic system, as well as weekly
farm tours, where the students questioned farm operators and managers.
Hasselbring says the experience was eye opening,
and he was struck by the relatively primitive operation of the Ukrainian
farms. “It did not change the career path that I envisioned
for myself, but it certainly gave me a higher degree of appreciation
for our standard of living and the style of living that we enjoy
in the United States,” he says. “That sticks with me
very vividly to this day.”
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