English Students at Abington
One month after the Abington students return home, the BNU group arrives to explore the American justice system, from on-the-streets police work to examining the effectiveness of drug policies.
Highlights, according to one student, included meeting a Philadelphia judge and visiting the city District Attorney’s Office, as well as coursework on the death penalty led by Oren Gur, assistant professor of criminal justice.
“Since we did away with capital punishment in the 1960s, I haven’t been exposed to this in my lifetime,” the student said. “It was awesome to see what the students and the teacher thought of it.”
The group engaged with modern law-enforcement officers during a daylong visit with the Abington Township police and then jumped back more than a century and toured Philadelphia’s Eastern State Penitentiary, once the most famous prison in the world.
'Bringing the world to Abington'
Dolores Rafter Arevalo, coordinator of the college's Office of Global Education & Engagement, believes international experience should be a cornerstone of an undergraduate education.
This includes engaging with Abington's growing international student population, enrolling in courses with brief required travel (embedded courses), or semester-long study abroad experiences. In addition, Arevalo coordinates academic engagement for visiting German, English, and South Korean student groups.
"Many students for personal or academic reasons may never have the opportunity to study abroad, so, in addition to sending students abroad, Penn State Abington brings the world to our campus,” she said.
Penn State Abington, formerly the Ogontz campus, offers baccalaureate degrees in 18 majors at its suburban location just north of Philadelphia. Nearly half of its 4,000 students complete all four years at Abington, with opportunities in undergraduate research, the Schreyer honors program, NCAA Division III athletics, and more. Students can start the first two years of more than 160 Penn State majors at Abington and complete their degrees at University Park or another campus. Lions Gate, Abington's first residence hall, will open in August.