Department of ACE Undergraduate Program

International and Study Abroad Opportunities

ACE-Specific Study Abroad Opportunities

Small Business Development in Brazil -- Winter Break 2013

Led by ACE faculty member Nick Paulson, this 12-day trip from January 1-12, 2012 is leading a group of 12 ACE students who are interested in business planning and participate actively in the National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA) University of Illinois chapter on campus.

The trip will focus on the Parana region of Brazil, an area rich in agricultural history.  Students will see an international port, visit with a soybean breeding company, an agricultural research company, a coffee farm, a grain elevator, agricultural cooperative, paper packaging company, and wind farm. 

Follow the group as they blog about their experiences:  http://publish.illinois.edu/experiential-ace/

International Business Immersion Program

This two-week immersion to a country, now in its 11th year, puts students in the shoes of a global executive as they walk through a marketing channel from Illinois farm to fork in a country of study, 2013 focusing on Brazil.  Three components comprise the IBIP experience:  a preparatory course during Spring semester which grounds students in key business, economic, political and institutional dimensions of the focus country; a 14-day immersion tour allowing students to view and understand the issues they've studied; and a public on-campus presentation and video screening of the group's research findings during the fall semester.  Follow the IBIP Blog at:  http://ibip.illinois.edu/trip/europe-2012.

Sierra Leone -- Winter Break 2011-2012

The rice paddies of Sierra Leone served as the setting for a once-in-a-lifetime experience for a group of University of Illinois students who have returned inspired to use their future degrees on an international scale.  The 11 students led by Dr. Paul McNamara used their knowledge and education to help improve the livelihoods of the Sierra Leone people, who continue to re-build their country after a civil war that ended in 2001.  To fulfill the research component of this education abroad experience (ACE 499 SL), the group was assigned to conduct a rapid assessment of inland valley rice swamps developed by a USAID-funded project, Promoting Agriculture, Governance, and Environment (PAGE), which is facilitated by World Vision and ACDI/VOCA. PAGE is an ongoing initiative to develop agriculture and natural resource management in Southern and Eastern Sierra Leone. McNamara’s group spent a week interviewing farmers and residents of the south-eastern part of Sierra Leone to learn about the issues they face and their experiences related to the rice swamp developments and organization of farmers’ groups.

View a slideshow titled “ACES in Sierra Leone” that is posted on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNJsMmDp8Dk.

ACE 199 -- Food, Farm and Environmental Policy -- Spring Break

The Agricultural Policy and Leadership Program (ACE 199) will provide students with a well-rounded immersion in complex issues and constraints in linking food/wine production, business management, policy making and environment.  The class explores these linkates and relationships through the California agribusiness lens as well as through a variety of groups who have a divergent policy view.  Students enroll in an 8-week course during Spring semester, then tour the San Francisco bay area during spring break March 16-22, 2013.

Watch a blog from the 2012 Trip which focused on agricultural policy in Washington, D.C., http://ace.illinois.edu/agleadpolicy.

ACES Study Abroad
This once-in-a-lifetime experience will improve cross-cultural-communication skills, learn how others live, what values they hold and why. Returning students find immediate practical advantages to overseas study when it comes to participating in on-campus recruiting.
Campus Study Abroad Office
Through study abroad students: are prepared for global citizenship; gain or enhance area linguistic, subject, and cultural knowledge and competence; contribute to their host communities; emerge wiser and more engaged citizens.
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