Global Independent Study Projects — GLISPs — are entering their second year with more students than ever. This fall, 19 students embarked on the projects, compared to the 14 students who participated in the pilot program last fall, and 11 last spring.
GLISPs are essentially independent study projects conducted by a student while on a study abroad program. "The goal is really to tie study abroad to the Brown curriculum," said Kendall Brostuen, the director of international programs and associate dean of the College. "It allows students to continue at Brown even when far away."
Andrew Newton '11 did a GLISP on the origins of Italian humor while abroad in Bologna, Italy, last fall. Working with both a professor in Brown's Department of Italian Studies and a professor of literature at the University of Bologna, he studied general comedic theory, Italian culture and the works of Stefano Benni, an Italian satirist and comedian.
"It was a lot of fun," he said. "It was really cool to work one-on-one with a professor in this foreign university… This is an area that usually isn't available to Brown students."
Brianna Williamson '11, who is currently a peer adviser for GLISPs and studied abroad in Ecuador last spring, pointed to the process of constructing her curriculum as an interesting aspect of the program.
"It was neat to be able to design all the readings I did and then go out and do work," she said. Williamson is currently applying for a Fulbright scholarship to continue her research in Ecuador.
Geoffrey Kirkman, the deputy director of the Watson Institute for International Studies, is advising a junior abroad in Argentina this semester. Kirkman and the student set up her curriculum last semester, corresponded over the summer and have since kept in touch through e-mail and blogging on the Watson Institute's website, Global Conversation.
"In the same way that every Brown student needs to chart his or her education while at Brown, there are similar challenges with a GLISP," Kirkman said. "You have to put in the work to make it successful."
Brostuen added that the independent projects give students the opportunity to build off the work they do abroad when they return, through either a senior capstone project or thesis. Studying abroad gives them the chance to conduct a research project that "could never be duplicated here," he said.
Furthermore, Brostuen said, GLISPs "immerse students in their local context" and promote "cross-cultural communication skills."
Challenges with the program seem to arise simply because of practical issues, like e-mail communication. "When students are abroad, they have very full lives — studying abroad is about academics but also about being abroad," said Maud Mandel, associate professor of history and Judaic studies. "So (the projects) are really asking for an exceptionally motivated student. If you're working independently and there are no deadlines or weekly meetings you have to be prepared for, there is room to fall behind."
For the project Mandel advised last year, she and the student decided to communicate by weekly e-mails. Ultimately, both realized weekly Skype meetings might have made things run "more smoothly," Mandel added.
"I think it's a good program where individual professors should probably be cautious about making sure there's real structure in place when they do this so as to make it easier for the student to succeed," Mandel said.
Newton said self-motivation is an element of "the nature of independent research." But, he said, "I was very interested in the topic, so I did the work."
Williamson said that there was almost too much work she wanted to do. "I had really high hopes of all the things I would learn," she said. "I learned a lot, but I had to let go of a sort of X-Y-Z checklist… It ended up being a lot more of my personal experience because I didn't have the data or statistics."
Brostuen also pointed to the challenge for students of finding an adviser. The Brown Research Directory, he said, allows students to see which faculty are doing research in places the student might be interested in studying. "The biggest challenge is establishing that connection," he said.
In coming years, Brostuen added, the program is working on "trying to tap into partner schools' (resources)," though students would continue to work with a faculty adviser from Brown.
"We're hopeful it's going to take on a life of its own," Brostuen said. "Brown students are exceptional, and that's what allows us to do this."
