Romanian Studies Program Update

A new group of students has arrived with the Romanian Studies Program. Jan Hockensmith, social work professor at Olivet Nazarene University, brings a group of students to Romania every year for the last 2 weeks in May. This year’s group included 3 students. I had the opportunity to travel with them to a few places of interest, including the fortified church in Biertan (click here to read more about Biertan from my visit in March) and Sibiu (see pictures below).

Photo: Professor Dorothy Tarrant telling RSP students about the church in Biertan

Two other students, one from Malone College and one from Grand Valley State University, are spending the majority of the summer in Sighisoara. Their main project is to work with Veritas to develop an ongoing program for teenagers who have special needs. Veritas already provides services for adults and families of children with special needs, so this new service will provide a missing puzzle piece, so to speak. Please pray for the students and the Veritas staff as they work toward this goal.

I am working more closely with the summer students in their cross-cultural learning by leading a weekly discussion on cross-cultural issues they face and how to deal with them in constructive ways. I’ll be doing the same with the group of six RSP students who will be spending the fall semester in Romania.

One final bit of RSP news – we are working to develop a new website for the Romanian Studies Program. It’s looking good, but we still have some work to do before the website is released. I’ll keep you posted on its release.

Pictures of Sibiu:

The Romanian Studies Program provides American college students with the opportunity to send a semester, summer, or January-term in Sighișoara, Romania, in an immersion study-abroad program with an emphasis on faith-based service learning. Since its establishment in 1993, over 400 students from a wide range of U.S. colleges and universities have participated in the program. Until the new website is released, you can read about the RSP at www.veritas.ro.