New study abroad programs strengthen connections with professional schools

Center supports programs to Panama, Costa Rica

Two new study abroad programs took flight in Spring 2025, thanks to developing partnerships between the Center for Latin American Studies and professional schools.

In January, eight students embarked to Panama on the 8-day immersive program “Exploring the Canal Across Disciplines,” led by Dr. Pingchien Neo, Director of International Engineering Programs at the Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering. The students learned about the Panama Canal through the interdisciplinary lenses of the program's collaborative sponsors: the Center, the College of Engineering, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Beyond120, the Warrington College of Business, and the College of Health & Human Performance.

The Center also supported the study abroad trip for Cynthia Barnett and Dr. Gabby Salazar’s Environmental Reporting class. Over spring break, the group of journalism students headed to Costa Rica to report on environment-based development and ecotourism by conducting interviews, videography, and photography at farms, research stations, and national parks. See the students’ final projects at wuft.org/the-price-of-paradise.