As summer kicks into gear, more than 300 Cal State Fullerton Titans will be headed out to experience the world through summer study abroad programs. From Denmark to Greece to South Africa, CSUF has 15 summer programs embarking over the next few months that will allow students to not only complete coursework toward their degrees but gain invaluable experiences of life and culture in other countries.

For those with wanderlust, CSUF’s Study Abroad & Global Engagement department is where students can connect with a team of people ready to help them find which study-abroad program is the best fit. This team includes Global Student Ambassadors — Titans who have been study-abroad travelers themselves and have a wealth of information to share with their fellow classmates.

“They carry out a lot of the advising at the peer level for us,” said Shari Merrill, CSUF SAGE associate director. “They will conduct info sessions representing our office ranging from general topics that focus on what study abroad is, to more specific topics such as funding for study abroad and advising about specific scholarships that are particularly relevant to our student population.”

Many of CSUF’s study-abroad programs happening this summer are faculty-led, which means a CSUF faculty member leads the program and the experience ties into a specific class or subject matter. CSUF marketing lecturer Luis Salem is taking a group of 20 students from the marketing department in the College of Business and Economics in July to Florence, Italy.

When Salem retired after a long career in automotive business marketing, where he worked for corporations such as General Motors and Ford, he decided he wanted to give back and share some of the information he had learned. He joined CSUF in 2022 and teaches classes on global marketing and import/export marketing.

Salem jumped at the opportunity to teach his CSUF global marketing course in Italy this summer. His own study-abroad experience in Italy as a college student was life-changing, he said. During his yearlong program abroad, he met his wife and ended up staying in Italy to start a family before moving back to the U.S. 10 years later.

“I’m originally from Argentina … but I have a very strong relationship with Italy,” Salem said. “So, when I had the opportunity to do this at Cal State Fullerton, I thought, that’s like synchronicity or something, the universe coming back and giving me the opportunity to do it again.”

The senior and MBA students in Salem’s class will begin the coursework with a one-week online intensive session before traveling to Italy in mid-July. Once there, the three-week term will include visiting Maserati in Modena, a parmesan cheese maker in Parma and a leather manufacturer in Florence to see up close how these companies handle international business and marketing at the global level.

The trip will also include excursions to Cinque Terra and Venice, as well as cooking classes, group dinners and sightseeing so the students can soak up as much of the Italian culture as possible. For many of Salem’s students, this is their first trip abroad.

“It gives you a completely different perspective than just traveling as a tourist,” Salem said. “There’s a big piece on learning more about how business is done by these companies and having the opportunity to meet students from the University of Florence and the university professors from Italy.”

The number of CSUF students participating in study-abroad programs is returning to pre-pandemic numbers, with more than half of current participants attending summer trips. Other options for Titan students include semester or yearlong programs, and SAGE’s staff is ready to provide guidance and support in determining the right program and how scholarships and financial aid can be utilized to make the trips accessible.

“There’s so much information out there that we understand it can be overwhelming,” Merrill said. “Our role is to help students know what the different program types are, what aid applies for each program type, what additional support there could be from outside scholarships or from the university and to help them to work with their academic departments to know if this program is actually going to be effective.”

Merrill said one of the greatest benefits of helping send students abroad is seeing them return home with a new level of confidence and an invaluable skill set that will help them into their career paths and beyond.

“They come away with that sense of confidence in themselves, the skills development and their problem-solving ability,” Merrill said. “They’re very open-minded when it comes to considering their environment around them and other people’s opinions and beliefs. The experience of studying abroad is unique, and it is something that sets these students apart.”

For faculty interested, call for proposals for faculty-led study-abroad programs are due to the department by July 14. Contact [email protected] for more details.

For more information on CSUF’s SAGE program, visit extension.fullerton.edu.