Averett Study Abroad has Embarked on First International Trip since March 2020

Posted on June 28th, 2021 by Matt Bell

Averett students, one alumnae, and Associate Professor of English and French and Study Abroad Director Dr. Catherine Clark travelled to France late last week for the first Study Abroad trip since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

Clark said six students will be completing a three-credit-hour interdisciplinary course over a two-and-a-half week period from June 25 to July 12 for several different majors. The group will be visiting Aix-en-Provence, Marseille and Paris.

Students will be examining how French companies operate and connect to the United States. They will also be looking at French vendors, technology and cuisine, and will study French artwork as a part of academic topics they will be studying on site.

Averett sophomore QuiArse Stratton, a pre-med student minoring in equine science and French, is looking forward to travelling to France and building her knowledge of the French language.

“My goals for going to Study Abroad are to be a better speaker as well as to become familiar with their common spoken language. I want to become a French person, in a way,” Stratton said. She has been studying French for the last seven years.

Carlita Britten, who is finishing her master of business administration in December, is looking forward trying new foods.

“I’m really looking forward to the dining because I am probably going to fixate my blog on the food culture, ordering, knowing what to do and dining etiquette,” Britten said. “I want to experience another culture and get away from the United States.”

While in France, Britten also hopes to learn more about international business cultures, methods used and more about the country’s longevity in business.

Clark will be making the trip herself to better understand how travelling abroad will be in a post-pandemic world. She has worked with the Institute for American Universities (IAU) for conditions and expectations going forward. With international travel opening back up, Clark said precautionary measures are in place for travel protocols, which align with current COVID-19 procedures.

“There have definitely been some more hoops to jump through. We can’t do things as early as usual like securing tickets, because we had to be sure students could be vaccinated,” Clark said. She noted France announced in April a staggered reopening for restaurants, businesses, museums and schools.

“It isn’t a return to normalcy, but it is an opening of options and it’s not going to look the way it did,” she said.

Britten and Stratton both said they feel good about traveling abroad as restrictions are lifted, but they are proceeding with caution.

“I am glad restrictions are being lifted, but I am also using precautions such as wearing a mask and keeping my hands clean. I also hope others are vaccinated as well,” Britten said.

“I feel better about it just because the world is opening back up, but I am also cautious because people aren’t concerned about other people’s health. That’s what I am the most worried about,” Stratton said.

Clark has worked alongside Dr. Timothy Fulop, vice president for academic affairs, and Don Aungst, vice president, CFO and COO, in thinking through risk management.

“Even though I see travel opening up because I am a travel bug, I expect virtual internships and health precautions will stay,” Clark said.

France is geographically and economically in the center of Europe. The French language is the third most common language in the United States behind English and Spanish.

Historically, Clark said the history of the United States and France overlaps, and she is excited that students will be able to not only gain credit hours, but also experience French culture in person. Students will be taking a day trip to Arles where Van Gogh had a studio as well as spending the final days of the trip in Paris on walking tours, at the Eiffel Tower and on a river cruise.

Aix-en-Provence is roughly the size of Danville, Clark said, and has been occupied since the Roman Empire.

The last trip for Averett Study Abroad students was before the pandemic occurred in March 2020, when equestrian students traveled to Ireland. They returned just days before travel was suspended.

For more about Averett Study Abroad, click here.