New travel journals tell of Centre student adventures in Japan, Indonesia and France

RELEASED: Feb. 22, 2007

DANVILLE, KY—Want to experience first-hand, day-by-day details of living and studying abroad? Traversing London on the Tube, learning to reproduce Mayan designs in a ceramics class in Merida, traveling by bus along the "Pass of the Ocean Clouds" in rural Vietnam?

Thanks to travel journals created by Centre College students, vividly written travelogues, illustrated by numerous photographs, are just a click of the mouse away.

In the past few months, there have been many new entries. Laura French, a sophomore international relations major from Austin, Texas, narrates her Japan travels; and Patrick Brigman, a senior economics major from Paducah, Ky., writes of his experiences in Indonesia.

In the coming weeks, Mark Mallman, a senior anthropology/sociology major from Franklin, Tenn., will be filing dispatches from France. And there are archived entries from India, England, France, Japan, Northern Ireland and Morocco—among others.

More than four of five Centre students study abroad. This year, participation in study abroad programs is edging even higher. A recent study compiled by Milton Reigelman, director of Centre's international programs, shows that a record 86 percent of 2006 Centre graduates studied abroad.

International study is a way of life at Centre. In addition to guaranteeing graduation in four years and an internship, the Centre Commitment guarantees each student the opportunity to study abroad.

Centre ranks in the top 5 of the 3,500 colleges and universities in the country in student participation in foreign study. What makes Centre's programs different from those at other colleges and universities is that a Centre faculty member with significant knowledge of that region of the world lives at the site, teaching and coordinating special trips and other activities.

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Founded in 1819, Centre College is ranked among the U.S. News top 50 national liberal arts colleges. Centre alumni, known for their nation-leading loyalty in annual financial support, include two U.S. vice presidents and two Supreme Court justices. For more, visit http://www.centre.edu/web/elevatorspeech/

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