Catherine Bermudez of Chester travels to Italy with Widener University's Programs in Higher Education

2014 Jun 18

Catherine Bermudez from Chester, Pa, recently traveled to Italy for an intensive international course exclusive for students enrolled in the Higher Education master's and doctoral programs at Widener University. The country is home to the world's first university, the University of Bologna, which Bermudez toured.

The trip exposed Bermudez to a new way of learning about the history of higher education and a national higher education system other than that of the United States through immersion.

Bermudez spent part of the trip engaged in fieldwork to understand how higher education has played a role in the lives of Italians. Bermudez got further insight into the Italian student experience after meeting with representatives from Fondazione RUI, which conducts research about and provides residential housing and experiential learning for students studying in Italian universities.

In addition to this meeting, Dr. Meghan Pifer, an assistant professor of higher education at Widener and the trip coordinator, arranged for all student participants to talk with the director of the Johns Hopkins Institute for Advanced International Studies in Bologna and take walking tours of Rome, Florence and Bologna as well as tours of the Vatican Museums, St. Peter's Cathedral and Square and the Sistine Chapel.