Name: Marcelle Ellis, Class of 2023

Email: mellis6@tulane.edu

Program: CIEE Liberal Arts - Seville, Spain

Fields of Study: Sociology, Spanish

How did studying abroad affect your academic and/or professional career?

Studying abroad provided me with a total perspective shift on how I viewed myself as a student and a citizen. Being immersed in a language I had been studying since elementary school was a challenge that forced me to break out of my routine and learn to take initiative in improving my fluency in Spanish. Having the opportunity to live with a host family gave me a firsthand look at Spanish traditions, food, and cultural values that were sometimes familiar or otherwise a new experience for me. Ultimately, this has widened my perspective on what schooling, leisure time, and careers, particularly my interest in the medical field, can look like outside of the United States and has, in turn, caused me to reflect on how I am accustomed to living.

How did you explore your hobbies, interests, and passions abroad?

When I was in Seville, I was able to expand upon my English as a Second Language teaching experience that I had begun in my service-learning class here at Tulane. My program offered a volunteer service that placed me in a vocational school in which I helped the instructor in teaching 16-25 year old Spanish students English phrases and traditions. This weekly experience allowed me to connect with Spanish students around my age and learn about their interests, unique phrases, and favorite spots around the city while I was able to share the American traditions of Thanksgiving and our own slang.

Why would you recommend your respective abroad program or location?

For me, Seville was an ideal location to study Spanish. Less metropolitan than Madrid while still located in a large and historically rich Spanish city, Seville is the right amount of walkability that leaves room for constant exploration. Compared to some of the other larger touristy cities I visited, Seville felt the most "Spanish" in that most people only spoke Spanish and rarely ever switched to speaking to me in English if they detected I was an American. Further, the option to stay with a host family was one of my favorite aspects of my study abroad semester. Everyone's experience is different, but my family was exceptionally welcoming and encouraging in helping me transition to this new place.

What should students consider when applying and preparing for their time abroad?

Don't be afraid of cultural or linguistic immersion! It can be really frustrating and intimidating to enter a location where you, at first, do not know how to communicate with people, but this ultimately really improves your comprehension and fluency. On that note, remember take a moment and reconnect with your family or friends because the new environment may be exhausting at times.

Share a story about a time you experienced cultural immersion.

My fellow Tulane friend Lisa and I decided to take the train to the historical city of Granada, Spain, for her birthday. After spending a day exploring the Alhambra, we found a posting for an event that night: Flamenco in a cave. We were intrigued and decided to go, eventually finding ourselves in a cave built into the cliff within a neighborhood that housed its own flamenco stage! Andalucia is known for its flamenco in the Sacromonte caves, and we were lucky enough to experience the passionate music and dance firsthand. Feeling the rhythm and energy with the cave acoustics was incredibly powerful and solidified this as one of my favorite memories while I was abroad.

Originally from Memphis, TN, Emma moved to New Orleans to study Economics and Linguistics at Tulane University (’21). Emma studied abroad through the Stacy Mandel Palagye and Keith Palagye Program for Middle East Peace, learning about politics and conflict in Jerusalem and Amman alongside a cohort of Tulane students. This study abroad experience completely shifted Emma's perspective on their identity, academics, and career interests. This became the foundation for their interest in global citizenship, understanding US politics abroad, and studying abroad as an avenue to build solidarity and awareness of global issues. Emma's other interests include outdoor adventures, creating art, and learning about the world and its languages.

As an advisor, I am passionate about supporting students who have never left the U.S. before during their study abroad journeys. I know firsthand that studying abroad can open so many doors - academically, professionally, and personally. I am happy to help you search for scholarships and navigate the bureaucracy of studying abroad.

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Siena Farrar is originally from the Chicagoland area, but moved to New Orleans to attend Tulane (’17), where she studied Public Health and Anthropology. During high school, she studied abroad in Japan and lived with a host family, and hosted several Japanese students when they studied abroad in America. During her spring semester of her Junior year at Tulane, she participated in CIEE Community Public Health in Khon Kaen, Thailand. As a student she was involved in the Asian American Student Union, Gamma Rho Lambda, Tulane Peer Health Educators, and worked and interned in various capacities both on and off campus. She enjoys both travelling and eating, and usually plans her travelling around eating.

As an advisor, she is passionate about supporting underrepresented students during their study abroad journey. She believes that studying abroad should be an opportunity for all students and works to help students navigate institutional barriers. 

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Meredith Connelly has worked in the Office of Study Abroad since 2018, receiving her Master of Liberal Arts from Tulane in 2020. Her thesis explores contemporary gender roles in East Asia as represented in Korean and Japanese dating sim or otome games. Although Meredith’s undergraduate study abroad experience was primarily concentrated in Western Europe—Paris, Dublin, and Edinburgh—Meredith has since visited sites in Eastern Europe, Africa, and Asia.

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Annie Gibson is the Director of Study Abroad at the Center for Global Education. She leads Tulane’s efforts to promote intercultural learning campus-wide and, together in partnership with colleagues at CGE and returned study abroad and international students, she collaborates across campus on intercultural initiatives, including the Tulane IDI Qualified Administrators Group. Annie ensures that the entire study abroad process---from recruitment and advising through students’ experiences in the field and upon return to Tulane---align with best practices in international education and the OSA’s learning goals for study abroad.

A North Carolina native, she completed her PhD in Latin American Studies at Tulane University in 2010. She joins the Center for Global Education after teaching at Tulane in the Departments of Spanish and Portuguese and Latin American Studies and working as a resident director for Tulane semester programs abroad in Costa Rica and Cuba. Annie has studied, worked, and taught in Brazil, Cuba, Costa Rica, Mexico, Argentina, the Dominican Republic, Senegal, Spain, and Denmark. She teaches a range of courses in intercultural learning and Spanish and Portuguese languages, literatures, and cultures on Tulane’s campus and abroad.

Annie actively engages with a research agenda. Her areas of research specialization include Cuban and Brazilian performance cultures, immigration, travel and tourism studies, and intercultural learning. She has published widely, including two books: Post-Katrina Brazucas: Brazilians in New Orleans (UNO Press: 2012) and Hispanic and Latino New Orleans: Immigration and Identity Since the 18th Century (co-authored, LSU Press: 2015). The latter won the 2015 J.B Jackson book prize for contribution of the year to the historical and ethnic geography of the United States (Association of American Geographers). She has also published articles in accredited academic journals such as Studies in Latin American Popular Culture, Latin American Music Review, Brasil/Brazil, Cuba Counterpoints, and the Delaware Review of Latin American Studies and co-produced and directed a short film in Cuba entitled Tempo of Tomorrow Revisited that explores US tourism to Cuba in 1958 and 2014.

Please contact Dr. Gibson with any questions, concerns, or ideas about the OSA’s agenda on study abroad and intercultural learning.