Some conversations stay with you.

This summer, I spent time with students from the College of Integrative Sciences and Arts and other ASU colleges while they were in the middle of their global internships in Prague. I visited their workplaces, I met their supervisors and, most importantly, I listened.

I listened as they talked about the work they were doing, the challenges they were navigating and the ways the experience was changing how they saw themselves as professionals.

It reminded me why what the college does matters.

 

From the beginning of my role as interim dean, I have been committed to expanding our mission of applied learning across CISA. My goal has been to create even more opportunities for students to take what they learn in the classroom and apply it to the complexity of the real world.

Applied learning is already in the DNA of many of our degrees, from applied sciences and project management to counseling, social media management and organizational leadership. But I also see it as one of the ways CISA distinguishes itself as a different kind of liberal arts and sciences college: one that connects knowledge to practice, experience and impact.

Global learning is an important part of this distinct identity.

The research supports this. The Forum on Education Abroad reports that 90% of alumni build job skills through study abroad, with critical thinking, adaptability and cross-cultural communication among the top skills gained. Alumni who have studied abroad also attribute their career success to that experience.

For me, those findings are not abstract. They speak directly to what we are trying to build in CISA.

That is why we have partnered with ASU’s Global Education Office and the Council on International Education Exchange to create opportunities that go beyond the traditional idea of study abroad. Sun Devils in Prague, one of five CISA-led global study programs, combines cultural immersion with customized professional internships that connect to students’ interests, academic backgrounds and career goals.

Prague is also a remarkable place for this kind of experience. It is a city where history is everywhere, but so are technology, contemporary art, engineering and international business. Students are learning to navigate a new city, a different culture and professional environments shaped by perspectives beyond the United States.

In that sense, the city itself becomes part of the classroom.

I had the opportunity to see that model in action.

At Akkodis, a global digital engineering and technology company that also has a presence in Arizona, I met Layla Levitt, an aerospace engineering student at the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering. I watched Layla interact with staff and company leadership with remarkable confidence. The conversation felt natural. She understood the environment, asked thoughtful questions and had clearly built meaningful relationships. She belonged in the room.

At Jan Čejka Gallery, Lindsay Bagnasco, an art history student at the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts, walked us through her work developing exhibitions from concept to implementation. Surrounded by contemporary art, she showed us models she had created and explained the thinking behind her designs. Lindsay was not simply observing Prague’s art scene. She was contributing to it.

At the Czech Institute of Informatics, Robotics and Cybernetics at Czech Technical University, Erik Garcia, an electrical engineering student at the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering, introduced us to his internship environment. The institute brings together research and education in tech areas including artificial intelligence, robotics and human-machine collaboration. Watching Erik navigate that space reminded me of what can happen when students are trusted to enter complex professional environments and learn by doing.

Our final site visit was eVisions, a digital marketing agency working across areas such as search, paid media, content, user experience and international strategy. There, Nadia Islamagic, a project management student at CISA, spoke about her experience with a level of ownership that immediately caught my attention. Digital work requires creativity and analysis, communication and strategy, cultural awareness and adaptability. Nadia was seeing how those skills come together in the real rhythms and expectations of a professional organization.

Four students. Four very different professional environments. Four carefully curated opportunities to grow.

This is CISA.

At each site, I spoke with supervisors and staff. I heard about our interns’ initiative, curiosity and adaptability. Then I listened to our students talk about what they were learning about their fields and, just as importantly, themselves.

None of this happens by accident.

I am deeply grateful to our partners in ASU’s Global Education Office and CIEE, whose team in Prague helped create and support these professional placements. I am also especially grateful to Wade Lueck, Ph.D., assistant teaching professor at CISA; he is the faculty lead for the program. Wade did a fantastic job designing and promoting this opportunity, recruiting students and setting them up for success during those critical first days in Prague.

And, yes, the learning extended beyond the internship sites.

One evening, we came together to prepare Czech potato and dill soup and crispy potato pancakes. It was another reminder that applied learning can happen in many places.

Sometimes in a robotics institute. Sometimes in a gallery. Sometimes in a kitchen.

For CISA, the goal is bigger than sending students abroad.

We are creating experiences that help students connect the dots between disciplines, cultures and professional environments. We want them to test what they know, discover what they still need to learn and begin to imagine themselves operating confidently anywhere in the world.

In Prague, I saw our students doing exactly that.

About Manuel Avilés-Santiago, Ph.D.

Avilés-Santiago is interim dean of CISA and a professor of communication and culture in the college’s School of Applied Sciences and Arts. A media studies scholar, his work explores media, culture and identity, with a focus on applied learning and expanding global opportunities for students.

Support the global studies program

The College of Integrative Sciences and Arts is passionate about providing students with global studies opportunities. To help make the program even more accessible, we have created the CISA Global Fund. Provide your support to students getting hands-on internship experiences in another country by donating to the fund today. 

Manuel Avilés-Santiago

Interim Dean and Professor
College of Integrative Sciences and Arts