Last year, the inaugural class of Global Competency Scholars traveled for 10 days during spring break to Germany and the Czech Republic. This year, a new group of students will travel to Italy.
Eighteen monetary awards of $500 will be given out, lowering the cost of the trip to $3,600 for each student. 
The group will visit six cities in Italy: Venice, Florence, Assisi, Pompeii, Capri and Rome.
Students must be academically enrolled in fall and spring semesters and must have a GPA of 2.5 or better to attend the Italy trip.
Faculty members who are leading the trip include Honors Coordinator Judy Carter, Science Professor Susan Burgoon, Art Professor Steven Cost and Theater Professor Ray Newburg. Heather Atchley, director of student life, will help coordinate the Italian activities.
Students who hope to attend the trip will need to have a valid passport. It must be the book passport and not the card. The card passport works only in Canada and Mexico.
Students with any major may attend, but they will be asked to join a group led by one of the three faculty members. Professors will choose to focus on a city for each group of students. Teatro Valle, the oldest theater still active in Rome, is one of many sights students could see.
Newburg plans to lead a group there. He said that every night, presentations take place with the support and constant participation of well-known actors such as Franca Valeri, Nanni Moretti and Elio Germano.
Students going on the trip will participate in the Global Certification Program this spring, a tuition-free course where students will conduct research and do presentations on the trip that relate to each student’s major and an international topic.
Students who are serious about attending should act fast. Several students already have been selected to travel, and spots are filling quickly.
Carter said traveling abroad completely changed her worldview and that she loves studying and learning to appreciate new cultures.
“With each educational study experience, we grow to better understand the cultures we visit and our own educational humanitarian capabilities,” she said.
Email Judy Carter at honors@actx.edu to receive an application or for more information about either program.
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