Study abroad is a force for change

"BEYOND THE lab: MIT pushes for more study abroad" (City & Region, Oct. 14) noted that few American engineering, math, or computer science majors study abroad. Yet at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute, fully half of our undergraduates, most of whom are science and engineering majors, study abroad for at least one term, many for more than one.

As part of our global studies program, WPI students spend seven-week terms at one or more of our project centers around the world. Working in small teams, they confront, and solve, problems at the intersection of technology and society. In the past year, for example, our students have designed an irrigation system on the site of a home for abused children in Thailand and developed a plan to eliminate hazardous waste in Costa Rica .

This is not your father's study abroad, with American students attending classes that happen to be in London or Paris but are not all that different from those on their home campuses. This is daily, substantive engagement with the local culture, people, and problems.

We salute MIT and other technological universities for their increased interest in project-based learning and study abroad from the vantage point of 35 years' experience with these important and effective modes of education.

DENNIS D. BERKEY
President, WPI
Worcester