MayX Study Away Opens Doors to Growth at Home

Each summer, after most Furman University students scatter to their homes, some stay for MayX, the three-week term with classes that are a little out of the ordinary, like “Insect Diversity” and the unrelated “Meet the Beatles.” It’s the amuse-bouche of the academic year.

Many classes take place on campus; others are part of Study Away. This year, nearly 300 students traveled with 18 classes to Budapest, Bangkok, Cape Town, Warsaw, Rome, Sydney, New York and other far-flung locales. They’re led by Furman faculty and staff who have created classes such as code breaking in World War II London, deference and democracy in Thailand, happiness in Copenhagen and Portugal’s medical system. See some of their pics in the gallery below.

Grace Finkel ’28 with a new friend at an elephant sanctuary in Thailand.

“Our faculty create the most rewarding programs around the world where the destination is the classroom for examining interdisciplinary topics,” said Nancy Georgiev, director of Study Away and International Education. “Students are inspired by authentic interactions with the sites and local culture. Tremendous growth occurs when students are outside their comfort zone but still have the guidance of the Furman faculty members to unpack and contextualize their experiences.”

Grace Finkel ’28 wanted to study away but can’t afford to take a semester off because of work and leadership roles on campus. Studying “Deference and Democracy in Thailand” with professors Brandon Inabinet and Mai Nou Xiong-Gum in communication studies was the perfect fit. Not only is she studying areas she’s interested in — politics and communications — but, she said, “Thailand is also across the world from home, and I enjoy challenging myself through new experiences.”

On the trip, Finkel said the group has met with NGOs and they’ve visited clinics and temples. They’ve spoken with a political party, explored different neighborhoods and visited an elephant sanctuary. It’s been “life changing,” she said.

Kadie Tran ’26 and Jacob Mijalli ’28 are in the United Kingdom with a class called “Medical Mysteries and Histories.” Carolyn Day, the William Montgomery Burnett Professor of History and Victoria Turgeon, professor of biology and the academic director of the Prisma Health Partnership, are leading students through curated anatomical, medical and health collections to study historic and current illnesses.

Students are learning about anatomy, medicine and murder, ancient and medieval medicine, alchemy and other themes in historical context, and relating them to today’s culture and policy, research, how disease has influenced culture and policy, how historical research informs new research in disease epidemiology and other topics.

Tran, a biology major from Columbia, South Carolina, emailed to say she “wanted to find a study abroad program that aligned with my career interest in medicine. A MayX experience opens to more real-life opportunities beyond a classroom setting, helping me apply what I have learned in the real world.”

The Medical Mysteries and Histories MayX class toured historical medical sites throughout the United Kingdom.

She’s curious about the evolution of surgical and medical instruments, and how medicine’s history shaped its present. She feels like the insight she’s gaining now will help her better understand patients and be a better physician.

Tran said she’s enjoyed the traveling to five cities (Edinburgh, York, Oxford, Bath and London) and the academic and cultural lessons, but even more than that she’s strengthening bonds with her professors and peers.

Jacob, also a biology major, wanted to learn how medicine developed in the UK and about “elements of UK history like the Burke and Hare murders and the Roman Baths. I also wanted to learn more about the culture of the United Kingdom and Europe as a whole compared to the United States,” he said by email.

“This MayX has been amazing so far!” said Jacob, who’s from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. “It has exceeded my expectations and I have learned far more about a broader range of subjects, such as comparative anatomy and apothecaries, than I expected to.”

“The museums have such deep wells of information and are full of history that I don’t think I would ever have learned about otherwise,” Jacob said. “Each museum has offered me so much new knowledge and understanding of different time periods and cultures in the history of medicine, like the Viking era or the Edinburgh body snatcher era.”

Walking through the UK meant Tran had to step out of her comfort zone, she said, and there she found growth.

“I explored more about who I am as a person and became more self-independent and self-reliant in an unfamiliar culture. I took the time to find what inspires me, facing my fears and overcoming them, finding my strengths to maximize them to their potential,” Tran said.