Abstract
Many study abroad programs find it challenging to ensure that the participants do not simply turn an excellent educational opportunity into a semester-long travel excursion. The Syracuse University London Program (SULP) is one such program where the staff is constantly promoting activities in an attempt to avoid this and increase cultural immersion. Literature citing sports as a solution to this challenge is scarce. This paper attempts to find out how and to what extent sports can be used as an immersion tool on a higher education study abroad program. Case study methodology was used to discover the ways SULP have used sports in the past, or would like to use them in the future as a way to immerse students in the host culture. Observations, program evaluation assessment, an immersion questionnaire, and interviews with staff and faculty were used as research tools. For some students, sports have the potential to be an effective tool for cultural immersion on study abroad programs. In addition to providing SULP with some basic research on this topic to further assess for their program, this research can be used across a number of programs which are trying to increase the productivity of uses of activities to culturally immerse their students.
Recommended Citation
Sweet, Joseph, "Sports, immersion and study abroad at the Syracuse University London program" (2006). Capstone Collection. 634.
https://digitalcollections.sit.edu/capstones/634