Education Abroad & the ieiMedia Experience

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WELCOME to the Institute for Education in International Media (ieiMedia) blog. In this first blog, we wanted to share highlights from our programs to inspire you to combine fun, professional development, and travel!

What to consider when combining fun, professional development, and travel:

• International project-based experience is a great addition to your professional portfolio.
• Our 4:1 student to faculty ratio allows you to customize your education abroad.
• ieiMedia programs are open to all schools, all majors - new friends, new adventures!
• Four-to-six-week programs are a great option for students traveling abroad for the first time or who can’t take off for a semester.

As a result, our students customize their projects and create their stories using their chosen media format including text, web design, digital photography, audio, and video. Each location is designed to simulate a professional work situation. In fact, the faculty is organized like a media production company, with each faculty member acting as a producer in charge of a team. Students generally attend brief classes in the morning and fan out across the city, with the help of interpreters, searching for and developing stories in the afternoon.

In addition to developing a unique approach to documentary journalism/filmmaking, our programs offer exceptional lessons for international media education. Hence, the model we have created has students working as journalists/filmmaking crew members in new and possibly non-English-speaking environments. This teaches you how to quickly access and function within a foreign culture – lessons that can be applied to any career.

Even more important is the "Small Places" approach to journalism/storytelling education, international or otherwise, implicit in many of our locations. We work in the micro approach to global media education that emphasizes working at the grassroots level first and, perhaps, foremost. The resulting experience is immersion at its best. 

At the same time, our students are eager to embrace a new culture and live in apartments, dorms, or homes scattered about town and among townspeople.  These international locations become "home" as students return from their weekend forays in the surrounding area. 

Praise from our Storytellers:

“Here we studied Journalism, photography, and videography. As a student aspiring to go into the artistic field, coming to Urbino was one of the best experiences I have ever had. Before the program, I had never heard of this town. Little did I know, it would be life changing. I made lifelong friends, connections, and was given opportunities one can only find abroad. This town was filled with wonderful people, and breathtaking scenery. Living here for only four weeks felt like a dream. I want to thank the amazing people that helped me along the way, and those who ran the program. Truly grateful for this opportunity. Grazie mille!”  - Jordan Anderson, Urbino Summer 2022

“My time has been nothing short of extraordinary. I have pushed myself out of the comfort I had settled into back home and truly feel that this place has brought me back to who I really am.” - Dakota Kendall, Adriatic Summer 2023

Hopefully, you’ve been inspired to consider an education abroad experience to enrich your future career in journalism, filmmaking, communications, or marketing. If you have questions or topics, you’d like us to cover, we’d love to hear from you.

Here’s to making memories and developing professional skills that will last a lifetime!