Austin College

Austin College students experienced the first JanTerm in 1968 and the four-week term that allows in-depth research or investigation of new interests through on-campus courses, career exploration through internships, travel courses, or independent projects remains one of the most popular features of the College among students 40 years later.

JanTerm is not unique to Austin College; some 50 plus schools offer a similar short term — some in January, others in May. Still, the opportunities of JanTerm — like studying the World War II while walking the actual battlefields or hiking in the rain forests of Bolivia in connection with studies of the environment — are described as life-changing by many students. International courses are often the flashiest; the courses on campus can have similar impact.

With courses taking them from Canada to Timbuktu and points around the globe, students travel on foot, by bike and by boat, on camels and elephants, and through all kinds of environments to discover the world around them.

A Small World After All

Mary Gwen Hulsey, in cap, finds Austin College Kangaroos everywhere she goes. She discovered students from the “Pyramids, Pharaohs, and Mosques” course in Egypt this January. Ben Hulsey is at the far right.

Ben and Mary Gwen Chapin Hulsey of Houston, both 1968 graduates of Austin College, were in Aswan, Egypt, looking at an unfinished obelisk very early one morning in January 2008 when Mary Gwen, a senior member of the College’s Board of Trustees, glimpsed the crimson sweatshirt of a young woman passing and “literally grabbed her to ask where she goes to college.” As the student turned toward her, Mary Gwen fully saw Austin College on the sweatshirt. Connections were made, other students gathered, a photo was taken to commemorate the chance meeting.

That “chance” experience is made more interesting because of past similar experiences. In January 2002, Mary Gwen, at an elevator at the Louvre in Paris, overheard a group discussing a cancelled course to Rome. She knew an Austin College student whose Rome trip had been cancelled so she asked the group where they went to school — Austin College! And, in 2006, in Colorado, Mary Gwen boarded a ski lift, asked her seatmates where they were from, and discovered Texas connections, then Presbyterian connections, and finally, Austin College connections as beneath the scarves, hats, and goggles of ski attire, she discovered new board member Stan Woodward. In every case, last minute changes to her itinerary caused her path to cross that of students — predestination she’s sure. Whatever the cause, she’s a Kangaroo magnet — and with the many travels of students during JanTerm, she’s likely to attract even more!

During January 2008, 348 students traveled to Australia, Bolivia, brazil, Costa Rica, Egypt, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, India, Jamaica, Japan, Mexico, Peru, Scotland, Spain, Turkey, and Uruguay, studying architecture, language, environmental issues, rat, medicine, science, history, politics, and culture. Students and faculty also spent time in Austin, Texas; New York City; and Washington, D.C., studying foreign investment, independent film, leadership, and U.S. foreign policy. Many students completed career study or individual exploration, including 21 who chose international sites of Chile, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Ethiopia, India, Kenya, and Pakistan.