The Office of International Programs is considering a change in policy that would allow students to study abroad in countries that the U.S. State Department classifies as potentially dangerous for American travelers.
Currently, the OIP does not allow Brown students to study abroad in Israel, Lebanon, the Ivory Coast, the Philippines and other countries on the State Department's travel warning list because of concerns about student safety and University liability.
Dean of the College Paul Armstrong proposed the possible change last year and said students have also raised concerns with President Ruth Simmons and the Undergraduate Council of Students.
"I have for quite some time felt that this blanket policy ... is too rigid, too inflexible," Armstrong said. "Home campus responsibility should transfer to international travel."
Armstrong is currently working with the Office of General Counsel and OIP Interim Director Kendall Brostuen to develop an alternative policy.
Brostuen said the OIP was taking "a very close look at the policy" as well as at the policies of peer institutions regarding study abroad in countries with State Department travel warnings. "We are trying to come up with a policy that will work best for Brown, and there are other institutions that have examined the idea of giving students more responsibility, provided there are waivers," Brostuen said.
Both Brostuen and Armstrong stressed that the change is still under discussion, but that a new policy would likely involve a supplemental waiver during the study abroad application process. Currently, students wishing to study abroad must sign a waiver recognizing risk and acknowledging personal responsibility.
The supplemental waiver would require parents and students to acknowledge the higher risk involved and accept more responsibility. The policy would also likely include a provision to allow the University to forbid students from studying in war zones, such as Iraq or Afghanistan.
The new policy would also be likely to affect students seeking permission to conduct research through fellowships or certain research programs.
Armstrong said much of the work is in drafting a waiver that can withstand legal scrutiny. He said that Simmons is in favor of a general change in policy, although he has not discussed the technical details of the change with her.
Armstrong said he is optimistic that the Brown Corporation will be able to look at a proposal for a new policy by the end of the academic year, although the issue is still very much "on the table."
The discussion has included "a lot of conversation with students over the years," Armstrong said. He has helped students who wished to study in Israel in the past. "I share their concern," he said.
Even under the current policy, a number of students have managed to study in countries with travel warnings by taking a leave of absence. However, financial aid has not been available to students through this "backdoor system," which has disappointed Armstrong.
Elihai Braun '06 studied Hebrew at Ben-Gurion University in Beersheba, Israel, for seven and a half months. For the first few months, Braun "very consciously" avoided volatile areas but eventually traveled to the West Bank, took Palestinian transportation and spoke to people whose homes had been demolished.
"These study abroad programs work to make sure you are out of harm's way and you see the good parts of the country, but you can see misery and human rights violations if you take your own initiative," he said.
Braun described the "backdoor system" as "fairly easy," although he said he tries to discourage people from studying in Israel unless they want an experience that is "taxing on your soul."
However, Braun said that if a change in policy would help more students study in countries like Israel, he would support it.
"But if ... the same number of people will be studying (under the new plan) as through a backdoor system, then I don't see a lot of reason to change," Braun said. He also voiced concerns that a University-approved program would actually be more costly.
Raissa Rosenblum '06, who studied at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, called a changed OIP policy a "double-edged sword." While she said it would encourage more people to study in Israel, Rosenblum estimated that she paid a quarter of the tuition she would have paid to Brown had she gone on an approved program.
Armstrong said the financial issue was "moot" because of the OIP's new "home school" tuition model. Beginning with the Class of 2010, students studying abroad, even at programs run by other universities, will continue to pay Brown tuition, as The Herald reported earlier this month.
On the subject of student safety and risk factors, Rosenblum said, "I expect the average Brown student to be really intrigued by the politics of the region, but it's not the University's responsibility to prevent them from (exploring) that."
Rosenblum, who is a Middle East studies concentrator, ex-pressed concern that the OIP allows study in only a few Middle Eastern countries. She said it was "a little ridiculous" that students should be prevented from studying in Israel when there have been recent terrorist bombings in London and Madrid.
Jessica Ashooh '06 studied at the American University of Beirut in Lebanon. Because of the conditions at the time, Ashooh did not need to take a leave of absence to enroll in her program. But Ashooh said Lebanon "literally exploded" while she was in Beirut. The country is now on the list of states the OIP forbids students from visiting.
Ashooh said that the more dangerous a country, the more critical it is for students to go, particularly because current events relate vitally to academic studies. Ashooh had the opportunity to "witness the end of a 30-year foreign occupation, monitor parliamentary elections and participate in student uprising." She is now writing her senior thesis on the experience.
