Moran Center for Global Leadership Introduces Maymester Opportunity in Australia

Villanova, Pa. November 20, 2018 – The Elenore and Robert F. Moran Sr. Center for Global Leadership (MCGL) is pleased to announce a Maymester opportunity in Sydney, Australia which includes a special section of Global Political Economy with a focus on the Asia-Pacific region. During the two-week program, students will participate in business lectures and meetings with multinational executives and explore Australia.

Students participating in the Global Political Economy of the Asia-Pacific Region program will gain an understanding of the political, economic, and historic origins of the Asia-Pacific region while experiencing cultural immersion by living and studying in an international and multicultural city. While completing academic coursework, students will also be able to participate in corporate site visits and cultural activities. Through engagement with corporate and cultural leaders, professors and local partners conducting international business in the Asia-Pacific region, participants will cultivate an international perspective and inspire a global mindset that will foster the desire for further study abroad and future employment overseas.

Michelle Casario, PhD, Co-Director for the MCGL, added, “I have been leading an MBA global immersion program to Australia and New Zealand since 2011, and throughout the years, my undergraduate students have asked me if this type of program could be available to them. In response to this, we developed the Maymester initiative and look forward to expanding the opportunities for Villanova students in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond.”

This new model will attract students underserved in traditional study abroad programs who are unable to participate in semester- or summer-long programs. As Kim Cahill, Director of the MCGL noted, “In my previous experience, I found that students who are cautious about embarking on an international experience are often emboldened after a short-term program and go on to participate in a summer or semester abroad. Others are willing to be more adventurous because of the short-term nature, and will then gain interest in traveling to more exotic locations.”

This program will represent VSB’s first short-term faculty-led program for undergraduate students. In the future, the Moran Center for Global Leadership is eager to expand this initiative to emerging markets to provide internationalization opportunities for VSB faculty and staff and to increase students’ intercultural competency.

For more information, please visit Villanova University Office of Education Abroad.

he Villanova School of Business (VSB) undergraduate program is ranked #1 in the nation by Bloomberg Businessweek and its online graduate business programs is ranked #1 by U.S. News and World Report. VSB has been at the forefront of business education since it was founded in 1922. Serving over 2,700 undergraduate and graduate students, VSB is home to five Centers of Excellence – the Daniel M. DiLella Center for Real Estate, the Elenore and Robert F. Moran Sr. Center for Global Leadership, the Center for Business Analytics, the Center for Marketing & Consumer Insights and the Center for Church Management – with each designed to foster innovative, cross-disciplinary research and applied opportunities for students. VSB is known for academic rigor; creativity and innovation; hands-on and service learning opportunities; a firm grounding in ethics; and an applied education that prepares students to become outstanding leaders and global citizens within the ever-changing, complex, and fast-paced world of business. For more, visit business.villanova.edu.