For two years Dave Cooper has coordinated Butte College’s Study Abroad Program. Cooper, a graduate of UC Santa Barbara moved to Chico in the late ’80’s to bring his daughter closer to his family here. He started working part-time at Butte as a ceramics instructor and eventually got a job as a full-time teacher with the art department.

Cooper experienced the Study Abroad Program firsthand in Costa Rica on a program called Pura Vida. While there, he said, he learned things he couldn’t have in the States because of his total emersion into the culture. He was placed with a family in Costa Rica and learned the different nuances of the culture while also learning a lot of Spanish. Cooper said he feels that the Study Abroad Program’s goal is to “try to provide students with international experience, so they can see other cultures operate differently and see their own culture from a new perspective.”

Students also get credit units for the trips.

The program offers three trips this summer to locations all over the world: A tour of Italy from May 30 to June 19; a tour of the Ancient Mediterranean in Turkey from June 1 to June 24; and a tour of the Maya country in Mexico for two weeks in June.

The tours vary in price with the tour of Italy costing $4,200, the tour of the Mediterranean $4,300, and the Maya country tour goes for $2,350. Although the trips seem expensive, students eligible for financial aid can put money that money toward the trip. Plus there are a number of scholarships and other financial aid information available on the program’s website, www.butte.edu/instruction/hum/sa/index.html, under the financial aid section.

If you have any questions about the program or are just curious and want to know a little more check out the website or contact Dave Cooper at 530-895-2415, or email at CooperDa@butte.edu.