Houston,
19
October
2022
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14:00 PM
America/Chicago

Spring Study Abroad in Romania: Something Students Will Remember for the Rest of Their Lives

Bucharest, RomaniaIn another sign that life has normalized after COVID, the University of St. Thomas-Houston Criminology, Law & Society Program is planning a study abroad trip to Romania for May 2023. The purpose of the journey is to learn the many ways the Romanian government is combating human trafficking and organized crime.

UST Director of Criminology, Law and Society Dr. Michael Kane will accompany up to 15 students to their destination, Bucharest — the capital of Romania and the fourth largest city in the European Union.

Why Romania?

“I let my criminology students decide on the country,” Kane explained. “Frankly, since I have a number of Hispanic international students from Central America, I thought one of them would speak up with connections to Guatemala or Costa Rica, but the person who responded was my international student from Romania.”

Camelia Pop studying Criminology, Law & Society with a focus on human traffickingUST Junior Camelia Pop comes from a small village in northern Romania. She is majoring in criminology with a focus on human trafficking and knew her native country would be a perfect fit for the study-abroad trip.

Pop said, “Romania is a main source for people being trafficked in Europe. Many poor, uneducated people from small villages are easily manipulated into forced labor or tricked into sex work by the false promise of money.”

Kane said, “It’s also a stopover for a lot of people who are in transit from Africa or the Middle East. And since it borders the now troubled Ukraine, even more people are being trafficked to Europe or Canada.”

Since Romania is a hotspot for human trafficking, the study abroad group will be interested in that country’s efforts to fight it.

Planning a Schedule Beyond Borders, Beyond the Classroom

Michael Kane, Director of Criminology, Law & SocietyAs Kane develops the trip schedule, he has been in touch with Romania’s National Agency Against Trafficking in Persons, a division of the Ministry of Interior. He is also coordinating with a representative for the Prime Minister’s office, Madaline Turza, who met earlier this year with President Biden on the topic of refugees from Ukraine.

In addition to study-related sessions, there will be plenty of opportunities to have fun and absorb the beautiful country’s rich history and culture. Kane is even trying to schedule a Transylvania castle on one of their side trips.

“Like all of UST’s study abroad trips, this one will be something unique that the students will remember for the rest of their lives,” he said. “By the time we’re done, I hope it helps them to realize we’re part of a global community, and we need to work for its betterment.”

Students interested in more information about this opportunity to study abroad in Romania should contact Dr. Michael Kane at kanemf@stthom.edu.

UST’s Criminology, Law & Society program gives students the information and ethical insight to change the world through social justice. Students may choose to focus on human trafficking or terrorism and homeland security.