Study Abroad/Missions Forum
Thursday, December 11, 2025
2:30 - 5:00 PM
Alexander 115 Classroom
As outlined in the Program Handbook, a student can earn one additional Honors Unit by giving a report on a study abroad or Baylor missions experience. To facilitate this opportunity, the Honors Program will host a Study Abroad/Missions Forum at the end of fall classes. Typically, this forum is held on the first dead day before final exams, from 2:30-4:30 or 5:00 pm in Alexander Classroom.
If you have recently returned from either a study abroad experience or a Baylor-affiliated mission trip and want to provide a report, please contact Al Beck and provide the information requested at the bottom of this page. A report from a student who participated in the Baylor in Washington Program is also acceptable for this opportunity.
For those students considering a study abroad experience, this forum will give you a chance to hear from other students about the benefits, pitfalls, and opportunities provided by specific study abroad or missions experiences. All Honors Program students are encouraged to attend.
Procedure:
There are two ways an Honors student can receive Honors credit for his or her study abroad or Baylor missions experience. The first option is preferred.
1. Paper and presentation:
Write a 4-5 page paper (double spaced, standard formatting) and make a brief presentation at the scheduled Forum. A copy of the paper is due in the Honors Program office (Morrison 203) prior to the start of the forum.
2. Paper Only:
Write a 12-14 page paper (double spaced, standard formatting) due in the Honors Program office before the start of the forum.
With either option, the paper and/or presentation should address one or more of the following themes:
- The transformation of the self through foreign study and interaction with other peoples;
- How your experience abroad affected your perception of your foreign host country, your native country, or both;
- How your experience influenced your academic or vocational aspirations and plans;
- How the value(s) of honor was expressed or transformed by your cross-cultural experience
- The particular difficulties you encountered in your study abroad experience, and how you were able to meet or overcome them
- How differences in language, culture, and tradition fundamentally changed the nature, method, or outcome of the study of your academic discipline
- Any other theme, topic, or presentation approved by the Honors Program Director, Assistant Directors, Faculty, or Staff.
Other relevant information
- Depending on the number of students presenting, the forum may be divided into two sessions. Students making a presentation for Honors credit need to remain present for the entire session.
- Failure to turn in the paper before the forum may result in a loss of Honors credit, even if a presentation is made.
- The presentation does not have to be a recitation of the paper and may include other features and elements. The presentation can be a talk, slide show, PowerPoint, poster display, etc. Presentations should run about 5-7 minutes, maximum. If time permits, there will be a brief Q&A session, perhaps at the conclusion of the forum. Students who participated in a common Study Abroad or Mission experience may work together on their presentation, but each will have to write a separate paper.
- Papers and presentations, when feasible, will be made available in the Honors College for the remainder of the semester and into the spring term.
- The Honors Program Study Abroad/Missions Forum is only in regard to Baylor-affiliated experiences. Other cross-cultural experiences (including church-sponsored mission trips), while immensely valuable, are not properly the subject of this Forum.
Email Al Beck to present at the next Study Abroad/Missions Forum with the following information:
- Name
- ID No.
- Major
- Expected date of graduation
- Study abroad/Missions location
- Study abroad/Missions date
- Format preference (paper only or paper and presentation)
- Other comments