June 24, 2024

Friars on the Move: Global Journeys Beyond the Classroom

Discover the diverse travel opportunities available to Providence College students beyond traditional study abroad programs. Here are some of the unique experiences available to Friars, including enriching Maymester courses, service-learning trips, and Catholic pilgrimages.

World map with torches as location pins over the various locations travelled.

PC in South Korea 🇰🇷

Maymester Course 2024

ART/HIS 479 Modern Korea: The Colonial Period, the Cold War, and Beyond

A group of students traveled to South Korea as part of their Maymester course, Modern Korea: The Colonial Period, the Cold War, and Beyond. The class was offered through both Department of History and Classics and the Department of Art and Art History. Students could pursue photography and digital storytelling or independent research projects as part of their academic study and field experience.

🎬: Rob Livingston ’26

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PC in Puerto Rico 🇵🇷

Maymester Course

SPN 370 Special Topics in Hispanic Studies: Narrating Catastrophe: Health, History, and Culture in Puerto Rico
HPM 395 Research
NURS 457 Health Promotion

This immersion program in Puerto Rico deepened students’ understanding of its history, culture, health determinants, and healthcare system. Through visits to museums, health clinics, and hospitals, students explored the impact of culture and politics on health and improved their Spanish language skills. Highlights included excursions to Ponce, San Juan, and clinical observations in rural and urban health centers.

Group of students posing with a PC flag in Puerto Rico — Serrallés Museum.

group of students standing in front of MedCentro sign — MedCentro shadowing day — a federally qualified community health center in an urban area.

group of students posing at a scenic point on a hike in Puerto Rico — Hiking El Yunque, the only national rainforest in the U.S.

group of students posing at a hospital — Hospital Castañer visit to research the burnout experienced by health care workers in the area.

students visiting the Pharmacy Museum in San Germán — Pharmacy Museum in San Germán, Puerto Rico.

group of students sitting in a circle with musical instruments in Puerto Rico — Musical workshop to explore Puerto Rico’s cultural evolution of dance and music traditions.

El Morro in San Juan, Puerto Rico — El Morro in San Juan.

Students on a guided tour of cultural sites in PR — Guided tour of cultural sites of OId San Juan with Dr. Carlos Guille López.

Students on a guided tour of the Ponce Museum in Puerto Rico — Ponce Museum of Art.

PC in Italy 🇮🇹

Maymester Course

HUM 371 Ambition and Beauty in the Eternal City

This Maymester trip immersed students in Rome’s political and artistic heritage. They explored ancient ruins, imperial artifacts, and sacred masterpieces, with visits to the Vatican Museums, Colosseum, and St. Peter’s Basilica. The program included day trips to Florence, Pompeii, and Orvieto, along with evening strolls, group dinners, and discussions in iconic Roman settings.

Relive the Maymester in Italy course trip through the lens of Faith Reis ’25.

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Peru 🇵🇪

Service-Learning Trip

PC MEDLIFE

Students in PC’s new chapter of MEDLIFE, a nonprofit organization coordinating service-learning trips to Latin America and Africa, traveled to Lima, Peru, to provide medical care and learn about local issues.

The main goal of the PC chapter is to empower students to advocate for change through trips and on-campus activities, linking fieldwork to academic discussions.

🎥: Yamilet Nieves-Vega ’26

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Guatemala 🇬🇹

Service Immersion Trip

Students in the Guatemala immersion program, organized by Campus Ministry, volunteer with Friends of San Lucas, a non-profit partnered with San Lucas Mission in San Lucas Tolimán, an indigenous Maya village by Lake Atitlan. Known for its comprehensive approach, San Lucas Mission focuses on enriching individuals spiritually, intellectually, and physically by tackling both the immediate impacts and root causes of poverty.

More service immersion opportunities

Group photo of students posing in front of a scenic Guatemala background — The group visiting the town of San Juan on the other side of Lake Atitlán from San Lucas.

Students carrying cement blocks on a service learning trip to Guatemala — Students carrying cinder blocks helping to build a house.

Church in Guatemala — Church of San Lucas, founded by the Franciscans in the 16th century. It’s the center of all the mission activity run by the Mission San Lucas and the parish church of the town.

Students and locals chopping vegetables in the kitchen — Students helping with a cooking class for children.

Fr. Damian Day celebrating mass with a small group of students in Guatemala — Rev. Damian Day, O.P. ’15 celebrates Mass in the room where Blessed Stanley Rother, American priest and first U.S.-born martyr, was killed while defending his congregation.

Students carrying a mattress on their service learning trip in Guatemala — Students delivering a new bed to a family living in one of the most impoverished villages.

Interior of a church in Guatemala — Church of San Lucas decorated for the Feast of Corpus Christi, which included a Eucharistic procession around the town beginning at the church.

Student sitting on the ground rolling something across a stone slab — Student grinding corn to make tortillas in the traditional Mayan way.

Student and local children with drums — Kamryn Kerr ’26 showing off his drumming skills by joining a local band practice.

Italy 🇮🇹

Aquinas Pilgrimage

In the midst of a Jubilee Year honoring the anniversaries of St. Thomas Aquinas’s life, death, and canonization, a group of Providence College students, faculty, staff, and alumni celebrated with a pilgrimage to walk in the footsteps of St. Thomas Aquinas in Italy.

The group visited Naples, where Aquinas met the Dominicans, Rome, where he taught, and Orvieto, where he wrote many of the Eucharistic prayers we use in the Church today. Pilgrims also attended daily Mass and listened to talks tailored for the PC community.

Group of people standing outside in front of the Cathedral of Orvieto in Italy — Cathedral of Orvieto, where St. Thomas Aquinas wrote the hymns and prayers for the Feast of Corpus Christi.

a group of people standing in front of a building in Italy — The courtyard of the Angelicum in Rome.

Rev. Simon Teller, O.P. praying in the chapel of the miraculous corporal in Orvieto.

From left: Rev. Justin Bolger, O.P., Rev. Paul Clarke, O.P., and College Chaplain Rev. Simon Teller, O.P. — The Friars in Naples. From left, Rev. Justin Bolger, O.P., Rev. Paul Clarke, O.P., and College Chaplain Rev. Simon Teller, O.P.

group of people standing in front of a church in Italy — The group at Roccasecca, St. Thomas Aquinas’ birthplace and the first church ever dedicated to him.

photo of the italian countryside — View from the tower where St. Thomas Aquinas was imprisoned by his family in an attempt to stop him from being a Dominican friar.

Group of people standing outside in front of a Cathedral in Italy — St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City.

woman with hat inside a church — St. Peter’s in the Vatican.

two Domincan Friars standing on the coast of Naples, Italy — Rev. Paul Clarke, O.P., left, and Rev. Justin Bolger, O.P. in Naples, where St. Thomas Aquinas first met the Dominicans.

Four Dominican Friars playing musical instruments — The Hillbilly Thomists’concert at the Angelicum, the Dominican university named after St. Thomas Aquinas.

Washington, D.C. 🇺🇸

‘PC in DC’: Alumni Networking Trip

This year, 10 students traveled to Washington, D.C., in May to meet with alumni as part of the PC in DC program.

They got to visit iconic locations such as the Pentagon and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and learned about careers in politics, law, finance, media, the arts, and healthcare.