June 25, 2013
COPY BY: Rana McDonald, 806-651-2129, rmcdonald@wtamu.edu
WTAMU Students Learn Communication/Marketing in UK
CANYON, Texas—Nine West Texas A&M University students are focused on international marketing and communication during a 12-day sojourn to London that is taking them to advertising agencies, the BBC and the offices of international companies to learn about brand management and strategic communication in the UK.
The June 24-July 5 trip includes team-teaching sessions with trip advisers Dr. Nick Gerlich, Hickman Professor of Marketing, and Dr. Kris Drumheller, associate professor of communication studies, along with on-site visits to such businesses as the Coca Cola Education Centre, BBC Studios, Leagas Delaney Agency and SAB Miller. The 12-day trip earns them three hours of credit in either strategic communication or retail marketing along with the experience of a lifetime.
"There is so much to learn in London," Gerlich said. "It’s a global opportunity for our students with no language barriers. They will see all aspects of international marketing and communication through familiar brands as well as new ones."
The trip also includes various field trips to enhance the learning experience. The students will visit Buckingham Palace and Westminster Abbey as well as the British Museum and the Globe Theatre and Shakespeare Exhibit. The group also will take a day trip to Stonehenge and Bath. Gerlich, who took a WTAMU group in May 2011, also plans to take the students to tour the London Bridge, Camden town, Hyde Park, Piccadilly Circus and more.
WTAMU’s study abroad program offers different and exciting learning experiences through exposure to different cultures and programs not found in the typical classroom setting. And that is what Drumheller hopes the students gain from the London trip.
"First, I hope they find comfort in traveling and in the group setting," she said. "There also is the cultural aspect where our students will see the many differences in dress, interaction and socialization. This experience also will encourage them to step out of their western point of view and think globally."
The group is staying in student accommodations at Nido King’s Cross in central London, and the London stay has been coordinated by International Studies Abroad. For more information about study abroad at WTAMU, visit wtamu.edu/studyabroad.
—WTAMU—