SCHOOL OF HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES
North American Politics Education Abroad Course in Toronto, Summer 2010
The Course
PL SC 299/499 - North American Politics, 3 credits - will take place in downtown Toronto between May 9 and June 5, 2010. The class is an official Penn State Education Abroad course that can be used to fulfill requirements for the political science major or minor at any PSU campus, the international politics major at University Park (PL SC 499 only), and requirements in some majors for an Education Abroad component, including the international business major at Penn State Behrend. The course may also meet requirements in other majors and minors. The course is open to students at all Penn State campuses.
The course will be co-taught by Dr. Robert Speel, associate professor of political science at Penn State Behrend, and by a Ryerson University professor. The class will take place on the Ryerson campus in downtown Toronto and will include students from Penn State and Ryerson in the classroom together. American students from Penn State and Canadian students from Ryerson will participate together in class discussions and on class excursions and will take the same exams. Penn State students will be graded by Dr. Speel.
The course focuses on the comparative politics of the United States and Canada and on international relations between the two countries. Among the topics to be discussed will be a comparison of the development of separate political cultures in the two countries, comparisons of government institutions, election systems, federalism, and regionalism, and comparisons of each country's policy approaches toward the economy, health care, gun control, same-sex marriage, language, free speech, abortion, and the role of religion in public life. Issues important in international relations between the two countries will also be discussed - this includes trade, border security, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and control of the Arctic. Class excursions will visit the Ontario Parliament Buildings and Fort York, site of an important battle in the War of 1812.
The grade for PL SC 299 will be determined by exams and class participation. An additional research paper will be assigned for students who enroll in PL SC 499 - the paper will be due a few weeks after the course is over.
The class will meet four days a week, Mondays-Thursdays, between 2-5 PM for fourteen days over four weeks, with a final exam on Friday, June 4. Students will have the option of staying in the Ryerson University residence an additional few days until June 8. Weekends will be free for students to explore Toronto on their own.
The Ryerson University Residence and Location
Students will live during the month in the International Living Learning Centre (ILLC) student residence on the Ryerson campus. Students will each have their own motel-style single rooms with television, air conditioning, and private bathrooms. Each floor of the residence also has a kitchenette, laundry machines, and a television lounge area. The residence is located next door to a 24-hour supermarket and to a 24-hour grocery store.
The ILLC residence is located just two blocks from Yonge Street, the Eaton Centre, and Dundas Square. Yonge Street contains miles of restaurants and retail shops. The Eaton Centre is a large downtown mall on several floors that contains many stores and two fast food courts. Dundas Square, patterned after New York City's Times Square, offers frequent free live performances by musicians and buskers and is surrounded by restaurants, stores, a new movie theater, and many large electronic billboards. The ILLC is also a short walk from subway lines and streetcar lines to take you to other parts of Toronto. Toronto contains the tallest structure in the Western Hemisphere (the CN Tower), the second largest zoo in North America, a large variety of ethnic neighborhoods, Canada's largest museum of world cultures and natural history (Royal Ontario Museum), several prominent art museums, the hockey hall of fame, and the Harbourfront Centre, which is located on Lake Ontario and contains cultural attractions, shopping, boat cruises, and pedestrian walkways. Penn State students will visit several of these locations as a group while in Toronto outside of class time.
Over half of all residents of Toronto were born outside of Canada, and over half of the residents of Toronto's largest suburbs were also born outside of Canada. Because immigrants to Toronto have come in large numbers from every part of the globe (East Asia, South Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean, Europe, the Middle East, Africa), Toronto is considered by many to be the most international city in the world.
Applications, Costs, and Financial Aid
To take the course and participate in the Education Abroad program, students will need to fill out some application forms, pay a $200 non-refundable deposit and pay Penn State tuition for 3 credits next summer. The exact amount of tuition depends on your class year, college of enrollment, and major. However, there is widespread financial aid available to assist with the costs of tuition. Behrend and Penn State offer many tuition scholarships and grants for Education Abroad students, and students who take at least 6 credits of summer classes next year will also be eligible for federal financial aid. Application forms for the scholarships and grants are included in application packets - Ruth Pflueger at the Learning Resource Center on the second floor of Lilley Library at Penn State Behrend can also offer more information about financial assistance with tuition.
The cost of a room at the Ryerson ILLC residence for the month in downtown Toronto will be $930Canadian. At the exchange rate in late October 2009, that is about $870US. Students will need a minimum 2.5 GPA to be accepted into the course, though exceptions can be made - contact Dr. Speel for details about that. The deadline for submission of applications and deposits to register for the course is March 1, 2010, though interested students should sign up as early as possible to guarantee a place in the course.
There will also be costs involved for student health insurance and an international student ID card - these costs will be under $100 for most students. All adult Americans now need a passport to travel to Canada and return to the USA, so students will need to get one if they don't have one already. And students will be responsible for their own food costs and personal items - because each floor of the residence has a kitchenette and supermarkets are next door, students will be able to eat inexpensively while in Toronto. Students will also need to find their own form of transportation to get to Toronto, though we can offer suggestions to help with that. Toronto is about a 3 1/2 hour drive from the city of Erie.
Application form packets are available at the Learning Resource Center (LRC) on the second floor of Lilley Library on the Penn State Behrend campus and at Dr, Speel's office, 159 Kochel. Application forms and the $200 deposits should be turned in at the LRC. Deposits in the form of checks or money orders should be made out to Penn State University. Deposits in the form of cash should be brought to Jackie May in the School of H&SS Office on the 2nd floor of Kochel - she will give you a receipt for your cash deposit.
Students from other Penn State campuses can mail in their application forms and deposits to the Learning Resource Center, Penn State Erie. See an Education Abroad advisor on your campus for assistance. The Education Abroad advisor on your campus should have the application forms and will have information about how to apply for financial assistance for the course.
We thank the Canadian Embassy in Washington DC for its grant and Barbara Welton, an Erie attorney and Penn State Behrend political science alumna, for her donation, which are enabling us to offer financial assistance to some of the students in the Toronto course and program.
If you have any questions about the course, residence, application forms, or financial assistance, please visit or contact Dr. Robert Speel at rws15@psu.edu.
Below are photos from when the course was last taught in May and June 2008.
Penn State Behrend and Ryerson University students on the steps in the front entrance to the Ontario Parliament Building, Toronto
Penn State Behrend and Ryerson University students approach the Ontario Parliament Building, Queen's
Park, Toronto
Penn State Behrend and Ryerson University students stand in formation (almost) at Fort York,Toronto, site of a major battle in the War of 1812
Penn State Behrend students in the Ryerson University courtyard, Toronto
Penn State Behrend and Ryerson University students enjoy a Korean barbecue restaurant, downtown
Toronto
Penn State Behrend and Ryerson University students enjoy dinner at Wayne Gretzky's Restaurant,
Toronto