For senior psychology major Kristen Streahle, learning art history and literature while visiting Italian cities with her faculty was an experience she’ll never forget.

“Everything we learned about in class on Monday, we were able to see on Wednesday,” said Streahle, who spent the fall 2006 semester at Temple Rome. “We didn’t just look at textbooks, we viewed it in person. For ‘Baroque Art and Architecture,’ we took a field trip to Naples. For ‘High Renaissance,’ we went to Florence. For my English class, we traveled to Venice. There’s no better way to learn.

“For me, it was more than just a semester studying abroad,” Streahle added. “It introduced me to a different way of living.”

Temple President Ann Weaver Hart hopes more Temple students will pursue similar personal and intellectual growth through international experiences — so much so that she and her husband, Randy, have established a scholarship to support the cost of passport fees for Temple undergraduate students who plan to study abroad. In an increasingly global society, Hart said, educational experiences outside the United States are no longer simply a luxury.

“Internationalization will help you develop the point of view essential to contribute as citizens of the world and compete in the global marketplace,” said Hart, in announcing the passport program to students during her March investiture ceremony.


“Get a passport and use it during your years of study at Temple; go on study abroad; serve an international internship. I am so convinced that this experience is essential to your education that my husband Randy and I will pay your passport fee.”

The program provides scholarships of $97, an amount equal to the application cost for a United States Passport, to all first-year and transfer students who intend to study abroad and are applying for a passport for the first time. In this first year of the program, the opportunity will be extended to all undergraduates applying for a passport for the first time.


To be eligible, students must apply for a passport between July 1, 2007, and June 30, 2008, and must demonstrate intent to study overseas for credit while enrolled as an undergraduate at Temple. Applications for passport renewals do not qualify.

To participate, students complete the scholarship application form available in the International Programs office. After submitting proof of payment for the passport application, the office will process the application and award the scholarship.

Temple offers a wide range of international programs varying in length from a summer session to a semester or an entire academic year. In addition to Temple Rome, the university has a campus in Japan, a long-standing program in London, and numerous other international study opportunities.

Streahle’s study abroad experience was so meaningful that she’s extending her education into a fifth year so that she can complete a second major in art history at Temple Rome. She’s hooked on international study.

“It makes the world seem so much smaller, and you begin to look at things from a different perspective,” Streahle said. “It’s become something that I want to continue to do.”

Besides, she says, after visiting a global cradle of arts and culture, “going to Manayunk doesn’t quite compare.”

For more information about the passport program, contact International Programs at 215-204-0720 or e-mail study.abroad@temple.edu.