Funding Research

Learning on the Street
International Research Takes Education Beyond the Classroom

The authors found themselves caught in a protest on their way to an interview with members of the Chilean media.

By Katie Humphry and Heidi Koester
This article was printed in Abroad View
fall 2005

Sitting in the newsroom of one of the most important newspapers in Chile, we watched the sky grow darker. When the rather intimidating editor invited us into his office, we both swallowed hard and tried to compose ourselves, but inside we were terrified. The last time we came to interview him, the editor had told us, in not so many words, that we had no clue about Chilean journalism or doing research.

As we sat down, pulled out our notebooks, and turned on the tape recorder, lightning cut across the sky, illuminating the ever-ominous Andes mountains, just seconds before we heard a loud crack of thunder. It was like something out of a horror movie. We were conquering our fears and asking tough questions, albeit off the record, against the backdrop of a raging thunderstorm.

Some students do research abroad for senior theses, while others go abroad again to fulfill fellowship requirements. In our case, as journalism majors fascinated with the Chilean newspaper industry that seemed so different from our own, two international research trips came as part of an independent study during our final year at Northwestern University.

According to Cornelia Lindenau, study abroad advisor at the Center for International Programs Abroad at Emory University, it is increasingly common for undergraduate students to return to conduct research in a foreign country where they have previously studied abroad.

“I think study abroad for many students is no longer enough,” she says. “Once they’ve been out there, they want to return and intensify and deepen one or two aspects that they became familiar with while they studied abroad.”

We spent our junior year studying in Santiago, Chile through the Cooperating Programs in the Americas (COPA). We read Chilean newspapers and noticed the glaring differences between Chilean journalism and the journalism of the U.S., but instead of focusing on journalism we spent the year learning about Chilean culture. Understanding how to catch a crowded bus without a schedule, learning local vocabulary, and familiarizing ourselves with the winding streets of Santiago paid off when we returned to answer our questions about Chilean journalism.

Erinn Evans, orientation coordinator for Stanford University’s Overseas Studies Programs (OSP), also returned to conduct research in the country where she studied abroad. The 23-year-old sharpened her language skills and adjusted to life in another country before deciding to select a senior thesis topic.

“I had been studying in Italy for six months before I began my research, so my language skills were quite fluent,” says Evans. But when she decided to stay in Florence and study women in the Resistance Movement in Italy during World War II, she needed to take her Italian to the next level. “I had to decipher the handwriting of women in the 1920s, in Italian,” she says.

After beginning research, Evans faced other challenges. She found libraries with limited hours and viewing restrictions, extreme heat and broken air conditioners, and strict photocopying regulations. During our research trips in Chile, we struggled with sparse library collections and missing documents, too. We learned the hard way to accept the tea offered at interviews, but we were prepared for the traditional kiss-on-the-cheek Chilean greeting from the leading journalists, lawyers, and politicians we spoke with.

Skeptics may ask why students who have already studied abroad would return to the same area. In many respects, we learned more about Chilean culture and Chilean journalism during our two research trips than we learned during our year of initiation in Santiago. Developing a sophisticated research project garnered the respect of Chilean professionals and gave us access to individuals we’d never dreamed of meeting during our academic year abroad.

Though Lindenau says studying abroad often prepares students to conduct research, she adds that the two experiences are very different.

“Study abroad can be more or less an easy float. You’re there for four or six months with your friends,” she says, “but when you go back and you are alone, you have a serious mission.”

Success often depends on how prepared you are before you begin your research. It is important, Lindenau says, to talk to people who have done research in the country you will be visiting to identify potential stumbling blocks. Maybe your destination country doesn’t have accessible libraries or its cultural norms could limit your chances of arranging the interviews you need to complete your project.

It is important to identify those challenges up front and then plan accordingly when preparing a research proposal, says Lindenau, who recommends that students work closely with faculty members and take a class in research methodology. And even after all of your planning, there is one thing that will determine the success of a research project, she says: flexibility.

“We often tell students that they need to be flexible and ready for ambiguous situations,” Lindenau says. “I think that’s double and triple true when they go abroad and do research.”

Like most of Lindenau’s students, we had to change plans, at least a little, on a daily basis. When we found ourselves caught in a protest, complete with tear gas, tanks spewing water and flying rocks, we had to consider our safety as well as find a way to make it to our next interview in another part of town in less than an hour. And although we had arranged the bulk of our interviews from the U.S. prior to our trip, we learned quickly—after one interview subject never arrived—that a reminder call the day before greatly increased our chances of a good interview.

Staying in touch with a faculty adviser in the U.S. is also key, Lindenau says. A faculty adviser can help keep students focused as the project gets more complex and recognize when it’s taking on a new, more interesting direction.

During our trips to Chile, we initially wanted to focus on media ownership and how the concentration of owners affected local coverage. When our interview subjects repeatedly told us that ownership was not the primary problem facing Chilean journalists, we decided to investigate press laws and case studies of three innovative publications that challenged traditional coverage styles.

Apart from preparing for the academic aspects of an international research trip, it is essential that students learn the language and understand the culture of the region where they will be working. Our language skills gave us access to professionals and often opened the doors for new connections. The managing editor of Chile’s satirical newspaper, The Clinic, stopped our interview, baffled by the notes we were quickly writing. He asked if we were transcribing notes in Spanish or in English, and was pleased to hear that we were recording his comments in Spanish. We found that sources appreciated our decision to speak their language, though some knew English.

“The ability to communicate with people in a cultural way is going to determine the outcome of your research,” Lindenau says.

And the outcome of your project goes beyond the final research paper or senior thesis. Our research on the Chilean media taught us about Chile in general and about ourselves. Breaking out of our comfort zones, learning to analyze complex problems, and proving that we could thrive in another culture only leaves us ready to pursue new research opportunities.

As the thunder and lightning continued, we spoke with the Chilean editor for nearly an hour. We had spent months preparing for a second chance to interview him, and our work paid off. He walked us through his newsroom, introduced us to journalists and freedom of information advocates, and even helped us dissect his own and the competition’s coverage. As we left the impressive media complex, we could hardly contain our enthusiasm for how well the interview went. As we waited in the pouring rain for a taxi back to downtown Santiago, we realized that we could do this. After months of reading, interviewing, and analyzing, we had the confidence to recognize that we knew more about the Chilean press than we gave ourselves credit for.

We went back to the U.S. both satisfied with what we had learned and curious to learn more. Of course there are things we would change next time around—and there will be a next time—but our independent study of the Chilean press was an incredible learning experience.

KATIE HUMPHREY and HEIDI KOESTER graduated from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism in June 2005 with minors in Spanish. They studied abroad in Santiago, Chile through Butler University’s COPA program, www.ifsa-butler.org. At the time this article was written Katie was working for the Austin American-Statesman in Texas; Heidi was an intern in the Worldwide Communication and Public Affairs group of the Coca-Cola Company. Contact her at heidi_mariekoester@yahoo.com.