There are field trips, and then there are NYIT field trips. Take Matt Sharapata, an NYIT architecture student at the Old Westbury campus. His professor’s idea of a field trip means getting his passport ready and taking a 13-hour flight to China to help rebuild the Shanghai waterfront in conjunction with the College of Architecture and Urban Planning at Tongji University.

Sharapata leapt at the chance, eager to use his architecture skills outside the classroom and, even better, journey to a foreign land where he had the opportunity to modify and adapt those skills to a new environment. Along with 14 of his classmates, Sharapata packed his bags and was ready to go.

“Although we knew of the project that we were going to be involved with, we were unaware of our Chinese peers’ work habits and how we would best communicate,” he says. “Things fell into place once we all arrived at Tongji University. Communication—at times difficult—came through sketches and diagrams when verbal language alone couldn’t describe architectural ideas.”

As with all of NYIT’s international trips, the goal was to teach students how to work in other cultures using the skills learned at NYIT, and judging by Sharapata’s experiences, the plan seems to have worked.

“We were interested first in how students from different cultures would respond to identical design challenges,” says Matthew Dockery, assistant professor at NYIT’s School of Architecture and Design, who supervised the students during the Shanghai reconstruction. “Second, we were interested in revealing the discrepancies between our respective pedagogies, in order that we might better understand the values they embody. Finally, we were intrigued by the process of communication itself: How would students collaborate on problem solving, and what linguistic devices would they exploit or invent to circumnavigate the boundaries that separate them?”

For Dockery, it seemed only natural that NYIT students travel to Shanghai, considered for centuries to be the gateway to China. “With the increasing presence of China on the world stage,” he says, “Shanghai offers us a glimpse of the new century where the knowledge of an Asia-Pacific world view is essential.”

The final result proved a resounding success, as Tongji and NYIT students fostered a spirit of international cooperation using the digital tools of their trade that, in effect, eliminated any linguistic differences. Dockery says the jump drives, laptops, workstations, and software available to students from both colleges often replaced verbal communication and even opened new doors made possible only through technology.

“This cooperative effort showed me how a group of people can work together if faced with the same challenges, regardless of language and cultural differences,” says Sharapata. “Two groups of strangers came together as friends. This opportunity was a life-changing experience. Through this program, I was presented with a diverse view of architecture.”

The Shanghai trip was one of many that the School of Architecture and Design offers. Under the leadership of Professor Paul Amatuzzo, NYIT students recently traveled to Italy, visiting Venice, Bologna, and Milan, among other cities, to study centuries-old structures and obtain a better understanding of how they are assimilated into modern architectural designs. A separate trip led by Professor Michael Schwarting and Associate Professor Frances Campani took students all over the country, including Rome, Florence, Pisa, and Venice, to examine architecture from ancient Italy, as well as the Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, and Modern periods. Schwarting’s program also put students in touch with peers at Milan Polytechnic University to study architecture in the historic city.

So prominent has NYIT become in the architecture world that students were invited to spend two weeks in Castellammare di Stabia, Italy, and help transform this ancient city—destroyed by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius—into an archeological park. Along with four other universities, students were charged with designing several elements of the park, including entrance and egress points and connections to local train stations.

NYIT also has an architecture program that sends students to Berlin under the tutelage of Assistant Professor Matthias Altwicker. Working with the University of Potsdam, students examined modern buildings and learned how German history impacted construction through the decades. It was this program, in fact, that led to the current study models in China and Italy.

Judith DiMaio, dean of the School of Architecture and Design, makes it a point to travel with students every chance she can get, acknowledging the value of these international projects for NYIT students and professors alike. “Through these trips, professors really get to know their students. Working directly with them, we have the opportunity to personally review their progress, but these trips also enhance communication once we get back to the classroom.”

NYIT communication arts students took their own trip to the Far East in July to work on a documentary about the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. The two-week journey also included a look at Chinese business and technology, art and music, and culture and traditions.

According to Professor Juan (Joanne) Cheng, who served as director and producer, “the best way to make a film is to go to the country where the subject matter can be learned first hand. This couldn’t be done in the classroom. Traveling to a country they have never been to gives the students a sense of discovery. Not everyone came home with the same kind of experience. Each student had their own unique education.”

For Cheng, visiting her native country gives her a chance to work with young minds that are excited to delve into a new culture, pushing them in new directions and stimulating their growth process.

“Working under pressure, with crowds gathering around you, everybody’s looking at you—it was a real-life, professional experience,” says communication arts student Dan Kokoszka, who served as equipment manager and camera operator.

His classmate, cameraman Alan Siek, agrees: “It was pretty crazy, but it was also the experience of a lifetime. I learned to adapt to a whole new environment.”

With about 50 hours of footage filmed and ready to be edited stateside, the students definitely have their work cut out for them. “Our ultimate goal is to have this student-produced documentary picked up by a major TV network,” says Roger Yu, Ph.D., dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. He adds that NYIT students will travel again to China in the summer of 2007 to work on another documentary—this one in conjunction with the University of Shanghai. Another trip will send students to Paris to produce a TV program on French culture. And in 2008, a group will travel to China to film the Summer Olympics for yet another documentary.

For the past seven years, NYIT’s School of Management has been playing a global game as part of the Swiss German University Asia’s annual International Workshop. The goal of the project is to have international student teams work together on a sophisticated business simulation game.

“Every year, we take a team of undergraduate students to team up with universities from different countries,” says Professor Rajendra Tibrewala, Ph.D. The real lesson, he notes, is that NYIT students “learn how people from other countries think. They are part of a global team that has to make marketing, finance, and production decisions. It is a truly international work experience.”

So far, NYIT business students have traveled to Finland, China, and Germany, and will make a trek to Indonesia in April 2007 to compete once again in the International Workshop.

Through this program, Paola Kocerha has had the opportunity to work with peers in Germany and France. The NYIT international business student says the experience was wonderful. “The best part was meeting amazing people. Now I have friends who live all over the world, and I still keep in touch with them.”