Around the World
Students from the R. Wayne Estopinal College of Architecture and Planning (ECAP) pose for a photo during a recent trip to Rome, Italy, as part of the CAP Around the World international field trip.
International travel gives Ball State students experiences of a lifetime
Few experiences can transform a student like seeing the world and being immersed in other cultures. Gaining a global perspective can enrich students’ lives. And, for those enrolled in the R. Wayne Estopinal College of Architecture and Planning (ECAP), different perspectives can add complexity and depth to their designs and planning.
Troy Thompson, ’90, remembers his student travel experiences fondly, especially his time on the 1985 Polyark venture, led by ECAP Dean David Ferguson, ’78, a professor at the time.
“We spent the term living in England and traveled around the continent while still taking classes,” Mr. Thompson said. “Being able to travel when I was a student at Ball State changed my life.”
The trip was a pivotal moment in Mr. Thompson’s college experience. But when he returned to campus, he had to take a year off from school, secure extra loans, and save money in order to finish college.
That experience inspired Mr. Thompson, now the managing partner at the architecture and planning firm SmithGroup, to develop CAP Around the World—a travel fund that covers out-of-pocket costs for future planners and designers to participate in domestic and international field trips.
In addition, preference is given to first-generation students and students from underrepresented groups.
“Ball State provides a lot of great opportunities,” Mr. Thompson said. “But for a lot of the students who go to Ball State, they may not have the means to take advantage of them.”
Travel has been at the heart of the ECAP’s curriculum since its inception more than 50 years ago. Mr. Ferguson, who became the college’s dean in 2019, knows from experience how being fully immersed in other cultures can provide students with transformative experiences.
“When I talk to alums around the country who have participated in the world tour, or if they’ve done some other significant international travel, they tell me those are the best dollars they’ve spent in their educational process because it totally changed them as people and designers,” he said.
CAP Around the World is a fund that has grown through the years, joining the John and Ingrid Russell Fund for Immersive Travel Experiences as opportunities for ECAP students to experience life outside of Ball State.
Through these funds, the college is aiming to lower the barriers to travel for as many students as possible.
Mr. Thompson, who was a first-generation student, knows how impactful these funds can be for students at Ball State.
Students from ECAP pose for a photo during a recent venture to Thailand as part of the CAPAsia field trip.
“This fits the spirit of what the CAP program is about,” he said. “With so much travel built into the program, it helps kids, who may have never left Indiana before, to go and have experiences they wouldn’t have elsewhere.
“I think it relates to the bigger legacies and ideas that Ball State has always been about,” Mr. Thompson added. “And I think it sets the college up for trying to do some things that are unique as to how they want to train architects and related disciplines that a lot of other programs don’t do.”
When Dean Ferguson was a student at Ball State, he said he was not able to take advantage of travel opportunities provided by the college, “so to be able to lower the barriers and make the funds more accessible for all students is meaningful in a personal way, as well as being part of our philosophy at the college.”
Nearly 800 of ECAP’s approximately 1,200 students take part in some form of travel each year domestically. Almost 100 students take part in international travel each Summer, and as many as about 30 students at a time have taken the world tour when it has been offered.
With students traveling worldwide, a range of career paths, like city planning or interior design, are showcased
in many ways.
“The real beauty of travel is wherever you go, particularly overseas, you’re going to land in a culture where people see their world somewhat differently,” said Dean Ferguson. “They have different materials that they’re designing. They have different cultural attitudes, as well as cultural habits, that cause design to happen and planning to happen differently. That is an ‘Aha!’ moment that you can’t replicate any other way.”
The end goal, Dean Ferguson said, is to have every ECAP student go on a trip.
“If a student is coming through and they still can’t travel simply because of money, we want that storyline to go away. We really want to be able to say 100 percent of the students who are able to travel are traveling,” he added. “We know that they will be more enriched, have more meaningful lives and more impactful and powerful careers if they get that travel experience while they’re here. So, we’re really working hard to make that happen.”
