São Paulo – University of Vale do Itajaí (Univali), in Brazil’s Santa Catarina state, is taking postgraduate students to Dubai, the United Arab Emirates in 2015. Univali has a program called International Module, offered on a yearly basis to students and professors from the specialization, master’s and doctoral courses. This year, the trip will take place in October and the destinations will be China and the United Arab Emirates.
The program is meant to endow students with a more global view, thus making them more competitive, and to put the knowledge gained in the classroom to work. “We have visited companies, cities and landmarks. The important thing is for students to be able to experience local culture, from tourism to the economy to cuisine. We expect for them to understand the local culture so they can respect it,” says the person in charge of the International Module, Dinorá Floriani.
Former International Module destinations include Chile, Argentina, France, United States, Cuba, Panama and Spain. According to the Univali website, the extension program enables students to experience institutional and entrepreneurial environments abroad, preparing them for international challenges. According to Floriani, postgraduate students at Univali are mostly self-employed workers and corporate employees focusing on foreign investment, especially from the International Business and International Law courses.
The next trip will take place from October 12th to 28th. The stay in Dubai begins on the 25th and so far the program includes activities such as a desert safari with a typical dinner and an Arab dance performance at a Bedouin camp, visits to places such as the famous Burj Al Arab hotel, Burj Khalifa the world’s tallest building, the Palm Islands, the gold and spice markets, and the Mall of the Emirates, with its artificial ski slopes. A visit will also be paid to Abu Dhabi and its sustainable city, Masdar, as well as a lecture at a local sustainability institute.
“Dubai is enchanting due to its architectural and technological wealth, combining modernity and local culture. Companies from around the world are making direct investments in Arab countries. I believe our choice of the UAE can elicit not only a better world view, but also cause a paradigm shift when it comes to the Arab countries,” Floriani told ANBA.
According to her, Univali is expecting to also be able to visit local businesses, which can be conducive to business and partnerships for visitors. “Since I have been in the United Arab Emirates on more than one occasion, I believe he visit can be very useful in developing a broader view of the world and of international competitiveness,” she says.
The trip to China includes stays in Guangzhou, Hong Kong and Beijing. The schedule includes technical visits to an appliances manufacturer, a class on industrial production at a Chinese university, a visit to a building material company, a theoretical class on internationalization, visits to the Canton Fair, one of the major local expos, to a port in Hong Kong, to an electronics mall, concerts and other activities.
The cost of the program is not included in the cost of the courses attended by students at Univali, and the company in charge of the travel package is Baumann Consultancy. For additional information, students can email dinora@univali.br or melmarques@univali.br.
Univali has nine units in the cities of Florianópolis, Tijucas, São José (2 units), Biguaçu (2 units), Itajaí, Piçarras and Camboriú, all in the state of Santa Catarina.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
