RADFORD -- Radford University communication students have an opportunity in the spring to explore one of the more fascinating regions of the world through a study abroad trip to Southeast Asia.

The three-week journey will begin in mid-May and take students to Singapore, Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam to study public relations and communication issues of the region. This trip is the second by the Communication Department to Southeast Asia. Bill Kennan, the interim associate dean of the College of Humanities and Behavioral Sciences and a communication professor, took a group of 14 students on the inaugural learning expedition in 2006.

The upcoming 2008 study abroad trip is open to communication majors and minors and graduate students. Non-communication majors who have a special interest or connection to the communication discipline will be considered. The trip is open to approximately 12 students.

Students will receive three hours class credit for the trip. Participants will need to enroll in a spring seminar designed to inform the student travelers about health and security issues involved in traveling to Southeast Asia.

The program’s focus will be on public relations, corporate, intercultural and international communications. While there, the students will visit with elite public relations firms and a satellite office of financial news company, Bloomberg.

Participants also will travel to various cities to explore and learn more about the culture, music, food and politics of the region. Kennan has trips planned to Bangkok, Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City and Cambodia’s Killing Fields and Angkor Wat, the world’s largest religious structure.

The Southeast Asia study program is the only trip offered by RU to the region.

For more information about the study abroad program, please contact Kennan by phone at 540-831-5149 or by e-mail at bkennan@radford.edu