While Middle Eastern nations look to move past last year’s widespread political unrest, schools across the United States, including Washington University, are struggling to evaluate the prospect of reinstating their study abroad programs in the still unsettled countries.

Study abroad options for psychology students are broadening this year with a new pilot program in Denmark. The program, led by the Danish Institute of Study Abroad (DIS) in Copenhagen, will offer psychology students academic opportunities they are not able to have on the Washington University campus.

If you have been reading the news for the past, say, 100 days, you know that the world is going to hell at any moment. Students have been caught in crises in Egypt and Japan, and while the U.S. government has been pretty good about getting people out, that doesn’t limit the amount of danger they were in at any one time.

Washington University students studying in Japan are all safe after an earthquake, a tsunami, and nuclear disaster hit the country. The Chancellor released an email to the student body on Thursday announcing that all students and faculty who were in Japan are safe. He urged any affected students to seek help from the University.

Despite having a great time, though, I was surprised to find that there were quite a few things that I missed about Wash. U. while I adjusted to life at a new university in a new country. As someone who has, in his columns, frequently been critical of various aspects of Wash. U., my newfound perspective made me realize I owe it some words of gratitude as well.

The two Washington University students spending the spring semester abroad in Egypt have safely been evacuated from the country following political unrest. Junior Parsa Bastani, who was studying in Alexandria at the School in the Middle East at Alexandria University, is now on his way back to St.Louis from Prague and is contemplating various options for finishing out the semester. Junior Allegra Skurka, studying at Cairo University, flew to Athens this week and plans to finish the semester in Jordan.

The University of Queensland has sent multiple e-mails about the flooding to the Study Abroad Office, including one with a link to a page of frequently asked questions. According to the website, most of the campus will be up and running for the start of term.

Starting in fall 2010, Washington University will launch a new fall and spring study abroad program in Shanghai run entirely by Washington University faculty.

The Olin Business School has won a grant supporting the creation of a new study-abroad program in Israel. The business school will send students to attend classes at the Interdisciplinary Center in Israel and have them intern at Israeli companies.

Next fall I will be traveling to New Zealand to study at the University of Auckland for a semester. It is hard to express how excited I am to have the opportunity to live and study in a foreign land. Even though I am months away from departure, I am confident that living in another country will be an educational and life-changing experience.