Lara Atkins remembers well a time she called home from Florence, Italy.
“I’m not coming back,” she recalls telling her parents during a junior semester abroad. “I’m just not.”
Fortunately, her parents indulged her new passion for Italian culture and language. She stayed the next semester and the following summer before returning to the University of Wisconsin, Madison, for her senior year. Bolstered by the experience, she added a third major, Italian cultural studies, to her other two in political science and history. She also refocused herself toward a career aimed at getting students to study abroad.
“That was formative for me,” she said. “It really opened my eyes to the world around me.”
Atkins has joined the College as the new director of International Programs. She succeeds Prof. William Thomas, who will resume teaching after a sabbatical.
“Union does a fantastic job of getting students to study abroad in large numbers,” she said, “and there is strong institutional support for International Programs. That’s one of the things that really attracted me to Union.”
She also is impressed with the diversity of programs and the academic quality of the students. “They are articulate and aware of the importance of studying abroad,” she said.
Atkins most recently served as interim director and assistant director of International Programs at SUNY Cortland. At Cortland, she administered all aspects of 25 study abroad programs in 14 countries and worked to develop dual-diploma programs in Turkey, Azerbaijan, and the United Kingdom.
Besides her B.A. from the University of Wisconsin at Madison, she has a Certificate of Corsi Signoli in Paleontology, Cultural Anthropology, and the Italian Political System from the University of Florence, Italy; a professional certificate in Museum Studies from New York University; and an M.A. in Classical Archeology from Florida State University.
Atkins will host an open house Thursday, Oct. 22, 4:30-5:30 p.m. in the new location for International Programs, third floor Old Chapel.
“I look forward to supporting Union’s programs,” she said, “and I welcome faculty and students to share their thoughts.”