Study-abroad students travel 5,000 miles without leaving McDaniel

Here’s a riddle for you: How can McDaniel students study abroad without leaving campus? The answer is McDaniel-Budapest, McDaniel’s sister campus in the architectural and cultural heart of Eastern Europe.

Since the inauguration of McDaniel Budapest 10 years ago, 76 McDaniel students have spent a semester abroad in Hungary, living and studying and traveling with classmates from over 20 countries throughout North America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.

Similarly, 160 international students have graduated from McDaniel’s Westminster, Md., campus after spending their first two years at McDaniel Budapest, better known by its nickname “Eastminster.”

Budapest is a young, vibrant city full of gorgeous Gothic and medieval architecture, great public transportation, and inexpensive clubs, cafés, and restaurants. It’s also a stone’s throw to other Eastern European tourist destinations like Prague and Vienna, plus many important Hungarian cultural sites.

McDaniel-Budapest students typically take four courses during the semester, ranging in topics from European history to medieval philosophy to Hungarian folk dance.

Sally Penner ’06 will never forget the people she met, the places she visited, and the memories she made during her semester in Budapest. One night, a friend took Penner to an elegant downtown house to attend a 19th-century-style salon where a cellist and pianist gave an intimate concert. Penner, herself a violinist, calls the night “an incredible experience.”