Who are we?
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Dr. Ryan Goei
Dr. Ryan Goei
Coordinator & Leader
Coordinator & Leader
Associate Professor, Communication
Associate Professor, Communication
Director, University Honors Program
Director, University Honors Program
Ryan Goei has been at UMD since 2003 where he is an associate professor of Communication in the Department of Communication. He is also the director of UMD's University Honors Program since 2012. Dr. Goei has been taking students abroad since 2013 (Hawaii and Morocco).
218.726.7636
Dr. Dana Lindaman
Dr. Dana Lindaman
Coordinator & Leader
Coordinator & Leader
Associate Professor, French
Associate Professor, French
Chair, World Languages & Cultures
Chair, World Languages & Cultures
Dana Lindaman has been at UMD since 2010. He is an associate professor of French in the Department of World Languages & Cultures, where he has served as department head since 2023. Dr. Lindaman has extensive experience leading students abroad since 2004 (France, England, Morocco).
218.726.8936
Dr. John Dahl
Dr. John Dahl
Leader
Leader
Associate Professor, Biology
Associate Professor, Biology
John Dahl has been at UMD since 2008. He is an associate professor of Biology in the Department of Biology where he teaches courses on microbiology and conducts research on pathogenic bacteria. Dr. Dahl has participated as a faculty member on study abroad programs at UMD since 2010 (Poland, Morocco, Cuba).
218.726.7636
Our Story
Our Story
We built URSA out of a desire to give students more opportunities to meaningfully engage with a culture unlike their own. We bring students abroad and ask them to do research in a culture starkly different from the United States. That unique structure gives students the opportunity to set themselves apart by doing something monumental all while immersing fully in a rich, welcoming, unique culture. Together with our partners abroad, we prepare students for opportunities to push beyond what they ever thought possible for themselves.
As a guiding principal, we curate meaningful developmental experiences by getting to know our students well and then guiding them individually into encounters that build growth, resilience and intellectual maturity. URSA students come back changed. By their own account, it's the hardest thing they do and their proudest memory at UMD. It's the same for us.
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