The Office of Study Abroad may have closed the door on studying abroad in Israel this semester, but the window of opportunity might not be closed for good.
College sophomore Elliott Thomasson, a modern Middle Eastern studies major who plans to study in Israel next year, is confident that the current situation in Israel will not rein in his study abroad plans.
Thomasson said that when he met with his advisor last week, she told him to "finish up the application and send it in, and hopefully in the next few weeks we'll have a cease fire and it won't even be an issue."
Still, even though Israel and Hamas announced unilateral ceasefires at the beginning of the week and Israeli troops and tanks moved out of Gaza shortly after, director of Study Abroad Geoffry Gee holds that there will be no change to the University's decision not to send the 11 students who planned to study abroad in Israel and Palestine this semester on their Penn-approved exchanges.