Though study abroad programs are now a major part of education at Dickinson College, no such programs existed in 1868. Dickinson was--and still is--a Methodist-affiliated institution, but there is very little evidence that global engagement was encouraged in terms of evangelism, either. Interest in missionary activity appears to have been most prominent within the student-run organizations, the Mission Society and the Society of Religious Inquiry. The syllabi of the mid-1800s list religion classes and a Biblical course of study for those students preparing to enter the Christian Ministry, but document neither evangelical nor more secular attempts to encourage international travel, or even a more cosmopolitan worldview.
Even if evidence of international involvement at Dickinson is negligible, there was a definite trend towards greater American presence abroad. The motivation for global travel generally falls into 4 categories:
The Grand TourThe closest to modern "study abroad", this was an option for the children of the upper echelons of society, those who attended schools like Harvard and Princeton, or their older British equivalents. The Tour could last for years at most, and involved the systematic visitation of the cultural centers of Europe, often Italy and France, with the intention of experiencing the unique political and artistic heritage of those places.
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EconomicIncreased ease of international travel meant that the young men who graduated from Dickinson could go abroad in search of work. Alexander Cook Chenoweth, another member of the class of 1868, was one. He was employed as consulting engineer to General Prado in Peru, though there is very little information on how exactly he procured this job.
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Religious/EducationalGoucher is an excellent example of this type of motivation. Young men and women would volunteer themselves for service to the Board of Foreign Missions, and were then assigned to missions around the world. Fueled by a genuine desire to improve the world through spreading Christianity, many of these evangelists took permanent residence abroad, among them one of Goucher's daughters, who spent most of her life teaching in China. Goucher heavily associated his missionary activities with his educational ones, thus the merging of the two.
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TourismWith the advent of affordable trans-continental travel, many Americans decided to spend time abroad for mere enjoyment. Even small local newspapers ran articles on the mysteries of foreign lands, usually Asia or the Middle East. Major archaeological excavations in Egypt were unearthing new marvels every week, making the country a highly popular destination for curious touists looking to bring souvenirs back home. Goucher himself participated to some degree in this Egyptomania, making the trip at least twice and purchasing curios for his home back in Baltimore.
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Sources Consulted
Italy on the Grand Tour. Paul J. Getty Trust, 2001. Getty. http://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/grand_tour/what.html (17 December 2016).
Goucher, John F. John Franklin Goucher diary for 1897, 1897. Diary. From Digital Maryland, The John Franklin Goucher Papers. http://collections.digitalmaryland.org/cdm/ref/collection/gojg/id/1115 (accessed December 11, 2016).
Knipp, Anna Heubeck, Thaddeus P. Thomas. The History of Goucher College. Baltimore: Goucher College, 1938.
Goucher, John F. John Franklin Goucher diary for 1897, 1897. Diary. From Digital Maryland, The John Franklin Goucher Papers. http://collections.digitalmaryland.org/cdm/ref/collection/gojg/id/1115 (accessed December 11, 2016).
Knipp, Anna Heubeck, Thaddeus P. Thomas. The History of Goucher College. Baltimore: Goucher College, 1938.