The Atlantis Project is a grant-funded program that allows students to study abroad and to become educated on other cultures while doing so. It is a partnership between Bakersfield College, Cal State Dominguez Hills, a university in Spain and a university in Italy.

The project is limited to one semester per student. In order to become eligible to apply, students need to complete 12 units in the child development program and apply during the spring semester a year before they want to attend. Students who fill out the application are interviewed by faculty and selected to be a part of the program.

Hamid Eydgahi, dean of Career and Technical Education and head of the Atlantis Project at Bakersfield College said, “It’s a great opportunity for our students to learn about Child Development and learn about different cultures. It’s essential that they have good knowledge of other cultures.”

The Atlantis program is not funded by BC, it is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education and the European Commission. The purpose of this program is to have students learn about child development programs in other countries and to learn about cultures through courses taken at the universities that they attend abroad.

“The courses that these students take will be counted for school credit,” said Eydgahi.

Last year 30 students applied and eight were selected to participate. Out of the eight selected, four become ambassadors and four are selected to study abroad. The students who participate abroad will have a stipend to help them pay for their airfare, rent, textbooks, tuition and fees.

The program is funded for three years and it allows four students to travel abroad and four students to become ambassadors and mentors. The ambassador students staying at BC will help the four students that come to study here from Europe.