FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Seven students in the first class of a unique double master’s degree program in agricultural economics and rural development are on track to complete graduation requirements this summer at the University of Arkansas. After two years of intensive study in Europe and in Arkansas, they will receive master’s degrees from both the University of Arkansas and a consortium of five universities in Europe.

Four students from Europe and three from the University of Arkansas are completing the Atlantis Program, which is funded by a grant of $448,000 from the U.S. Department of Education and a similar amount from the European Commission for four years, including help with travel and living expenses for students and faculty members. The University of Florida is also a partner in the program, along with universities in Belgium, France, Germany, Slovakia and Italy.

Program coordinator Lucas Parsch, professor of agricultural economics and agribusiness, said, “This two-year program is a great opportunity for students to gain an international dimension. They spend a lot of time together in classes and activities and seem to benefit from being a close-knit group. They also learn to be flexible and mobile.”

Jada Thompson of Canehill said learning about “the experiences of the students from developing countries allowed me to really know the cares and issues related to development.”

Other members of the inaugural class are UA Atlantis students John Kelley of El Dorado and Mustafa Ozkan of Sarasota, Fla. Students from the EU are Monika Bumbalova and Zuzana Rolincova of Slovakia, Jan-Peter Wettlaufer of Germany and Pieter Vermeersch of Belgium.

Thompson started the program after receiving B.S. degrees in agricultural business and poultry science in 2008. Her first two graduate semesters in the Atlantis program were in Fayetteville, followed by a team case study in Pisa, Italy, the summer of 2009, on “Exploring food issues: Between town and countryside, consumption and production.”

“Having come from a very economic, math intensive analytical program to this case study allowed me to have a different perspective on development and agriculture,” Thompson said.

In fall 2009, Thompson was at the University of Ghent in Belgium, then back in Fayetteville for this spring and summer for more classes and her thesis project with faculty adviser Eric Wailes on “Spatial economic equilibrium analysis of rice trade: Impact of GM (genetically modified) contamination in US rice exports on prices ad trade flows.”

Jan-Peter Wettlaufer said the program helped him “learn new things about different places, people, cultures and mainly about myself,” in addition to the academic experience.

Wettlaufer spent the first fall semester in Ghent, spring at Humbolt University in Berlin, and the final fall and spring in Fayetteville. His summer case study was in Nanjing and Beijing, China.

“The case study topic was to suggest development strategies for two rural villages in China,” Wettlaufer said. “It was one of the most interesting and definitely the most exotic part of this program.”

Zuzana Rolincova, from a rural village in Slovakia, said, “My personal goal is to help my region with the knowledge I learn and take part in the decision-making process in Slovakia on the regional level.”

Rolincova also did the case study in China, which, she said, “helped me to believe in the impact of research on people’s lives.” Her thesis with adviser H.L. Goodwin is a comparison of how tax revenue is spent in selected towns in the U.S. and Slovakia.