Tyler Craft takes a stroll in the gardens at Marie Antionette's cottage in France. A student in the University of Mississippi's Croft Institute for International Studies and member of the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College, Craft is studying business, international economics and politics at the Institute for the International Education of Students Abroad Paris Center.

A student in the Croft Institute for International Studies and member of the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College, Craft is on his fourth trip abroad as a college student. This time, he is studying business, international economics and politics at the Institute for the International Education of Students, or IES, Abroad Paris Center.

At Ole Miss, he is pursuing a double major in international studies and political science, with a double minor in French and economics. During this trip, he also plans to study and learn more of the French language as he travels throughout the region.

"Studying in another country affords me the opportunity to gain experiences that will broaden my horizon and allow me to see things from a new perspective," Craft said.

His study abroad program is offered through a partnership between IES and the UM Study Abroad Office. It combines study with other American students at a center in France with trips to European institutions for real-world application.

Craft plans to gather information for his joint Croft-Honors College thesis as he visits several international economics agencies, including Offices of the European Commission in Brussels, Belgium. His research concentrates on the economic effects of intra-European Union labor migration.

After previous trips to practice language in France and as a participant in UM's Lott Leadership Exchange Program in South Africa, Craft returned to Africa last winter break to work in Malawi, a small densely populated country in southern Africa with an agriculture-based economy. He worked in a village on a micro-finance initiative team developing business models to help small businesses in that country, and his expenses were paid by a Barksdale Award he received from the Honors College.

In the spring following his freshman year, he did a two-week independent study in Paris, with Alliance Francaise. That summer, he participated in a Lott Institute Summer Exchange Program with South Africa, traveling to Johannesburg, Port Elizabeth and Cape Town.

Slated for graduation in May 2010, Craft said he plans to work for two years in either the public or private sectors before enrolling in a joint JD-MBA program at a top law school.

"I then plan to find a job at the intersection of the public and private sectors working in either public affairs or lobbying - or in public policy," he said.

A graduate of Stringer High School, Craft is the son of Stephanie Tew of Stringer and Danny Craft of Laurel.

For more information on Study Abroad programs at Ole Miss, visit http://www.olemiss.edu/abroad.