“Our ideas, visions, passions, and dreams for a more just and nonviolent world can take shape only through dialogues across worlds. Study abroad is an invaluable tool to learn how to participate respectfully in creating such dialogues.”
Richa Nigar, Professor, Department of Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies
Academic Planning Recommendations
Major and Minor Requirements
- Courses must have significant feminist content, although they need not necessarily be listed under gender, women & sexuality studies.
- You may satisfy at least one of your junior/senior seminar requirements through study abroad coursework or internships, but you will need a faculty supervisor in gender, women & sexuality studies. The questions asked, concepts applied, and methodology used should all be grounded in feminist theories and methods. Consult with your faculty supervisor before your departure.
- If conducting research abroad, consider designing a project that will work for both the program and for the department’s senior project requirement. Consult with the department faculty well before departure.
Internship
- Choosing a program with an internship component will allow you to identify and work on issues that women in your country of study consider important. There are many internships abroad that might fit your career and academic interests. If you are planning to do an internship abroad, consult the faculty member with whom you work.
Liberal Education Requirements
Search the U Credit Abroad Search. You may also submit any liberal education course not yet evaluated for approval online.
College of Liberal Arts Language Requirement
Courses taken abroad for the CLA Language Requirement (for BA degrees) must be at least 4 credits. CLA college advisers can approve courses that are clearly identified in a syllabus or online course description as first-, second-, third-, or fourth-semester language courses. If a course level is not explicitly stated, you must work with your CLA adviser to have the course evaluated by the appropriate language department. Advisers cannot approve these courses.
Who will advise me and help me with course approvals?
Learning Abroad Center advisers can help you find program and course information to help you prepare for your study abroad academic planning discussion with your academic adviser.
College/Department Scholarships for UofM Students
CLA students can apply for CLA Study Abroad Scholarships in addition to other Learning Abroad Center scholarships.
Programs
Africa and the Middle East
Senegal
MSID—International Development in Senegal
- Program Type: Field Study
- Program Term: Fall or Spring Semester
- Program focuses on international development in the context of Senegal through coursework in the first half of the semester and an internship project in the latter half.
- Past internship placements include social work agencies, small business lending organizations, women’s groups, orphanages, housing organizations, community centers, and more.
- Two years of French are required for this program.
South Africa
University of Cape Town (available through IES South Africa)
- Program Type: Host-University Study
- Program Term: Fall or Spring Semester
- Post-Apartheid South Africa is attempting one of the most dramatic transformations in race relations that the world has seen. This University has a variety of course offerings related to class, race, and gender. South Africa is an ideal vantage point for observing how differently another society defines and deals with issues of race and inequality.
- Instruction is in English.
Americas
Ecuador
MSID—International Development in Ecuador
- Program Type: Field Study
- Program Term: Fall or Spring Semester
- Program focuses on international development in the context of Ecuador through coursework in the first half of the semester and an internship project in the latter half.
- Past internship placements include social work agencies, small business lending organizations, women’s groups, orphanages, housing organizations, community centers, and more.
- Two years of Spanish are required for this program.
Asia and Oceania
Australia
University of Adelaide (Available through IFSA Australia)
- Program Type: Host-University Study
- Program Term: Fall or Spring Semester, Summer Term, and Academic or Calendar Year
- The University of Adelaide offers some outstanding courses of interest for GWSS students such as Sex, Gender, Women, Sexualities; The History and Contemporary Aspects of Women’s Writing; Feminist Film Theories; Environmental Feminism and Development Studies; and The Politics of Difference.
University of Wollongong (available through IFSA Australia)
- Program Type: Host-University Study
- Program Term: Fall or Spring Semester, and Academic or Calendar Year
- The University of Wollongong, voted University of the Year two years in a row, has one of the most beautiful campuses in the country.
- The University of Wollongong has a Department of Gender Studies that offers an interdisciplinary major program and includes courses such as Gender and Society, Feminism and the Law, and 20th Century Women Writers among others.
Thailand
MSID—International Development in Thailand
- Program type: Field Study
- Academic program built around grassroots development internships. Homestays and internship/research further enrich cultural immersion. Based in Chiang Mai but with internship options outside the city.
- Internship placements have focused on such areas as arts and culture, sustainability and the environment, public health, education and literacy, entrepreneurship and alternative economies, and social service.
- Instruction is in English; no prior Thai language is required. Fall or Spring semester.
Europe
Denmark
Study Abroad in Denmark and Summer in Denmark & Sweden
- Study Center program model
- All courses are taught in English
- Semester and Summer program options
- Relevant courses available in the following disciplines: Gender Studies, Art History, Literature, Human Development, Psychology, Philosophy, Anthropology and Sociology
- Summer in Denmark & Sweden offers you the opportunity to explore one or both countries and build your summer experience abroad
- Two core course-integrated study tours in semester programs: one 3-day tour in western Denmark, one week-long tour in 1-2 other European countries
France
Language & Culture in Southern France
- Program Typer: Study Abroad Center
- Program Term: Fall or Spring Semester, May Term, Summer Term, and Academic Year
- One of the premier study opportunities in France, the University of Minnesota’s own program in Montpellier attracts students from throughout the US.
- You can combine courses from l’Université Paul Valéry with customized courses for international students in whatever mix your language level and interests dictate.
- Internships are also offered.
- Instruction is in French.
IES France—Paris
- Program Type: Study Abroad Center
- Program Term: Fall or Spring Semester, and Academic Year
- This program offers several relevant courses within the curriculum, as well as opportunities for internships and to take one or two local university courses.
- Past program participants have taken: Sex and Gender; Identity, Community, and Difference; History of Feminism, and others.
- Taught entirely in French.
Italy
Bologna Consortial Studies Program, University of Bologna
- Program Type: Host-University Study
- Program Term: Academic year or Spring Semester
- Bologna is the oldest university in Europe and the most prestigious in Italy. The program supplements UB courses with courses designed for US students.
- A pre-session intensive Italian course strengthens your language skills before UB classes begin. Although the preferred length of stay is an academic year, spring semester spaces are sometimes available.
- Instruction is in Italian.
Netherlands
Universiteit Van Amsterdam (available through IES Amsterdam)
- Program Type: Host-University Study
- Program Term: Fall or Spring Semester, Academic Year
- IES Amsterdam students directly enroll in a broad range of courses taught in English at the University of Amsterdam, including courses with a focus on sociology and sex and gender studies. Among others, these include The Social Meaning of Gender, and Gender and Ethnicity.
- With this opportunity to integrate academically and culturally with the Dutch students without prior study of the Dutch language, students experience life in a city with a reputation for progressive social welfare, lifestyles, the arts, and environmentalism.
- Field placements include involvement with a political or advocacy group, ethnic minority organization, an environmental group, or NGO, depending on the student’s background and interest. Students can also observe a Dutch political, social, or cultural institution.
Spain
- Program Type: Host-University Study
- Program Term: Fall or Spring Semester, May Term, Summer Term, Academic Year
- The Toledo program, sponsored by the University of Minnesota, offers GWSS students the opportunity to analyze the evolution of “machismo” in Spain and the role of women in the working world. Courses of interest include Introduction to the History and Present Situation of Spanish Women and Contemporary Spanish Women Writers.
- Past internships have been at a social service organization that works with socially disadvantaged women and children, and with government programs that work with women and teenagers.
Sweden
Study Abroad in Sweden and Summer in Denmark & Sweden
- Study Center program model
- All courses are taught in English
- Semester and Summer program options
- Relevant courses available in the following disciplines: Gender Studies, Economics, Human Rights, Legal Studies, Anthropology and Sociology
- Summer in Denmark & Sweden offers you the opportunity to explore one or both countries and build your summer experience abroad
- Two core course-integrated study tours in semester programs: one 3-day tour in Sweden or neighboring country, one week-long tour in 1-2 other European countries
Additional Options to Consider
- 3-week, 3-credit programs at the 3000-level led by University of Minnesota faculty and staff over winter break or May session.
- Explore an exciting location and topic, Fulfill Liberal Education requirements, or earn major/minor credit.
- Combine on-campus instruction during the spring semester with a study abroad component during spring break, on a 3 credits, 1xxx level Seminar.
- Freshman Seminars Abroad are designed specifically for first-year students as an introduction to study abroad, an opportunity to explore an exciting location and topic, and likely fulfill a liberal education requirement.
- Check out additional LAC Instructor-led Seminars that might run over winter break, spring break, May, and summer sessions. They vary in length, dates, and content so students can find one that best fits their academic and professional goals.
- Begin your language study or work toward completing requirements for a language minor.
- Complete a semester of language on a short-term program or explore options to complete two or more semesters of language on semester-long program.