LAS short-term study abroad programs
Faculty members in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences lead study abroad programs over winter, spring, and summer breaks.
Have questions? Please contact the faculty member leading the trip you're interested in. Or, email the LAS International Programs office. View the LAS International Programs Event Calendar for upcoming info sessions.
View trips by term
Application Deadlines
- Sept. 15 for winter short programs
- Oct. 15 for spring short programs
- Feb. 15 for summer programs
Scholarship opportunities
Many scholarships are available for short-term study abroad.
Illinois for Illinois (I4I) and Illinois International Programs scholarships
Awards range from $1,000 to $1,500
Application deadline:
Sept. 15 (for winter break and spring break programs)
Feb. 15 (for spring break and summer programs)
LAS Abroad scholarships
Award amounts vary based on cost and length of program and applications are reviewed on a rolling basis.
Students should also check with their home departments and colleges for information on additional award opportunities. Learn more about scholarships and financial aid for study abroad.
Summer
WITH PROFESSOR KONSTANTINOS KOURTIKAKIS
- May 18-June 14, 2020
- PS 300 (3 credits)
On-campus class meetings: This is a 3-credit course and is taught during the second eight weeks of the spring semester on campus and from May through June in Vienna.
Estimated program fees: $1,900 to $2,100 (includes housing, welcome and farewell dinners, orientation, excursions, and international health insurance)
Course description: We will look at governance inside the European Union and at the role of the EU in the governance of its neighboring areas and in global governance. Vienna, the modern capital of Austria and the former imperial capital of the Hapsburg Empire, is the ideal venue to explore these topics.
- May 25- Aug 14, 2020
- ASRM 499 (3-4 credits)
On-campus course dates: April 29-May 1
Estimated program fees: $2,000
Course description:Learn the fundamentals of the insurance business and market in China! This summer program consists of one week of coursework at Nankai University followed by a eight-week internship placement with an insurance company in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, or Tianjin.
Open to advanced BA or MA students in actuarial science, economics, finance, math, or statistics.
WITH CLASSICS PROFESSOR BRETT KAUFMAN
- June 20-July 19, 2020
On-campus class meetings: Pre-departure sessions Friday, April 17 and May 1
Estimated program fees: $2800 - $3500 (includes housing, most meals, orientation, excursions, and international health insurance)
Course description: China is a rapidly developing country with ever-increasing opportunities for foreigners. This program represents one of the major engagements that the University of Illinois has established with China, specifically with its partner the University of Science and Technology Beijing (USTB). The summer school is designed to introduce students to Chinese culture–from professional and academic enrichment to business networking opportunities, and from experiencing the modern mega-metropolis of Beijing to traditional village life in Longquan County. Like the Silk Road in historic times, this joint program between Illinois and USTB is geared toward fostering long-distance collaboration and exchange.
- June 22-July 21, 2020
- LAS 199 (3 credits S/U grade)
Estimated program fees: $400
Course description: The Illinois Wanxiang Fellows Program, sponsored by the Wanxiang Group, is a competitive fellowship program open to University of Illinois undergraduate students at the Urbana, Chicago, and Springfield campuses. The program offers a unique opportunity for students to study environmental issues and renewable energy in China while gaining exposure to Chinese language and culture.
Fellows will participate in three orientation sessions (two seminars and one site visit) with faculty advisors in Spring 2020, complete their four-week study in China in Summer 2020, and present individual or group research reports at the Illinois Wanxiang Fellows Symposium in Fall 2020.
WITH CHEMISTRY PROFESSOR JOSE ANDINO
- August 3-24, 2020
- CHEM 492 (2 credits)
On-campus class meetings:Four sessions of lecture and discussion from 6-7 p.m. Thursdays in room 104, La Casa Cultural Latina
Estimated program fees:$2,200-$2,400 (includes international round-trip airfare, housing, meals, orientation programs, program excursions, and administrative fees)
Course description:The University of Illinois Department of Chemistry invites you to register for its summer study abroad program, hosted at the Center for Natural Products Research in San Joseacute, Costa Rica. Some of the group's projects focus on elucidating molecular structures of substances present in several known plants traditionally used for their therapeutic properties.
- May 17–June 14, 2020
Estimated program fees:$2,900 (includes housing, most meals, orientation, instruction, excursions, and administrative fees)
Course description: Earn credit for FREN 103, 104, or a 300-level culture course in just four weeks!
Students in the Arles program have the advantage of taking courses, which are equivalent to those offered on campus, on an accelerated program in a completely French context. This program will improve their fluency in the French language and will also enrich them culturally. For a month, students will live with host families and see how French people live, work, and enjoy their free time. Open to all majors.
WITH CLASSICS PROFESSOR MARIA HADJIPOLYCARPOU
- May 17-31, 2020
- CLCV 120
3 credits
Estimated program fees: $2,875-$3,175
Course description: This course explores questions of identity concerning the role of such women in Greek culture as Maria Kallas, Melina Merkouri and Arianna Huffington. Not only in art and culture but also in entrepreneurial business and digital technology students will observe patterns from mythological and literary stories showing creative ways Greeks deal with change through the ages. The course also asks questions having to do with perceptions of death, spirituality and the self. Students will read excerpts from such novels as Nikos Kazantzakis Report to Greco, Madeleine Miller Circe, and Amanda Michalopoulou Why I Killed My Best Friend.
WITH KASIA SZREMSKI
- July 22-August 17, 2020
- LAST 395 (3 credits)
Estimated program fees:$1,370 (includes housing, most meals, orientation programs, program excursions, international health insurance, and administrative fees)
Course description:This course is an archaeological field school where students will have the opportunity to engage in innovative original research at the archaeological site of Cerro Blanco, a Chancay Administrative Center located in central Peru. This course is great for students interested in anthropology, economy, political science, social impacts of climate change, environmental sustainability, indigenous ecologies, resource management, or Latin American studies.
WITH PROFESSOR KEN E. SALO
- May 17-30, 2020
- GLBL 298 (3 credits)
Course description: In this course students will explore how current, neo-liberal and global economic forces shape and are shaping Cape Town's gendered, racial and spatial landscapes of violent exclusion at the neighborhood and city wide scales. Specifically, we will walk Cape Town’s rich, white urban center and gentrifying suburbs, its poor, black peri-urban townships and informal shack settlements of refugees to map and document how permanent and temporary residents claim citizenship of their city. Students will journal their “walking-in-place” experiences and reflect on how the many, different and interacting social hierarchies of inhabitants struggle for a dignified livelihood and livable space in the city. It should appeal to students from a range of arts and humanities majors including urban planning, geography, sociology, social work, community health, law and civil engineering.
WITH POLITICAL SCIENCE PROFESSOR GISELA SIN
- Travel over spring break
- PS 199
3 credits (first half spring course)
On-campus class meetings: Weekly class meetings on campus during the first half of spring semester.
Estimated program fees: $3,800-$4,100 (includes international round-trip airfare, housing in hotels, most meals, orientation programs, excursions, international health insurance, and administrative fees)
Course description: Join Professor Sin in her native Argentina for an in-depth look at the history and politics of human rights in Argentine society. This course explores current problems and trends in the transition to democracy, such as the re-emergence of populism, economic instability, and poverty. The seminar combines class lectures and discussions, cultural immersion, and considerable on-the-ground interaction with scholars, activists, and politicians in and around Buenos Aires.
WITH CHEMISTRY PROFESSOR JOSE ANDINO
- Travel over spring break
- LAS 199
3 credits (first half spring course)
On-campus class meetings: Weekly class meetings on campus during the first half of spring semester.
Estimated program fees: $2200 (includes international round-trip airfare, housing in hotels, some meals, orientation programs, excursions, and international health insurance)
Course description: Join Chemistry Professor José Andino and Director of LAS First Year Experience (and Brazil native) Murillo Soranso in Brazil for this study abroad course over spring break! In this course, first year STEM students will have the opportunity to do science differently. Students will work alongside Brazilian students at the Universidade Federal de Itajubá (UNIFEI) on a case-study and increase their technical knowledge and skills in the field of chemistry, while reflecting on how science is done in a different culture.
WITH PROFESSOR CHRISTOPHER TAYLOR
- Travel over spring break
- IB 496
1 credit (first half spring course)
On-campus class meetings: 1 hour weekly lecture, January 21-March 13
Estimated program fees: $2600 (Includes International airfare, housing and three meals a day in Belize)
Course description: This study abroad course will introduce students to the taxonomic, functional, and ecological diversity of vertebrates and invertebrates that inhabit and form coral reefs. The lab will emphasize field experiences on coral reefs and focus on the ecology and identification of common reef species.
This course will consist of a one-hour lecture per week for the first half of the semester and a one-week field trip to Belize during Spring Break, where students will make direct observations of reef ecosystems and organisms and record relevant data.
WITH ECONOMICS PROFESSOR RICHARD AKRESH
- Jan. 4-18, 2020
- GLBL 298
3 credits (first half spring course)
On-campus class meetings: Tuesdays from 7-10 p.m. on Oct. 22, Nov. 5, Nov. 19, and Dec. 3
Estimated program fees: $3200-3650 (includes international airfare, local transportation, housing, meals, excursions, and on-site organization in Benin)
Course description: Join Economics Professor Richard Akresh for an amazing experience studying international development in Benin, West Africa. The course includes visits with NGOs, government agencies, agricultural production facilities, and a short host family stay. Students will meet with the U.S. Ambassador, visit Peace Corps volunteer projects in action, conduct field research, visit the African School of Economics, and meet with local university students.
WITH HISTORY PROFESSOR EMANUEL ROTA AND MEDIEVAL STUDIES PROFESSOR ELEONORA STOPPINO
Jan. 6-16, 2020- ITAL 390
3 credits
On-campus class meetings: Second eight-week Fall 2019 course, followed by a faculty-led trip to Pavia, Italy
Estimated program fees: $2200 (includes international airfare, housing, local transportation, some meals, excursions, and instruction)
Course description: Join professors Emanuel Rota and Eleonora Stoppino in their native Italy for an in-depth study of the role of migration in conceptions of Italian identity. Migration is increasingly the key political and cultural issue in the age of globalization, and Italy has been at the forefront of the clashes and encounters of Mediterranean cultures. One of the results of this transformation has been an increasingly divergent experience of Italy. On one hand, Italy is a popular destination for international tourists. Italians market Italy as a safe space where culture and a good life can be experienced by international visitors. On the other hand, refugees and migrants disrupt the narrative of a stable Italian culture and of Italy as a welcoming and hospitable destination. The course aims to unify the narratives of two segregated Italies.
WITH ANTHROPOLOGY PROFESSOR HELAINE SILVERMAN
- Dec. 27, 2019-Jan 7, 2020
- ANTH 224
3 credits
PRIORITY DEADLINE: May 1
On-campus class meetings: Wednesdays, 5-6:30 p.m. on Oct. 30, Nov. 6, Nov. 13, Nov. 20, Dec. 4, and Dec. 11
Estimated program fees: $3,200-$3,580 (includes airfare in Peru, local transportation, housing, some meals in Peru, orientation, and program excursions)
Course description: Learn about the politics and policies of tourism and heritage management that promote economic development in this stunning highland region. Sample the delicious cuisine of Peru, which has achieved global acclaim. Stay in unique hotels. Participate in many interactions with local people. Finish the trip with two fascinating days in Peru's capital city, Lima, where we continue our time-travel through the heritage and economic development of the pre-Columbian, colonial and modern city. Enjoy a special tour of the UNESCO-designated historic center of Lima and a full day at a restored hacienda. Your preparation for Peru begins on campus with the preparatory mini-course designed to give you the historical and cultural background knowledge necessary to make the most of your Peru experience. Then the educational adventure continues in Peru.