Learning Abroad Center

Learning Abroad in Youth Studies

“And the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.”

T. S. Eliot

Department Recommendations

You are encouraged to incorporate study abroad into your academic career while still graduating in four years. In order to take courses in your major you need to plan ahead. Here are some guidelines that will be helpful.

Best time to go abroad

With careful planning, youth studies students can go abroad at any time during their undergraduate career.

Seek cultural immersion

  • Look for programs that offer significant cultural integration. Deep involvement in the host culture leads to personal growth and instills the cross-cultural skills that are so important to success in the workplace and community.
  • If you prefer to participate in a classroom-based group program, seek one that houses you with a family or host-country roommate. Look for experiences outside the classroom such as internships, community engagement, or research opportunities.
  • Be realistic. Not all students are ready for the same amount of cultural immersion.

Look for a program that provides insights into another society

  • Look for a program that offers experience-based learning that gets you out of the classroom and into the community.
  • Learn about other traditions and perspectives in youth studies. See how youth workers in another country view their discipline.
  • Choose a program where your professors are from the host county.

Internships

  • All field study/internships must be approved by the Youth Studies advisor, 612-624-4290, in order to use them to fulfill requirements. This should be done during the academic planning process prior to the internship experience.

Work on your youth studies major or minor

  • The Youth Studies adviser will screen coursework and help you fit appropriate courses into your major requirements.
  • Use an Academic Planning Study Abroad Form to structure and document your discussions with Cindy. Try to list more courses on the form than you will actually be able to take. If your courses change, get in touch with Cindy via email.

Complete Liberal Education requirements

  • Plan early to apply study abroad credits to the University’s Liberal Education requirements. Decide early which requirements you want to satisfy through courses taken abroad so you do not fulfill them on campus.
  • Consult the Learning Abroad Center's U Credit Abroad Search to find courses that have already been evaluated or submit courses online to be evaluated for liberal education requirements.

College/Department Scholarships for UofM Students

Nonaffiliated Programs

CEHD strongly encourages students to participate in UofM-sponsored or affiliated programs, which have been vetted and approved by the Learning Abroad Center or another unit on campus. The UofM has close working relationships with hundreds of affiliated programs that are high quality in terms of academic standards, housing, cultural immersion, health and safety and administrative support services. CEHD encourages you to choose program options found on the Learning Abroad Center website. Occasionally CEHD students inquire about nonaffiliated programs, approval and support for nonaffiliated programs is highly unlikely.

Programs

Africa and the Middle East

Kenya

Empowering Youth Through Sport

  • Abroad May Term in Nairobi, Iten, Eldoret, & Mombasa, Kenya
  • Explore how sports, from soccer to yoga to marathons, are all important to a wide range of people in Kenya.
  • Engage in service projects and discuss activity in the context of Kenyan culture, while remaining cognizant of your own American culture.
  • This program is led by Daheia Barr-Anderson, Assistant Professor of Kinesiology and is approved for Sport Management B.S. major focus elective.

Senegal

MSID—International Development in Senegal

  • Program focuses on international development in the context of Senegal through coursework in the first half of the semester and an internship in the latter half
  • Past internship placements include social work agencies, youth projects, women’s groups, orphanages, health clinics, community centers, and many more.

South Africa

University of Cape Town (available through IES South Africa)

  • A leader in the region for research and learning and has set an example of equality in the midst of apartheid
  • Youth studies students can take courses in psychology, social work, and many other departments

Americas

Colombia

CET Colombia: Study Race, Identity, & Ethnicity in Cali

  • Program type: Study Abroad Center
  • Examine socio-political, economic, and historical conceptions of race in Afro-Colombia
  • Local roommates
  • Backed by Howard University
  • No previous Spanish required

Ecuador

MSID—International Development in Ecuador

  • Program focuses on international development in the context of Ecuador through coursework in the first half of the semester and an internship in the latter half
  • Past internship placements include social work agencies, youth projects, women’s groups, orphanages, health clinics, community centers, and many more.

Mexico

Study Abroad in Mexico

  • Complete a semester of Spanish in three weeks with the short-term program option offered over winter break or during one or more of the four summer sessions

Asia and Oceania

Australia

James Cook University (available through IFSA Australia)

  • Many courses offered at James Cook University work well for youth studies majors, including courses in psychology, sociology, and education
  • Well known for its program in Indigenous Australian Studies whose courses offer the opportunity for a comparative perspective with the indigenous populations in the U.S

Study & Intern in Sydney

  • Offers a 6 credit professional internship placement along with coursework in the humanities, social sciences, and business
  • Sample placements include Don Bosco House for homeless, abused and substance-abusing youth, the Salvation Army, and other leading youth organizations.

University of Melbourne (available through IFSA Australia)

  • School of Social Sciences provides a variety of courses that are of interest to Youth Studies students
  • Classes pertinent to youth studies are available in psychology, sociology, and other departments

New Zealand

University Study in New Zealand: University of Auckland

  • Includes a Youth Work department and offers an extensive listing of courses related to youth studies
  • Students may also take related classes in psychology, sociology, and other areas

Thailand

MSID—International Development in Thailand

  • Based in Chiang Mai, Thailand
  • Explore the complexities created by issues such as environment, globalization, public health, and social justice
  • Contribute to an internship or research project with a nonprofit organization while you are there
  • Instruction is in English; no prior Thai required

Europe

Denmark

Study Abroad in Denmark—Child Development & Diversity

  • Examine Danish approaches to child development and education especially in the context of recent immigration into Denmark
  • Combines theory with a supervised classroom experience in a preschool to learn Danish early childhood education practices

Study Abroad in Denmark—Justice and Human Rights

  • DIS offers a semester program (fall and spring), taught entirely in English, in which students examine international and human rights.
  • Students will deepen their understanding of the legal aspects and political context behind major modern conflicts and human rights violations in Europe through the combination of interactive classes, field studies, and study tours.

Study Abroad in Denmark—Prostitution and the Sex Trade

  • DIS offers a semester program (fall and spring), taught entirely in English, in which students examine the conflicting views surrounding prostitution in Europe.
  • Denmark, where prostitution is legal, is the perfect foil to the rest of Scandinavia, where it is not, and to the Netherlands, where it is legal but with different moral and legal standards.
  • Through field studies and study tours, students will experience how varied cultural settings impact policy and practice.

Norway

Exchange in Oslo

  • Choose from a wide variety of courses in the sciences, social sciences, healthcare management, humanities, and the environment
  • A highly affordable program with courses taught in English

Spain

Study & Intern in Toledo

  • Excellent program for students also completing a Spanish minor with upper-division Spanish courses as well as courses on the history and culture of Spain
  • Optional community engagement course with a focus on the immigrant experience in Spain and an internship course with placements in local schools

United Kingdom

University of Sussex (available through IFSA United Kingdom)

  • Known for innovative teaching and quality research with an active cultural and recreational life
  • Courses in the Social Work & Social Care, Psychology, and other departments will be of interest to youth studies students

Study & Intern in London

  • Offers a 6 credit professional internship placement along with coursework in the humanities, social sciences, and business
  • Past examples have included St. Gabriel’s Primary School in London, a multi-ethnic, inner-city school for children ages 4–11

Additional Options to Consider

LAC Global Seminars

  • 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.

LAC Freshman Seminars

  • 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.

Additional LAC Seminars

  • 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.

Intensive Language Programs

  • 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.