Learning Abroad Center

Learning Abroad in Cultural Studies & Comparative Literature and Studies in Cinema & Media Culture

“For many of our students, study abroad turns out to be the single most educationally enriching, indeed life-altering experience they have as an undergraduate. I can’t recommend it highly enough.”

Gary Thomas, Director of Undergraduate Studies, Department of Cultural Studies & Comparative Literature

“Spending a semester abroad in Paris was absolutely amazing. Learning Abroad gave me the opportunity to improve my French Language skills and participate in a culture and a way of life very different from my own.”

Jenna Lyons, CSCL student who studied in Paris, France

Academic Planning Recommendations

Best Time To Go Abroad

Some foundation courses for the major are offered on campus only once a year, so discuss your plans with your adviser in advance to determine when a learning abroad experience would best fit within your program of study.

Liberal Education Requirements

Search the U Credit Abroad Search. You may also submit any liberal education course not yet evaluated for approval online.

Major and Minor Requirements

  • Many study abroad programs offer courses similar to those taught in CSCL and SCMC, though they may vary in both method and content.
  • Identify courses that approach cinema and other media not as isolated objects, but rather in relation to larger patterns of discourse, modes of production, and socio-political power in history that would fulfill CSCL or SCMC major requirements.
  • Learning abroad courses are most commonly approved as electives toward the CSCL and SCMC majors.
  • Most learning abroad courses are approved at the 1xxx, 2xxx, or 3xxx-level. Only in rare circumstances are 4xxx or 5xxx-level courses approved toward major requirements.
  • Appropriate research done abroad may be incorporated into an internship or thesis project. Prior approval is required to receive academic credit, and any proposed research must be pre-approved by the faculty supervisor of the project. Consult with the CSCL undergraduate adviser for further information.

Internship Requirements

  • Learning abroad internship opportunities may be applied toward a CSCL or SCMC major with pre-approval.

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. Once you have narrowed down your program options, schedule a meeting with the CSCL undergraduate adviser, Michelle Livingston, at 612.626.7299 or [email protected]

College/Department Scholarships for UofM Students

Programs

Africa and the Middle East

South Africa

University of Cape Town (offered through IES South Africa)

  • Program Type: Host-University Study
  • Sample courses include Media & Society; Media, Power & Culture; The Media in South Africa; Film & History; Visual Culture: Perception & Communication; Memory, Identity & History; Language, Thought, & Reality; The Politics of Gendered Knowledge; Culture, Identity & Globalization in Africa.
  • Instruction is in English.
  • Fall or spring semester, academic or calendar year

Americas

Argentina

IFSA Argentina—Buenos Aires

  • Universidad Católica Argentina
  • Universidad de Buenos Aires
  • Universidad del Salvador
  • Universidad Torcuato Di Tella
  • Program Type: Host-University Study and/or Study Abroad Center
  • Offers Cinema Studies Track, which emphasizes Argentine cinema.
  • This track incorporates a number of activities including a seminar, roundtable discussions, art exhibits, theater productions, and meetings with local experts.
  • Fall or spring semester, academic or calendar year

Study & Intern in Buenos Aires

  • Program Type: Study Abroad Center
  • Take Spanish language courses while also learning about Argentine society through courses taught in English.
  • Course offerings include Latin American Literature & Cinema; Politics and Society in Latin America; Buenos Aires: City of the Arts.
  • No prior Spanish required
  • Fall Semester, spring semester, or summer

Ecuador

MSID—International Development in Ecuador

  • Program Type: Field Study
  • MSID combines development-focused internships with rigorous classroom study.
  • Central themes include the relationship between political and economic power, and between power and ideologies of development.
  • Courses are taught in Spanish.
  • Fall or Spring semester

Asia and Oceania

Australia

Study & Intern in Sydney

  • Program Type: Study Abroad Center
  • Participate in a 3 or 6 credit internship related to CSCL or SCMC.
  • Fall semester, spring semester, or summer

University of Melbourne (offered through IFSA Australia)

  • Program Type: Host-University Study
  • Relevant courses can be found in the following departments: Gender Studies, History, and Media & Communications.
  • Fall or spring semester, academic or calendar year

University of Wollongong (available through IFSA Australia)

  • Program Type: Host-University Study
  • Sample courses include Australian Studies—Cultures & Identities; Australia Fair—Nation, “Race,” Culture; Cinema in Australia.
  • Coursework can be found in Aboriginal Studies; Australian Studies; English; History; Media & Cultural Studies; Politics; Sociology; and Science, Technology & Society.
  • Fall or spring semester, academic or calendar year

Japan

IES Japan—Tokyo

  • Program Type: Study Abroad Center
  • Multidisciplinary program for students with little or no Japanese language background
  • English-taught course offerings include Introduction to Japanese Society & Culture; Japanese Popular Culture, Past & Present; Social Organization in Japan.
  • Fall or spring semester, academic year, or summer

Exchange in Tokyo—Sophia University

  • Program Type: Host-University Study and Study Abroad Center
  • Sophia University is a Jesuit institution located in Tokyo
  • Sample course offerings: Call to Arms—Literature of Resistance; Interpretations of Modernity; Studies in Poetics—East-West Comparative Literary Theory; Globalization of Culture in East Asia; Western Thought & Culture.
  • Spring semester or academic year

New Zealand

University Study in New Zealand: University of Auckland

  • Program Type: Host-University Study
  • Sample course titles include Critical Theory & Cultural Studies; Reading Contemporary Films; Bollywood & Beyond; Political Content of Television; Fashion, Identity & Globalization.
  • Fall or spring semester, academic or calendar year

University Study in New Zealand: University of Otago

  • Program Type: Host-University Study
  • The University of Otago, located in Dunedin on New Zealand’s South Island, has an outstanding film and media program.
  • Sample course titles include Individual & Community in New Zealand Literature; Understanding Contemporary Media; History of Film; Culture, Politics, Policy & Global Media; Indigenous Representation & Cinema(s).
  • Fall or spring semester, academic or calendar year

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

  • Program Type: Study Abroad Center
  • All courses are taught in English
  • Semester and Summer program options
  • Relevant courses available in the following disciplines: Gender Studies, Art History, Literature, Media Studies, Film Studies, Rhetoric, Communication, 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—Université Paul Valéry

  • Program Type: Host-University Study and/or Study Abroad Center
  • Located in southern France near the Mediterranean, Montpellier is a delightful combination of medieval and modern.
  • Participants may combine special language and culture courses for international students with courses from the regular curriculum of Université Paul Valéry in a proportion suitable to their level of language competence.

Germany

IES Germany—Berlin

  • Program Type: Study Abroad Center
  • Courses of particular interest to CSCL students include German Popular Culture; Multicultural Berlin; Portable Roots—Reflecting Otherness in Modern German Culture; German Film as Refracted History; Women, Literature, & Transitions: Gender Relations in Modern German Literature.
  • Students with advanced German fluency may also take courses at Humboldt University.
  • Instruction is in German.
  • Fall semester, spring semester, or academic year

Exchange in Berlin

  • Program Type: Host-University Study
  • Language pre-requisite: 4 semesters of college-level German (or equivalent)
  • Academic year only

Iceland

Exchange in Iceland—Reykjavik

  • Program Type: Host-University Study
  • No language pre-requisite
  • Academic year only

Ireland

National University of Ireland Maynooth (available through IFSA Ireland)

  • Program Type: Host-University Study
  • The National University of Ireland offers a residential, college-town atmosphere within easy reach of Dublin.
  • Relevant courses can be found in the following departments: English, European Studies, Media Studies, and Sociology.
  • Fall semester, spring semester, or academic year

Italy

IES Italy—Rome

  • Program Type: Study Abroad Center
  • IES Rome includes the following courses: Italian Literature into Film; In the Eyes of the Beholder: Masterpieces of Italian Cinema Seen through an Italian-American Lens; Cinecittà—Understanding Italian Film; Love, Death & Social Strife in Italian Fiction 1820-1920; The Contemporary Italian Novel.
  • Instruction is in English; students with enough Italian may choose from a wider range of offerings at any of three local universities.
  • Fall semester, spring semester, or academic year

Bologna Consortial Studies Program—Università di Bologna

  • Program Type: Host-University Study
  • The University of Bologna (UB) is Europe’s oldest university and arguably Italy’s most prestigious.
  • The Bologna Consortial Studies Program (BCSP) supplements UB courses with courses designed for US students, including one on The Cinema of the Italian Economic Miracle.
  • Instruction is in Italian.
  • Academic year, fall or spring semester

Netherlands

Exchange in Amsterdam
IES Netherlands

  • Program Type: Host University Study and/or Study Abroad Center
  • Students in these programs mostly study through the University of Amsterdam’s International School for Humanities and Social Sciences, which offers such courses as Ethnic Diversity and Popular Culture; Gender, Culture, and Space; Memory, History & the Cinema; Europe-Hollywood-Europe—American Cinema & European Imagination.
  • No prior Dutch is required
  • Fall semester (not available for the bilateral exchange), spring semester, or academic year

Spain

Study & Intern in Toledo

  • Program Type: Study Abroad Center
  • Offers strong curriculum in the humanities and social sciences
  • Includes such courses as Contemporary Spanish Women Writers; Introduction to the History & Present Situation of Spanish Women; Society Through Spanish & Latin American Film; and Seminar in Recent Spanish Film.
  • Internships are offered. Instruction is in Spanish.
  • Fall semester, spring semester, academic year, May term, or summer

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: Literature, Communication, Film Studies, Media Studies, Photography
  • 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

United Kingdom

University Study in the UK: University of Glasgow

  • Program Type: Host-University Study
  • Enroll in courses in the Comparative Literature and Film & Television Studies departments
  • Fall semester, spring semester, or academic year

University Study in the UK: Queen Mary University of London

  • Program Type: Host-University Study
  • Queen Mary offers a true campus environment within London’s fascinatingly diverse East End.
  • Relevant courses can be found in departments such as Comparative Literature, English, Film Studies, French, German, and Hispanic Studies.
  • Fall semester, spring semester, or academic year

Study & Intern in London

  • Program Type: Study Abroad Center
  • Offers a multidisciplinary array of course offerings on Britain and Europe, including such courses as Women in Britain in the 20th Century; 20th & 21st Century Art; Understanding Britain in the European Context; British Popular Culture; Visualizing Britain; British Broadcasting Today.
  • Participate in a 3 or 6 credit internship related to CSCL or SCMC.
  • Fall Semester, spring semester, academic year or summer

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.