Spring Quarter
Spain (León) – Intermediate Spanish
Information Session
UW Study Abroad Fair | Thursday, January 11, 2018 | 10:00am-2:00pm | HUB Ballroom
This Spanish language and culture program gives students classes in the Palacio del Conde Luna, a 14th century palace that houses the UW León Center. Students will participate in 1 credit of Service Learning, which will give them the opportunity to work with English teachers in local schools. Outside of class, students will have the chance to participate in cooking classes, and go on excursions to nearby cities and provinces, thereby allowing them to gain a deeper understanding of the culture in which they are immersed.
Term: Spring 2018 | Application deadline: January 15, 2018
Summer Quarter: A Term
Italy — Water and Its Uses for Environment and Society
Information Session
Tuesday, January 9, 2018 | 2:20pm | MGH 206
Visit Rome, Venice, Florence, and other locations in Italy to explore human-ecosystem interactions and environmental challenges through the lens of water. Students will develop qualitative and quantitative skills useful for approaching complex social-ecological tradeoffs. They will hone critical thinking skills through experiential learning and through independent inquiry, as they are challenged with a wide range of historical and present-day examples of people trying to live with one another and within their environmental limits.
Term: 2018 Summer A | Application deadline: January 31, 2018
Amsterdam — Infinitely Woven City: Art and Global Politics
Information Session
Thursday, January 18, 2018 | 4:30pm-5:30pm | MGH 211B
This program investigates the rich and complicated interrelationships between art, colonialism, trade, power, and place in a global city. Through hands-on engagement with material culture and through the creation of their own “personal atlases”, students will gain new insights into the meaning of material history, trade, and global flows of people, ideas, and violence, past and present.
Term: 2018 Summer A | Application deadline: January 31, 2018
Spain (Mallorca) – Discovering Ancient Mediterranean Spain: Archaeological Survey and Excavation in Mallorca
Information Session
UW Study Abroad Fair | Thursday, January 11, 2018 | 10:00am-2:00pm | HUB Ballroom
In this program, students will join a team of American and Spanish archaeologists in order to learn various techniques of archaeological fieldwork (excavation and surveying) and laboratory analysis as part of the ongoing Landscape, Encounters, and Identity Archaeology Project. Students will learn the ins and outs of archaeological excavation including stratigraphy, profile plan drawing, field photography, total station mapping, and archaeological surveying. Students will also learn basic laboratory procedures for cleaning, processing, labeling, and recording artifacts that they collected in the field. Outside of these unique field experiences, students will be immersed in the local Mallorcan culture and will learn about the history of the Balearic Islands. Through a series of day trips, students will also visit other archaeological sites and museums on the island. Living and working alongside a group of Spanish students, they will interact with peers who have different perspectives and traditions when it comes to archaeology.
Term: 2018 Summer A | Application deadline: January 31, 2018
Rome – Creative Writing
Information Session
Friday, January 12, 2018 | 3:30pm | Schmitz 450
Join a band of ink-stained adventurers for a month of concentrated exercise and conversation in and about the Eternal City. We explore Rome from a variety of perspectives – as avid readers and intrepid writers, through history and geography, art and architecture, language and literature, not to mention the color and flavor of daily life in Italy, where they know carpe diem is more than a catch-phrase. All students welcome. No experience in literary analysis or creative writing is presumed. The Summer Creative Writing in Rome Program is open to anyone (undergraduates, graduate students, alumni, citizens-at-large) seeking to join an intensive program in the written arts. The ideal participant for the program will be interested in creative writing, ready to write and share their writing daily, ready to take intellectual and creative risks, and open to having a grand adventure. Daily field trips, museum visits, and excursions will be included in the program fee. Housing will be in shared apartments arranged by the UW Rome Center.
Term: 2018 Summer A | Application deadline: January 31, 2018
Germany – Has Trumpism Gone Global? (Political Science)
Information Session
UW Study Abroad Fair | Thursday, January 11, 2018 | 10:00am-2:00pm | HUB Ballroom
Using Germany and the US as exemplars, this program will introduce students to the causes and consequences of the resurgence of reactionary movements in Europe and the US. Along the way, students will discuss competing theoretical explanations for populism, fascism, nationalism, and reactionary conservatism. This seminar will examine why reactionary politics are sweeping the West, but not before learning the history of such movements. The course takes place in Berlin, once the heart of the Third Reich, perhaps the most well-known right-wing movement in the past century. Humboldt University will serve as home base, and the program will plug into the American Studies program at the university.
Term: 2018 Summer A | Application Deadline: January 31, 2018
Spain and France – Americans in Europe: Exile and Belonging
Information Session
Tuesday, January 23, 2018 | 11:00am | Schmitz Hall Study Abroad Office Conference Room
Following in the footsteps of artists, revolutionaries, exiles, and travelers before us, this program will take students from Madrid to León to Paris in an exploration of transnational cultural exchange, migration, and belonging. Our focus on the politics of travel and study abroad, the Spanish Civil War, and Black cultural production in Paris will allow us to situate ourselves as embodied travelers, thinkers, and cultural producers alongside the writers and artists we study. Participants will be asked to think critically about identity, diversity, location, and belonging, and to reflect – through journal entries and creative visual or written texts – on their own experiences of (dis)location as travelers in a new land. Students will take a five-credit course that focuses on Spanish language, literature, and culture. Outside of class, students will have the opportunity to explore El Camino, participate in cooking or dance classes, and go on excursions to nearby cities and provinces.
Term: 2018 Summer A | Application Deadline: January 31
Italy, France, Switzerland – Explorations of Science, Art, & Architecture in Europe
Information Session
UW Study Abroad Fair | Thursday, January 11, 2018 | 10:00am-2:00pm | HUB Ballroom
This program will conceptually explore topics related to the development of science, art, and architecture in Europe from Ancient times to the Modern Age through visits to historical krosites, museums, and present-day laboratories. Several themes will be explored, including:
- The connections between Galileo’s observations to the discoveries being made at the modern centers of scientific research of CERN and VIRGO (NW)
- The development of linear perspective in the works of Renaissance artists and its connection to the mathematical field of projective geometry. Evolution of techniques and styles of building construction from the Romanesque and Gothic, to the Industrial Revolution
- The development and evolution of the city of Paris from ancient to modern times
Undergraduate students from all majors are encouraged to apply. Students should be curious to see and observe how developments in European history have informed our present-day experience. Students will have an opportunity to work collaboratively with other students from different academic fields and backgrounds.
Term: 2018 Summer A | Application deadline: January 31, 2018
Italy – Interdisciplinary Studio Art and Italian Culture
Information Session
Friday, January 12, 2018 | 2:00pm-3:30pm | UW Bothell UW1-102
This program will give students from all majors the opportunity to immerse themselves in the experience of Rome creatively and adventurously through the lens of visual art and the culture of the city, as well as each students’ own unique background, discipline, and interests. Classes will be held throughout Rome itself and at the UW Rom Center in Palazzo Pio in Rome’s historic center. We will visit museums, galleries, churches, and other sites of cultural interest in Rome, including studying art through the work of artists like Michelangelo, Bernini, and Caravaggio, as well as more recent modern and contemporary art. We will see artworks, architecture, and ruins, as well as cultural sites related to other arts and/or disciplines. Students will be able to visit sites of their choice and/or select their own topics for study and incorporation into their studio art in Rome. They will study Italian language for an introduction to basic speaking, listening, and comprehension. We will also explore various aspects of the history and culture of Rome and Italy. Explorations in Rome, lectures about art concepts, processes, materials, and students’ own interdisciplinary interests and research will be woven together into individualized studio art projects. There will be appropriate entry levels for students new to art, as well as more experienced artists. Undergraduates, graduate students, alumnae, and students from other institutions, majors, and levels of experience are welcome.
Term: 2018 Summer A | Application deadline: January 31, 2018
England – Summer in London
Information Session
Friday, January 26, 2018 | 3:30pm | Allen Library Auditorium (North)
This 5-week version of the English Department’s highly successful program of study in London offers an immersive experience for students to learn about culture, art, theater, and society – and their interactions. The program consists of three courses, totaling 12 credits: “London’s Contemporary Theater”, taught by Professor Burstein of the UW Department of English, and two classes taught by British faculty: “Contemporary Britain”, by Dr. Michael Fosdal, and “Art, Architecture, and Society”, taught by Professor Peter Buckroyd. Students in the program will gain irreplaceable historical and contemporary experiences of and education about the city of London. Excursions to Stratford and Brighton are also included. By asking students to participate actively, and by living in homestay arrangements with London hosts, students become part of London life.
Term: 2018 Summer A | Application deadline: January 31, 2018
Summer Quarter: B Term
France – Paris in the Summer
Information Session
UW Study Abroad Fair | Thursday, January 11, 2018 | 10:00am-2:00pm | HUB Ballroom
This five-week program is about the discovery of the French capital city from a historical and cultural point of view. Lectures focus on the history of Paris and French culture, and correlate to visits of sites mentioned during class on a daily basis. Each visit begins with a student presentation of the site (in French), followed by a complementary presentation of the same site by faculty (in French, with partial translation). Students will visit over a dozen significant monuments/museums with the group. Students will also take a class working on aural/oral skills in French, which functions as a complement to the History of Paris class. It focuses entirely on the development of oral production skills and comprehension. Students achieve a high level of interaction while working on group projects and presentations.
Term: 2018 Summer B | Application deadline: January 31, 2018
Denmark – Migration and Diversity: Denmark in Europe Today
Information Session
UW Study Abroad Fair | Thursday, January 11, 2018 | 10:00am-2:00pm | HUB Ballroom
Taught onsite in Copenhagen, this program explores Denmark’s role in today’s globalizing world. This intensive course engages four academic disciplines: Sociology, Cinema Studies, Literature, and Architecture. Denmark, known for social equity and humanitarianism, offers a distinct Scandinavian approach to the migration and diversity challenges that are currently facing all of Europe. This course will investigate the relationship between migration and diversity and Danish political and social institutions, as well as built environments.
Term: 2018 Summer B | Application deadline: January 31, 2018
Scotland – Theatrical Futures: The Edinburgh Festivals
Information Session
UW Study Abroad Fair | Thursday, January 11, 2018 | 10:00am-2:00pm | HUB Ballroom
Experience one of the largest performing arts festivals in the world in beautiful, historic Edinburgh, Scotland. This immersive theater studies program is one-of-a-kind, and aims to provide the small cohort of students exposure to a wide variety of performance from around the world. During this program, students will live together in a three-story flat situated in the middle of the city, within easy walking distance to most festival venues. Students create a community that lives, studies, and shares experiences together as the centerpiece of this program. The lecture materials examine classical and alternative forms of dramatic structure in addition to basic acting/directing theory. By studying a range of dramatic forms as well as a variety of performance theories, students are better equipped to reflect on, write about, and articulate critical thinking that expands creative horizons for a student of the dramatic arts.
Term: 2018 Summer B | Application deadline: January 31, 2018
Greece – Greece and Europe: Travelers, Migrants, and Tourists
Information Session
UW Study Abroad Fair | Thursday, January 11, 2018 | 10:00am-2:00pm | HUB Ballroom
This program focuses on the role of travel, migration, and tourism for Greece and the Balkans. These topics, and the politics behind them, are explored within social, political, economic, and cultural contexts, as well as by studying the Roma communities of two Greek cities – Athens and the picturesque town of Nafplion. Some of the topics of study including the perception and representation of Greece and the Greeks by Western European and American travelers; the construction of the tourist gaze about Greece; the relation of Greece with neighboring Balkan countries, especially Albania; the question of human rights of the undocumented immigrants in Greece; the political and social tensions that the phenomenon of mass immigration caused in Greece; the emergence of multiple cultural identities following the arrival of immigrants but also the arrival of tourists in Greece; and the transformation of Greece from a ‘mono-cultural’ to a ‘multi-cultural’ country. This course will also continue research work from the past two years on the Roma communities of Athens and Nafplion, in both learning more about their social exclusion and providing any positive assistance breaking down social barriers and exclusion. This is a rich, intensive, challenging – yet rewarding – program that includes interviewing local residents and conducting participating observation about the issue of migration in the Balkans.
Term: 2018 Summer B | Application deadline: January 31, 2018
Sweden – Landscape Architecture: Creating Home Amidst Displacement
Information Session
UW Study Abroad Fair | Thursday, January 11, 2018 | 10:00am-2:00pm | HUB Ballroom
In collaboration with students from HDK-Steneby, a design and crafts school located in Dals Långed, an area heavily populated by refugees from Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan, we will work with the local immigrant refugee community to create a community garden intended to improve and alleviate the stresses of the integration process and connect Swedish residents with these new arrivals. The goal is to create a better level of trust, connection, and mutual respect between the two groups. Our process will be built upon the participatory design model through interaction with the two communities. We will design and build several elements including gardens, cooking facilities, covered pavilions, wash facilities, seating, paths, and gathering areas to create this therapeutic garden of exchange. The new public space resulting from this project should greatly increase the quality of life of local residents, as it will fill the need which is not supported by any of the existing spaces in Dals Långed: an outside meeting place, where people of difference ages, cultures, and interests can meet and come closer to each other. We will live and study in Dals Långed and use the HDK-Steneby facilities. The participation of HDK-Steneby students will bring a high level of metal- and wood-craft that will be facilitated by excellently equipped fabrication shops. Students will learn about issues of immigration, displacement, and assimilation, and the perspectives of the refugees and host Swedish populations.
Term: 2018 Summer B | Application deadline: January 31, 2018
The Netherlands – Amsterdam and Seattle: Urban Social Control in Comparative Perspective
Information Sessions
Wednesday, January 10, 2018 | 11:30am | Smith M261
Monday, January 22, 2018 | 3:00pm | Smith M261
This program will facilitate the study of urban social control through a comparative analysis of control in Seattle and Amsterdam. By living in and studying two dense urban cities, students will explore the variety of social processes by which cities are rendered orderly. We will be interested in considering whether and how ordering processes might differ in an American city in contrast to a Dutch city. The program is designed to help students understand the key control mechanisms that make cities function, and to compare how these mechanisms work in two different cities, Seattle and Amsterdam. Through close readings, active class discussions, and fieldwork, we will develop an understanding of social control in both theory and practice, and do so through a comparative analysis of the two cities and the cultures of which they are a part. After the conclusion of this program, students will possess a deeper appreciate for the overt and covert means by which urban areas are rendered orderly, and an understanding of the larger political and philosophical questions those ordering processes necessarily generate. Students will conduct fieldwork in Seattle during the quarter before leaving for Amsterdam. While in Amsterdam, students will be immersed in the local culture, will attend lectures from local faculty, and participate in class discussions and group activities. As a whole, the program will engage students in a comparative study of two urban cities and their respective methods of social control, while creating in them more engaged, critical, and imaginative thinkers and citizens.
Term: 2018 Summer B | Application deadline: January 31, 2018
Summer Quarter: Full Term
United Kingdom – Sustainable Regional Development: Urban and Rural Linkages
Information Session
Tuesday, January 16, 2018 | 5:30pm | Gould 142
This program will provide students with an opportunity to better understand the integration of planning theory with best practices of sustainability in the urban and rural context in the United Kingdom. The location of the program in England, Scotland, and Wales is based on the unique opportunities there to highlight current and historic development of the build environment, while simultaneously studying best practices of environmental stewardship. Academic goals of the program include: improving students’ understanding of the inter-relationship between sustainable practices in both the urban and rural context; and increasing students’ knowledge of best planning practices in the United Kingdom which may be applicable and useful to problem-solving in both the urban and rural context in the United States. Students’ learning experiences will be enhanced through engagement with faculty and stakeholders in the UK, as well as visiting site of best practices. Living and learning in these locations will provide insight and understanding of how the political, economic, sociological, geographical, and environmental issues facing the United Kingdom are similar and distinct from the conditions of the United States. This in turn will provide students with valuable lessons in best practices that are applicable to problem-solving in the Pacific Northwest.
Term: 2018 Summer (Full Term) | Application deadline: January 31, 2018
Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and Belgium – Art History
Information Session
UW Study Abroad Fair | Thursday, January 11, 2018 | 10:00am-2:00pm | HUB Ballroom
Few countries boast an art tradition as rich as the Netherlands, represented by such famous artists as Rembrandt, Vermeer, and Vincent Van Gogh. This 9-week study abroad opportunity will offer the study of Dutch art on-site within its cultural and historical context. While the program’s primary focus is art history in the Netherlands – with special attention to Dutch Modernism and the seventeenth-century “Golden Age” – other topics will include the contemporary art scene in Amsterdam, discussions with museum professionals, architecture, urban planning, design, and issues of Dutch identity. The program will be based in Amsterdam, but will branch out to various cities such as The Hague, Rotterdam, Utrecht, Haarlem, and complement our stay in the Netherlands with a week-long visit to Belguim to study early Netherlandish and modern Flemish art in Antwerp, Brussels, an Ghent. The program will end in Berlin to study the impact of Dutch Golden Age, modern, and contemporary art in international context.
Term: 2018 Summer (Full Term) | Application deadline: January 31, 2018
Ireland – Globalization and Business: The Celtic Phoenix Takes Flight
Information Session
UW Study Abroad Fair | Thursday, January 11, 2018 | 10:00am-2:00pm | HUB Ballroom
This program focuses on the history and current state of Irish economy and its recovery from the 2008 global financial crisis. Students will focus on studying the “Celtic Tiger” model and analyze its somewhat short-lived effectiveness. They will also learn about the steps that the Irish took to revitalize themselves and come back fiscally strong. We will meet with business executives from about fifteen different companies to hear firsthand about living and working in the Celtic Tiger era and learn what their companies did to turn things around. Students will also learn about the challenges and opportunities that US multinationals face while operating in a global environment. By visiting traditional Irish companies, students will be able to compare the business similarities and differences of local versus global companies. Because of the importance of Ireland’s history on its people and culture, we will also visit Northern Ireland, and will discuss the impact that Brexit will have on either connecting or separating Northern Ireland from the Republic.
Term: Early Fall 2018 | Application deadline: February 15, 2018