SAINT MARY'S HALL 136 – Ext. 6996
Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota encourages students to incorporate international study into their academic plans as it enhances their liberal arts education by engaging them in stimulating learning experiences and encourages them to develop a sense of global citizenship. Staff of the Study Abroad Office is available to assist students during all stages of the study abroad experience, which includes exploring various options, applying to a program, preparing for international study and returning to campus.
Eligibility requirements, the application process, and the availability of financial aid vary by program. More information is available in the Study Abroad Office.
Program Objectives
- To provide opportunities that help students to develop into internationally aware citizens who understand, value, and contribute to our rapidly changing world.
- To provide experiences that help students to grow personally by developing personal responsibility, becoming more open-minded and tolerant of differences, developing greater self-awareness and gaining insight into one’s own culture.
- To provide opportunities for students to learn about the history, politics, culture, geography, and the arts of the country visited.
- To provide experiences for students to gain different skill sets and explore different interests that may influence the direction of their career path.
SMU Undergraduate Programs
London, England
This twelve-week semester program, offered fall semester, is located in London, one of the great cultural meccas of the world. Many classes are a combination of lectures and guided field trips. Theatre students participate in the London semester through the Stefannié Valéncia Kierlin Theatre Program. All majors are encouraged to apply. Students live in apartment-style housing during their stay in London.
Florence, Italy
This twelve-week semester program, offered spring semester, is based in Fiesole, a city overlooking central Florence. Students explore the historical sites and rich resources of this renowned Italian city. Accommodations for students are in a hotel villa. One week of the program is spent in Rome.
Affiliated Programs
The Center for Cross-Cultural Study (CC-CS)
The CC-CS has provided unique learning experiences for students in the historic city of Seville, Spain
since 1969 and is now offering semester programs in Cordoba, Argentina and Alicante, Spain.
Montpellier, France - The University of Minnesota (Fall, Spring, or Summer Semesters): This program offers courses in French language, culture, history, literature, humanities, social science, sciences, and business for advanced students. Students live in homestays, apartments, or dormitories.
Universidad La Salle of Mexico City
For over 10 years, Universidad La Salle has offered study abroad opportunities for students of Saint
Mary’s.
Academic Exchange Program (Fall or Spring Semester): Students participate in regular courses offered by Universidad La Salle. All classes are taught in Spanish. Students live with host families.
Spanish for Foreigners (Summer): Every summer, a special intensive Spanish language and culture program is offered at beginning, intermediate and advanced levels. Courses include Spanish, Mexican history and culture. The program incorporates field trips to places such as the Pyramids at Teotihuacan and Cuernavaca. Students live with host families.
Higher Education Consortium for Urban Affairs (HECUA)
Saint Mary’s has been a member of HECUA since 1977. HECUA serves students that wish to address social justice issues and to develop their capacities for effective citizenship.
Oslo, Norway - Scandinavian Studies Term (Fall Semester): Students gain a deep understanding of contemporary Scandinavia. Three interrelated seminars give students an understanding of how the welfare state works in the context of a social democracy facing challenges posed by immigration. The relationship between Scandinavian countries, the emerging democracies of Eastern Europe, the European Union and broader global politics are explored. Housing is located in a student village near the campus. One brief home stay is arranged
Quito, Ecuador - Community Internships (Fall or Spring Semester): Models of community participation, organization, development and social change are compared and contrasted. The fall program offers a seminar focused on social movements; the spring offering concentrates on globalization and human migration. All lectures and discussions are in Spanish. Internships and field projects are conducted entirely in Spanish. Home stays are provided as housing.
Oslo, Norway and Poland – Divided States of Europe: Globalization and Inequalities in the New Europe (Spring Semester): Students examine the development of the European Union (EU), including its historical foundations and institutional basis, contemporary democratic and social challenges, and its expansion to include the former communist nation-states of Central and Eastern Europe. The program explores the relationship between the EU and globalization and in particular questions whether the EU adequately addresses the humandimensions of globalization. Scandinavia and Poland will be used as case studies throughout the program.
Coleraine and Belfast, Northern Ireland - Democracy and Social Change (Spring Semester): Students examine the historical, political and religious roots of the conflict in Northern Ireland, the prospects for peace and the progress being made. Learning occurs through readings,
lectures, discussions, internships, group study projects and field experiences that invite interaction with people involved in social change. In Northern Ireland, students spend five weeks in home stay accommodations while taking core seminars at the University of Ulster. During the seven-week internship, students live in a student village in Belfast or London/Derry.
Foundation for International Education
Saint Mary’s is a member of the Foundation of International Education, a non-profit consortium of colleges nationwide. Through this organization, student teachers are placed in schools in Australia, England, Scotland, Republic of Ireland, and Costa Rica for 5 or 6 weeks after completing a minimum of 10 weeks of student teaching in Winona or in a nearby community. Students teach the curriculum that follows the national model of the country chosen.
The Lasallian International Programs Consortium
Saint Mary’s is a member of this consortium, which is composed of the seven U.S. Lasallian colleges and universities for the purpose of creating and managing high quality educational programs throughout the world for students of member institutions. Programs are located in Melbourne, Australia; Aimores, Brazil; London, Ormskirk, and Oxford, England; Aix-en-Provence and Avignon, France; Dublin and Galway, Ireland; Rome, Italy; Cuernavaca, Mexico; Cape Town, South Africa; and Madrid, Spain. More detailed information can be found at http://www.lasallianstudyabroad.com/. |