Skip to Main Content Skip to Footer Toggle Navigation Menu
A student and a local inhabitant stare at each other with binoculars while standing atop a mountain.

Study Away

Where will your studies take you?

Expand your perspective. Immerse yourself in a new language or one you’ve studied. Whatever your area of study, passion, or plan to make a difference, there is a program for you. Macalester students study away for 15 weeks, which allows them to learn about, and engage with, their host community at a deeper and more personal level.

From Glasgow to Osaka to Washington, D.C.

Most Macalester students spend time off campus.

Student Samba Dia in Morocco. Toggle disclosure

Learning Moroccan Hand Shakes

(Photo by Samba Dia in Morocco) The man featured here was the tour bus driver who I decided to sit next to so that I could practice my Darija. We spent around two hours next to each other as we drove from place to place. We communicated as best as we could with my broken dialect. At the end of the tour he reached out and grabbed my hand while smiling. He wanted to teach me a handshake that all Moroccans knew.

Learning Moroccan Hand Shakes

(Photo by Samba Dia in Morocco) The man featured here was the tour bus driver who I decided to sit next to so that I could practice my Darija. We spent around two hours next to each other as we drove from place to place. We communicated as best as we could with my broken dialect. At the end of the tour he reached out and grabbed my hand while smiling. He wanted to teach me a handshake that all Moroccans knew.
Rice being mixed in Thailand. Toggle disclosure

Sticky Rice

(Photo by Stella Wang in Thailand) Our host mom was one of the first in the community to switch to organic farming practices amidst backlash and doubt from neighbors, friends, and family about the feasibility of producing food without the use of pesticides. Throughout our stay I was in awe of the care that she took in growing and preparing food.

Sticky Rice

(Photo by Stella Wang in Thailand) Our host mom was one of the first in the community to switch to organic farming practices amidst backlash and doubt from neighbors, friends, and family about the feasibility of producing food without the use of pesticides. Throughout our stay I was in awe of the care that she took in growing and preparing food.
Mongolian hunter with an eagle on his arm. Toggle disclosure

Mongolian Eagle Hunter

(Photo by Bekka Ord) I made my way into Western Mongolia and into Altai Tavan Bogd National Park. Here is where I met the Eagle Hunter. While between us we could only communicate hellos, I got a glimpse into a culture and set of traditions completely different than that of my own and was able to observe the tremendous respect that he showed for his golden eagle and Mongolian culture.

Mongolian Eagle Hunter

(Photo by Bekka Ord) I made my way into Western Mongolia and into Altai Tavan Bogd National Park. Here is where I met the Eagle Hunter. While between us we could only communicate hellos, I got a glimpse into a culture and set of traditions completely different than that of my own and was able to observe the tremendous respect that he showed for his golden eagle and Mongolian culture.

95

Study away programs

61%

of students study away for 15 weeks or more

51

Countries to choose from

Tre Nowaczynski
Tre Nowaczynski
This study abroad experience was a time to reflect and immerse myself in an entirely different world.
Tre Nowaczynski Sociology major