Students interested in focusing their studies away from Macalester within their major, minor, and/or concentration can find recommendations from academic departments and concentrations below. Departments and concentrations have determined that these programs are well-aligned with their curricula and offer coursework that could be included in major, minor, and concentration coursework.
Departments requiring study away:
List of programs recommended by Anthropology.
Faculty Liaison: Scott Legge
Study away is naturally a big part of the Macalester College Asian Language and Cultures experience. All students who major in Asian Studies, Chinese or Japanese Languages and Cultures are required to spend at least one semester abroad. Students must fulfill this requirement in an approved program appropriate to their major field of study. With prior approval from the Chair of Asian Languages and Cultures, credit earned on an approved study away program can apply toward the major or minor.
List of all programs recommended by Asian Languages and Cultures.
List of all programs recommended by Asian Studies
Faculty Liaison for Asian Studies: Satoko Suzuki
Faculty Liaison for Chinese, Taiwan, Singapore: Rivi Handler-Spitz
Faculty Liaison for Japanese: Rivi Handler-Spitz
Classical Mediterranean and Middle East students attend a wide variety of programs, ranging from Ireland to Jordan, from Modern Standard Arabic to material conservation, from Homer to the reception of the film Gladiator. You need to consult with an advisor from Macalester’s Center for Study Away as well as with your academic advisor in choosing the right program. Consider not just what you want to study, but how: Do you want to enroll at a local university, or study with other Americans abroad? Do you want a homestay, your own apartment, or the experience of a university dorm?
List of programs recommended by Classical Mediterranean and Middle East.
Faculty Liaison: Beth Severy-Hoven
It has been shown that academic study and extended residence in a French-speaking country is extremely beneficial. Therefore the French department requires such study for students completing a French major and recommends it for those doing a minor. Students may count up to two French courses from a semester-long study away program toward a concentration in French if such courses are at the level of courses taken on campus toward a French concentration. A study away program, and its courses, must be approved in advance by the department. All additional courses necessary to meet departmental graduation requirements must be taken at Macalester. Before studying away, students should have completed French 305, 306, and one advanced course (topic or 400 level) for their program. Because study away programs vary widely in quality, focus and content, it is imperative that students consult with French Department faculty as they choose their program.
List of programs recommended by French and Francophone Studies.
Faculty Liaison: Julie Rogers
Students completing a major in German are required to spend a semester in a German-speaking country, and we recommend that minors do so as well. Most choose the Macalester German Studies Program of 6 months in Berlin and Vienna. The program offers students the opportunity to gain a high proficiency in German and a chance to immerse themselves academically, culturally, and socially into both Germany and Austria. In addition to the detailed program and academic information on the link above, you can read student testimonials and learn more details here: German Studies Website for Study Abroad.
Faculty Liaison: Britt Abel
International Studies majors must complete one semester of study away on a program chosen at least in part to support the individual major plan. International students at Macalester meet this requirement by completing a semester at Macalester.
International Studies majors should consider a number of factors when choosing a study away program. We recommend narrowing your list of options by following the below steps:
First, students should search for programs that offer language immersion (for those who are not yet fluent in a second language).
Second, students should consider programs in their core geography of interest. Programs should be located outside the United States, with the rare exception of a “border studies” type program located in the U.S., subject to I.S. chair approval.
Third, students should seek out programs that meet their thematic interests or disciplinary focus within the IS major. Students can refer to the information from other academic departments and concentrations on this page for recommendations.
Fourth, students should consider the format of the program. International Studies recommends, appropriate to student capacities, “higher contact” type programs such as those that offer full immersion in a host-country university setting, or opportunities for research, internships or service learning. Students interested in globalization studies as such in a rigorous academic context are encouraged to consider the Macalester program in The Hague: Perspectives on Globalization.
Programs offering these different opportunities can be found through doing an advanced search and selecting the “language of instruction,” “academic features,” or “area of study,” of interest.
Faculty Liaison: Ahmed Samatar
Latin American Studies majors are required to spend one semester on an approved Latin America study away program. This provides an outstanding opportunity to engage in international and intercultural learning and to promote understanding of self and others through contact with diverse cultures and languages. See more on the LAS Department website.
List of programs recommended by Latin American Studies.
Faculty Liaison: Ernesto Ortiz-Díaz
All Russian Studies majors are required to study away for one semester at an approved institution in Russia or other countries of the post-Soviet sphere. We recommend that Russian Studies majors study away in the spring semester after completion of RUSS 204 and RUSS 305. With department chair approval, some of the courses taken as part of the study away program may count toward major requirements. In exceptional circumstances, the department may approve an alternative to studying away for a semester that still provides rigorous language training. Students who are unable to study away for a semester must consult with Russian Studies faculty about an appropriate program of study that will help them to achieve advanced proficiency in Russian.
List of programs recommended by Russian Studies.
Faculty Liaison: Julia B. Chadaga
The mission of the study away component of the Department of Spanish & Portuguese is to encourage students to engage in international and intercultural learning and to promote understanding of self and others through contact with diverse cultural and linguistic behaviors.
Students pursuing a Spanish major are required to successfully complete one term of a study away program. With prior approval from the department chair, up to two courses successfully taken on a study away program can apply toward the Spanish major.
List of programs recommended by the Department of Spanish & Portuguese.
Faculty Liaison: Rosa Rull-Montoya
Other departments and concentrations:
It is highly recommended that African Studies concentrators participate in an Africa-focused study away program in Africa to experience and study first-hand the issues and ideas explored at Macalester.
A maximum of two courses may be counted from an Africa-focused study away program in Africa. Africanist coursework taken elsewhere in the world (such as London, Paris or Lisbon) may also, when appropriate and with approval of the concentration director, count toward the concentration. Students contemplating study away in Africa are strongly encouraged to take at least one Tier One course in the concentration before departure.
List of programs recommended by African Studies.
Faculty Liaison: Jess Pearson
Partly as a way to challenge the provincialism and attitudes of superiority that accompany prevailing narratives of U.S. exceptionalism, faculty in the American Studies Department at Macalester encourage students to expose themselves to international perspectives, whether through study away or take courses for study away that explore transnational views.
Studying away can complement the American Studies major in many ways, reflecting the diversity of students’ interests. Often students choose programs that offer coursework on a topical interest (e.g. indigenous rights, comparative understandings of race, immigration, etc.). We will count courses toward the major that reflect our mission, (e.g. cultural immersion, research, internships, service learning, etc.).
List of programs recommended by American Studies.
Faculty Liaison: Duchess Harris
List of programs recommended by Art and Art History.
Faculty Liaison: Christine Wilcox
The Biology Department values Macalester’s emphasis on internationalism and encourages majors to consider studying away for a semester. Ideally, the four core courses in the Biology major should be completed prior to studying away, by the end of the sophomore year, and must be completed no later than the end of the junior year. This means that you should begin planning well in advance to meet these expectations and to best integrate your academic endeavors abroad with your biology education here on campus. The biology faculty are happy to talk with you about various programs and options.
List of programs recommended by Biology.
Faculty Liaison: Kristi Curry Rogers
The Chemistry Department values Macalester’s emphasis on internationalism and encourages its majors to consider studying away for a semester. The chemistry faculty are happy to talk with you about various programs and options. You should begin planning well in advance, so that you can best integrate your academic experience away with your continuing development as a chemist back at Macalester. Please see the Chemistry major plan for some suggestions to help guide your thinking.
List of programs recommended by Chemistry.
Faculty Liaison: Susan Green
Study away experiences that offer cognitive science-related courses are listed by the departments contributing to the cognitive science concentration (e.g., philosophy, psychology). Programs with a specific focus on cognitive science are listed below.
List of programs recommended by Cognitive Science.
Faculty Liaison: Brooke Lea
List of programs recommended by Community and Global Health.
Faculty Liaisons: Victor Addona
Consistent with Macalester’s international focus, the MSCS department encourages its majors to study away. Many majors study away for a semester, usually during their junior year. MSCS students study away, both in programs that relate to MSCS fields, and in programs that involve no math, statistics, or computer science. Students interested in study away should discuss this with their advisors early on, so that college and major requirements are taken care of either through the program or around it.
List of programs recommended by Computer Science.
Faculty Liaison: Susan Fox
Students are encouraged to take courses on Critical Theory during study away. Up to one course may be counted toward the completion of the concentration with the approval of the program director. As a general matter, we don’t have a recommended list of CT-oriented programs, since coursework with Critical Theory dimensions can be found in so many places. However, we do recommend that if at all possible, you select a program with immersion in a language other than English. Should you study away in an English-speaking institution, we encourage programs in which the majority of students are not Americans, such as direct-enroll programs. Both of these recommendations are fueled by a CT commitment to explore the widest array of modes and styles of inquiry and thought. Having said all of this, we do list three programs on the Mac Study Away “recommended list,” which have historically offered strong Critical Theory opportunities.
List of programs recommended by Critical Theory.
Faculty Liaison: David Chioni Moore
The Economics Department values Macalester’s emphasis on internationalism and encourages its majors to consider studying away for a semester. The economics faculty are happy to talk with you about various programs and options. You should begin planning early so that your academic experience abroad can be better integrated with your work at Macalester. Ideally, the core courses for the economics major should be completed by the end of the sophomore year and prior to studying away. Students typically apply 4 credits from a study away program toward the elective course requirements in the economics major. We encourage students to take regionally specific courses (e.g., Economics of European Integration) and will consider higher level courses in some circumstances. To have a course accepted for major or minor credit, you must submit the course syllabus to the department chair.
The below recommended list includes programs that have been popular with economics majors over the past few years; this is not an exhaustive list of programs that offer economics courses.
List of programs recommended by Economics.
Faculty Liaison: Gary Krueger
Given the global importance of education reform, the Educational Studies department encourages all students to study away. Upon approval of the department chair, relevant courses and community-based learning experiences can fulfill required electives for both majors and minors.
List of programs recommended by Educational Studies.
Faculty Liaison: Brian Lozenski
Consistent with Macalester’s international focus, the Environmental Studies Department encourages its majors to study away. The following is a list of programs with significant environmental content in the general areas of policy/development and natural science/resources. Many of our former majors have had positive experiences attending these programs and we recommend them on that basis; however, there are certainly other programs on the college’s approved list that offer high-quality environmental coursework. Students may typically count a maximum of two study away courses toward the major, or one course toward a minor. In both cases, we strongly recommend that students consult with the department chair prior to departure to discuss which courses are likely to be approved for the major/minor.
List of programs recommended by Environmental Studies.
Faculty Liaison: Jerald Dosch
List of programs recommended by Food, Agriculture, and Society.
Faculty Liaison: Bill Moseley
The History Department strongly encourages History majors to study off campus. Many of our graduating seniors follow up on their study away experiences in their senior capstone research projects and our students have also been inspired by off-campus public history experiences to seek out museum internships and apply to graduate programs. Because so many Study Abroad programs offer unique opportunities to study regional histories in depth, the History Department does not have recommendations of particular programs at this time. Our majors have taken advantage of Macalester’s diversity of off-campus opportunities (most recently studying overseas in Bolivia, Botswana, Denmark, France, Ghana, Greece, New Zealand, Peru, and Sweden, to name only a few); they have also enrolled in domestic programs such as the ACM Newberry Program in Chicago, which offers opportunities for students pursuing fields such as Native American Studies to research in a new setting. If you are interested in studying off campus as a History Major, we suggest that you speak to the History Department Faculty Liaison about your particular chronological and regional interests, especially if those interests involve an area that does not currently have coverage in the Macalester History curriculum. Our Faculty Liaison can help you determine a suitable program and also put you in touch with recent alumni or returning students who can offer firsthand opinions about how the programs they attended have contributed to their History major and their lives post-Macalester.
Faculty Liaison: Walter Greason
Most Human Rights and Humanitarianism (HRH) concentrators study abroad for a
semester, usually during their junior year. They participate in many different
programs in many different parts of the world. While studying abroad,
concentrators often take courses, conduct independent research, and/or complete
internships related to their interests in human rights and humanitarianism. HRH
credit for any of these activities is possible with the approval of the program
director.
List of programs recommended by Human Rights and Humanitarianism.
Faculty Liaison: Julie Rogers
Please contact faculty in the International Development Concentration for more information.
Faculty Liaison: Amy Damon
Study away can supplement and support a concentration in Legal Studies. Students may choose to study at universities and take classes in the law or find a program offering legal-studies related internships.
Programs offering these opportunities can be found through doing an advanced search and selecting the “academic features” of interest.
Faculty Liaison: Patrick Schmidt
Studying away nicely complements the linguistics major. The department encourages students to study away in a location of their choice. Because language is everywhere, any location is an ideal one! Many linguistics majors study away for a semester, usually during their junior year. Ideally, the core courses in the Linguistics major should be completed at Macalester College, though a student may be able to receive credit for elective courses while participating in study away programs. Consultation with an advisor or with the department chair will help determine whether this option will work on an individual basis. Please use the following links to help you in finding the right program for your study away goals:
- Programs with Linguistics Coursework
- Programs with language courses unavailable at Macalester
- If you are seeking programs taught in a Macalester-taught language, please use the Advanced Search function and search by “Language of Instruction”.
Faculty Liaison: Marianne Milligan
Consistent with Macalester’s international focus, the MSCS department encourages its majors to study away. Many majors study away for a semester, usually during their junior year. MSCS students study away, both in programs that relate to MSCS fields, and in programs that involve no math, statistics, or computer science. Students interested in study away should discuss this with their advisors early on, so that college and major requirements are taken care of either through the program or around it.
List of programs recommended by Mathematics.
Faculty Liaison: Andrew Beveridge
The Media and Cultural Studies Department strongly encourages our majors to participate in study away opportunities. Up to one relevant study away course can be counted toward the MCST Electives major requirement.
List of programs recommended by Media and Cultural Studies.
Faculty Liaison: John Kim
It is highly recommended that students participate in a MESIC-related study away program in order to experience and study first-hand some of the issues and ideas explored in Macalester courses. It is also strongly recommended that students lacking appropriate language skills (i.e. competence in a language spoken natively by people of the Middle East or the Islamic world) enroll in a MESIC-relevant language.
List of programs recommended by Middle Eastern Studies and Islamic Civilization.
Faculty Liaison: Andrew Overman
For those interested in study away, students majoring in music often apply for programs that offer conservatory experiences — especially those with coursework that Macalester does not offer — or programs that offer study of musical practices unique to a particular region in genres outside of Western art and popular music. In general, with the chair’s approval, we allow one qualifying music course from study away to count towards the major or minor in music. This should be comparable to a 4-credit Macalester course. While students are encouraged to continue performance studies while away, lesson or ensemble participation may not be applied to the major or minor on return. Study away does not disrupt or negate performance units. If you are midway through a performance unit when you begin study away, you should plan to complete that unit during your first semester back.
List of programs recommended by Music.
Faculty Liaison: Chuen-Fung Wong
List of programs recommended by Neuroscience.
Faculty Liaison: Eric Wiertelak
List of programs recommended by Philosophy.
Faculty Liaison: Diane P. Michelfelder
Studying abroad is an invaluable experience, especially in physics and astronomy; this discipline transcends borders and is one of the oldest and most universal sciences. Students may wish take courses not offered at Macalester or pursue other activities unique to their study away location. With appropriate planning and counsel from physics and astronomy faculty, the number of majors who study abroad continues to increase. We encourage all interested students to speak with a physics and astronomy faculty member for more information.
List of programs recommended by Physics & Astronomy.
Faculty Liaison: John Cannon
List of programs recommended by Political Science.
Faculty Liaison: Wendy Weber
Many psychology majors study away for a semester, usually during their junior year. Occasionally, students will discover excellent study away programs (ex: SIT and HECUA), especially in some parts of Latin America, Asia, and Africa, that do not offer traditional psychology courses. Students may still be able to receive psychology credit while participating in these programs by conducting an independent study or internship with a psychological focus. Early consultation with an advisor or with the department chair will help determine whether this option will work on an individual basis. Please see the Psychology Department for more information.
List of programs recommended by Psychology.
Faculty Liaison: Jaine Strauss
Religious Studies students who are interested in study away are encouraged to do so. The Religious Studies Department actively collaborates with the Center for Study Away in creating opportunities for students to study away in locations all over the world.
List of programs recommended by Religious Studies.
Faculty Liaison: Jim Laine
Study away can complement the Sociology major in many ways, reflecting the diversity of students’ interests in and approaches to the major at Macalester. Often students choose programs that offer coursework on a topical interest (e.g. indigenous rights, comparative understandings of the family, education, etc.), coursework in a field related to a concentration or second major (e.g. Educational Studies or CGH), or opportunities outside of the major (e.g. language learning, cultural immersion, research, internships, service learning, etc.).
Programs offering these opportunities can be found through doing an advanced search and selecting the “academic features” of interest.
As a 9-course major, students are encouraged to take coursework for the Sociology major at Macalester. Students may apply a maximum of 4 credits from study away programs toward fulfilling the course requirements of the major. Such courses typically are approved only after a review of the syllabus by the department chair.
Faculty Liaison: Erika Busse-Cardenas
List of programs recommended by Theater and Dance.
Faculty Liaison: Wynn Fricke
List of programs recommended by Urban Studies.
Faculty Liaison: Dan Trudeau
List of programs recommended by Women’s Gender, and Sexuality Studies.
Faculty Liaison: Sonita Sarker