Having an international experience, such as a studying abroad or completing an international internship can be transformational and potentially life changing (Don’t believe us? Read about alum Nevada Berg here.) Building an international experience into your time at the University of Utah offers a window into other cultures and viewpoints and often provides a foundation that can enhance your critical thinking skills.
There are many ways to “go global” during your time at the U:
- Learning Abroad: The U provides access to hundreds of learning abroad experiences,
from alternative spring break to semester or year long programs. Opportunities are also available at the University Asia Campus in South Korea. Many of the experiences are faculty-led and most are credit bearing programs. There are scholarships available to help defray costs and plenty of the programs are taught in English. Explore the options here.
- International Internships: The Hinckley Institute of Politics runs the U’s Global Internship Program for all students. Global internships are available forundergraduate and graduate students of all disciplines in more than 50 countries. Academic credit and funding are available for fall, spring and summer semesters. The goal of the global internship program is to provide students with global work, cultural immersion and career development opportunities.
- Fulbright Program: Established in 1946, the Fulbright Program aims to increase mutual understanding between the U.S. and other countries through the exchange of people, knowledge and skills. It is the largest U.S. international exchange program, offering opportunities for students to undertake international graduate study, advanced research, university teaching and teaching English in elementary and secondary schools worldwide.
- Live Global: The U’s Go Global Living/Learning Community is an on-campus living option for first-year, sophomore, international or exchange students who are interested in having an intercultural residence experience.
- International and Area Studies: The U has regionally-focused academic programs that allow students to major, minor or simply take a class of interest in Latin American Studies, Asian Studies, Middle East Studies and International Studies to gain insights and knowledge regarding specific world regions and international themes in general. These are interdisciplinary programs offering courses across multiple academic areas.
- Language study: The U offers courses in a wide range of languages, including indigenous languages. Studying a language provides many benefits, including cultural knowledge, awareness of our own language and culture and a new way of thinking that has been shown to engage parts of the brain that help with critical thinking skills and other cognitive development.
- Lectures: The U regularly hosts visits and lectures by world leaders and luminaries. Nobel laureates, award-winning novelists, human-rights activists, scholars and thinkers regularly visit the campus. These lectures can be found on the following event calendars, Global U Events , Hinckley Forum and Tanner Humanities Center.
- Interact with International Students on Campus: The U’s population includes 2,500 students from around the world who are in your classes, studying next to you in the library, living next to you in the residence hall, working out at the Student Life Center and going on trips with Outdoor Adventures – don’t be shy about getting to know them. Interacting with people from other cultures is a great global learning experience and you may make a friend for life whom you can visit some day in Australia, South Korea, Brazil or France.
More resources for engaging in a global experience can be found online.