Study Abroad Programs
Study Abroad at SMC: Pre-Approved Programs
Saint Michael’s College offers over 100 pre-approved programs for students interested in studying abroad during the summer, winter-session, semester, or academic year. Location, language of instruction, course offerings, method of instruction, and fit with career aspirations are elements that should be considered when deciding upon a program of study.
Language Programs help students learn a new language or increase proficiency in a language taught at Saint Michael’s. Students with advanced language skills may choose to take content courses in the target language.
University Programs offer a wide range of liberal studies courses taught at international universities. Courses may be taken to fulfill major, minor, or core requirements, or with proper planning, courses may also be taken to explore new areas of study or to gain a deeper understanding of familiar topics of interest.
Internship Programs allow students to gain real world work experience by being placed in a credit-bearing academic internship. Students enroll in other classroom or field based courses in addition to the internship.
Field Study Programs provide students with hands-on academic experiences. Theme-based programs commonly focus on global issues such as global health, human rights, climate change, human resilience, and peace and conflict studies.
Academic Study Trips are short term programs (2-4 weeks in length) created and led by SMC faculty. Program offerings change from year to year as new courses are developed based on student and faculty interest.
Approved Programs
Researching programs and destinations is the first step toward your international adventure! Start with an open mind, stretch your imaginations, and explore the possibilities. Tap the purple boxes below and you’ll find SMC’s pre-approved programs. For more information on a program’s course offerings, housing options, in-country support services, and country highlights, tap on Program Partners (see tab on left). Now explore the world, one click at a time!
Program Partners
Academic Study Trips
Faculty-Led Academic Trips provide a remarkable opportunity for an intensive learning experience with a group of Saint Michael’s College students and faculty. The 2024/2025 offerings reflect our commitment to international education and to experiential learning. We recognize that not all students can afford to study abroad for an entire semester, and these courses represent an exciting alternative. Trip destinations have been carefully selected to immerse students in their learning and to integrate their theoretical knowledge with the perspective of place. Most people will agree that this is the best way to learn and to retain knowledge.
If you have questions about any of these trips, please contact the faculty members who are indicated as the instructors for the course as soon as possible. Trip size will be limited, and a minimum number of students must register in order for the course to proceed. Academic Study Trips are not eligible for tuition remission. Half tuition is charged (per credit) during the winter or summer session. A limited number of need based scholarships are available for qualified applicants.
Winter-Session 2024-25
COSTA RICA: FIELD TROPICAL ECOLOGY
BI 250 (2 credits)
Prerequisite: BI235 (2 credits) or permission of the instructors
Date: December 30, 2024 – January 11, 2025
This field course travels to three different ecosystems within Costa Rica. These include tropical dry forest at Palo Verde National Park, a mid-elevation cloud forest at Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve, and a premontane rain forest at La Selva Biological Station. Activities at the sites will include guided hikes, our own group hikes, early morning bird walks, a boat ride, night hikes, and even some ziplining in the cloud forest. Students will also conduct research projects in small groups at two of the sites we visit. These projects will be determined with faculty guidance during the prerequisite course. Students will collect, analyze, and interpret data, and give oral presentations of their results. Students will also keep a field journal with detailed accounts of the plants and animals we encounter, and record their observations on conservation, ecotourism impacts, and sustainable development. The professors involved in this trip have been to Costa Rica multiple times.
Professor Paul Constantino, pconstantino@smcvt.edu
Summer-Session 2024
GALWAY, IRELAND: COASTAL BIOLOGY OF IRELAND
BI 237 (2 credits)
Prerequisite: One of – BI 151, BI 152, ES 105, ES 106, ES 107 or ED 325
Date: May 13 – 27, 2025
This academic study tour will explore the ecology of the Galway Bay and count as an upper-level science course for Biology and Environmental majors. Galway offers access to rocky intertidal habitats, dunes, Atlantic wind-swept hills, streams subject to tidal influence, and freshwater lakes. This combination of habitats in close proximity shapes the local flora and fauna presenting unique opportunities for study, data collection, and analysis. The cultural setting is dramatically different than that typically experienced by our student population. Biological field trips will also include visits to historically important cultural aspects of the Irish landscape. The Aran Islands are particularly rich in well-preserved historical and cultural artefacts such as St. Benan’s Church, and Dún Aonghasa, a pre-Christian fort perched on a sea cliff. The course will also include visits to Bunratty Castle, a significant Norman Fort, and to the Cliffs of Mohar.
Professor Declan McCabe, dmccabe@smcvt.edu
Professor Paul Constantino, pconstantino@smcvt.edu
WALES: ENVIRONMENTAL STUDY OF SUSTAINABLE PLACES
ES 244 (2 credits)
Prerequisite: ES243 Environmental Study of Sustainable Places (Spring 2025; 2 credits)
Date: May 23 – June 6, 2025
This two-week academic study trip combines an immersion in the beautiful and diverse natural environment of Wales—its stunning rugged seacoast, surprisingly imposing mountain ranges, quaint villages and bustling modern seaside urban capital Cardiff—with a serious academic focus on how this small nation in the United Kingdom has integrated the principle of sustainability throughout its policies and institutions, economy and culture. Specifically, since the first Welsh National Assembly in 1999, Wales has been devoted to promoting comprehensive sustainable development, a duty that has been underscored by the passing of the Well-Being of Future Generations (Wales) Act in 2015. This law places a clear duty on public bodies in Wales—from councils, hospitals, businesses and schools—to consider the long-term interests of future generations while taking decisions on present-day concerns. The new Act also shapes how Wales is delivering on the United Nations’ 17 sustainable development goals and 169 targets. The course offers environmental, political and cultural field studies, on-site guest lectures, and exchange of research and artistic projects with University of Wales-Trinity Saint David students and faculty. The Carmarthen campus of the university will serve as the program base and is a short walk from downtown Carmarthen, the oldest city in Wales. This location provides easy access via train to the Welsh Assembly in Cardiff, environmental and cultural centers such as the Centre for Alternative Technology, economic and cultural hubs, and multi-day hikes through the Brecon Beacons and Snowdonia National Parks and the famous Welsh Coastal Path.
Professor Jeffrey Ayres, jayres@smcvt.edu
Professor Laura Stroup, lstroup@smcvt.edu
Freeman Foundation International Internship
Saint Michael’s College is pleased to announce the annual Global Citizenship International Internship Program, supported by a grant from the Freeman Foundation. learn more…
Approved Programs
Researching programs and destinations is the first step toward your international adventure! Start with an open mind, stretch your imaginations, and explore the possibilities. Tap the purple boxes below and you’ll find SMC’s pre-approved programs. For more information on a program’s course offerings, housing options, in-country support services, and country highlights, tap on Program Partners (see tab on left). Now explore the world, one click at a time!
Program Partners
Academic Study Trips
Faculty-Led Academic Trips provide a remarkable opportunity for an intensive learning experience with a group of Saint Michael’s College students and faculty. The 2024/2025 offerings reflect our commitment to international education and to experiential learning. We recognize that not all students can afford to study abroad for an entire semester, and these courses represent an exciting alternative. Trip destinations have been carefully selected to immerse students in their learning and to integrate their theoretical knowledge with the perspective of place. Most people will agree that this is the best way to learn and to retain knowledge.
If you have questions about any of these trips, please contact the faculty members who are indicated as the instructors for the course as soon as possible. Trip size will be limited, and a minimum number of students must register in order for the course to proceed. Academic Study Trips are not eligible for tuition remission. Half tuition is charged (per credit) during the winter or summer session. A limited number of need based scholarships are available for qualified applicants.
Winter-Session 2024-25
COSTA RICA: FIELD TROPICAL ECOLOGY
BI 250 (2 credits)
Prerequisite: BI235 (2 credits) or permission of the instructors
Date: December 30, 2024 – January 11, 2025
This field course travels to three different ecosystems within Costa Rica. These include tropical dry forest at Palo Verde National Park, a mid-elevation cloud forest at Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve, and a premontane rain forest at La Selva Biological Station. Activities at the sites will include guided hikes, our own group hikes, early morning bird walks, a boat ride, night hikes, and even some ziplining in the cloud forest. Students will also conduct research projects in small groups at two of the sites we visit. These projects will be determined with faculty guidance during the prerequisite course. Students will collect, analyze, and interpret data, and give oral presentations of their results. Students will also keep a field journal with detailed accounts of the plants and animals we encounter, and record their observations on conservation, ecotourism impacts, and sustainable development. The professors involved in this trip have been to Costa Rica multiple times.
Professor Paul Constantino, pconstantino@smcvt.edu
Summer-Session 2024
GALWAY, IRELAND: COASTAL BIOLOGY OF IRELAND
BI 237 (2 credits)
Prerequisite: One of – BI 151, BI 152, ES 105, ES 106, ES 107 or ED 325
Date: May 13 – 27, 2025
This academic study tour will explore the ecology of the Galway Bay and count as an upper-level science course for Biology and Environmental majors. Galway offers access to rocky intertidal habitats, dunes, Atlantic wind-swept hills, streams subject to tidal influence, and freshwater lakes. This combination of habitats in close proximity shapes the local flora and fauna presenting unique opportunities for study, data collection, and analysis. The cultural setting is dramatically different than that typically experienced by our student population. Biological field trips will also include visits to historically important cultural aspects of the Irish landscape. The Aran Islands are particularly rich in well-preserved historical and cultural artefacts such as St. Benan’s Church, and Dún Aonghasa, a pre-Christian fort perched on a sea cliff. The course will also include visits to Bunratty Castle, a significant Norman Fort, and to the Cliffs of Mohar.
Professor Declan McCabe, dmccabe@smcvt.edu
Professor Paul Constantino, pconstantino@smcvt.edu
WALES: ENVIRONMENTAL STUDY OF SUSTAINABLE PLACES
ES 244 (2 credits)
Prerequisite: ES243 Environmental Study of Sustainable Places (Spring 2025; 2 credits)
Date: May 23 – June 6, 2025
This two-week academic study trip combines an immersion in the beautiful and diverse natural environment of Wales—its stunning rugged seacoast, surprisingly imposing mountain ranges, quaint villages and bustling modern seaside urban capital Cardiff—with a serious academic focus on how this small nation in the United Kingdom has integrated the principle of sustainability throughout its policies and institutions, economy and culture. Specifically, since the first Welsh National Assembly in 1999, Wales has been devoted to promoting comprehensive sustainable development, a duty that has been underscored by the passing of the Well-Being of Future Generations (Wales) Act in 2015. This law places a clear duty on public bodies in Wales—from councils, hospitals, businesses and schools—to consider the long-term interests of future generations while taking decisions on present-day concerns. The new Act also shapes how Wales is delivering on the United Nations’ 17 sustainable development goals and 169 targets. The course offers environmental, political and cultural field studies, on-site guest lectures, and exchange of research and artistic projects with University of Wales-Trinity Saint David students and faculty. The Carmarthen campus of the university will serve as the program base and is a short walk from downtown Carmarthen, the oldest city in Wales. This location provides easy access via train to the Welsh Assembly in Cardiff, environmental and cultural centers such as the Centre for Alternative Technology, economic and cultural hubs, and multi-day hikes through the Brecon Beacons and Snowdonia National Parks and the famous Welsh Coastal Path.
Professor Jeffrey Ayres, jayres@smcvt.edu
Professor Laura Stroup, lstroup@smcvt.edu
Freeman Foundation International Internship
Saint Michael’s College is pleased to announce the annual Global Citizenship International Internship Program, supported by a grant from the Freeman Foundation. learn more…