First Year Experience Abroad

studyabroad

 

For specific information about cost, signing up and course requirements, please contact the professor listed by the course you're interested in. Applications open August 22, 2023 and are due October 15, 2023.


Learn More About Study Abroad

FYE Abroad 2024 Opportunities

The College of Charleston’s First Year Experience Abroad is designed to challenge students to explore a topic through cultural immersion. These academic programs will broaden the student's initial experience in a subject and allow them to explore an area of strong interest early in their college career. The programs aim to demonstrate the benefits of study abroad experiential learning and encourage students to make plans early to undertake a more extensive study abroad experience later in their college career. FYE Abroad is an optional course experience for students during the spring semester of their first year. These one-credit courses are meant to introduce students to their study abroad options. First-year students are eligible for these courses regardless of whether they choose to complete their FYE requirement in the fall or spring semester.
  • UK Soccer Experience

    Examine the role of soccer (football) in contemporary England and its role in the culture, politics, social conflict and social change. Experience soccer (football) matches in person and tour some of the most historic English stadiums. Sit and interact with marketing staff at Manchester City FC and Community Development officers at Nottingham Forest FC. Travel to London, Nottingham, and Brighton and investigate the socio-cultural dynamics of the relationship between soccer (football) and England!

    Course Directors: Bruce Fleming (New Student Programs) and Cam Saleeby (Admissions)

  • Happiness & Sustainability in Denmark

    In a major cross-cultural study of happiness, Denmark consistently rates in the top 5 happiest countries in the world. Why are the Danes so happy? In 2021 Denmark was ranked as the second-highest nation for sustainability, and Copenhagen in particular, has transformed itself in the past 4 decades into a climate-friendly city. We will explore these issues in three locations: the city of Copenhagen, the Island of Bornholm (part of Denmark), and in the neighboring country of Sweden with an overnight in Malmo. We will learn more about hygge (a Danish sense of coziness/belonging) and the traps of materialism (gaining pleasure from material objects), both in terms of the health of the planet and our personal mental health.

    Course Director: Lisa Ross (Psychology)

  • Let's Eat in Italy, and Write About It Too

    Visit Italy and experience the culture through its world-renowned cuisine. We’ll explore—and write about—the food of Tuscany and Umbria, “the green heart of Italy,” from farm to table. We’ll take cooking classes from a world-renowned chef, meet the most famous butcher in the world, dine on legendary dishes with histories reaching back millennia, even help make pecorino—sheep’s cheese—on a cheesemaker’s farm, enjoying all the while the best food in the world.

    Course Director: Bret Lott (English)

  • Guatemala: Cultural & Environmental Sustainability

    We will explore the interactions between cultural and environmental sustainability using a variety of resources, including the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals with Country Profiles, Drawdown.org, and regeneration.org. Following, travel offers the best education. We will explore Antigua, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and 16th century colonial capital. With Antigua serving as our homebase, we will visit the ancient Mayan Ruins of Ixmche, the modern Mayan villages that surround Lake Atitlan, hike Pacaya volcano, and participate in mangrove restoration.

    Course Director: Laura Brock

  • Jamaica: Jamaica as Inspiration for Literature, Music, & Film

    In the Jamaica as inspiration for literature, music, and film experience, we'd like to explore places beloved by reggae icon Bob Marley (Saint Ann Parish, Brown's Town), Harlem Renaissance poet Claude McKay (James Hill, Jamaica), as well as James Bond writer Ian Fleming, who wrote his novel from his home in Oracabessa (Saint Mary Parish, Jamaica, 10 miles east of Ocho Rios).

    Course Director: Valerie Frazier