Seville, Spain - Spring Semester 2024 with travel during spring break

Bridge going over a river with the Plaza de España in Seville, Spain and a cloudy blue sky in the background.

Earn 3 credits and satisfy an honors requirement and an Arts & Humanities or Social Science requirement, and two of the four needed to earn the River Hawk Experience Distinction (RHED) in Global Engagement.

You couldn’t write a better story than the history of Spain. The rich and long history is filled with drama, war, love, and loss, and is very much alive today. This story is on display greatest in the city of Seville and the province of Andalucía where the Moors ruled for over 800 years. The Moorish footprint is everywhere in Seville: culturally, architecturally, and gastronomically. As is the Catholic reconquest of the province. The Honors College’s eight-day spring break program in sunny Seville, Spain, will explore this fascinating story, immersing students in the sun-soaked region’s culture and its surrounding areas.

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Amsterdam - Spring Semester 2024 with travel during spring break

Houseboats and houses along river in Amsterdam
Earn 3 credits and satisfy an honors requirement and an Arts & Humanities and two of the four needed to earn the River Hawk Experience Distinction (RHED) in Global Engagement. 
This course will cover the history of Dutch speaking peoples from the 16th through 21st centuries. Topics will include Dutch and Flemish revolts against Spain, overseas trade, colonial imperialism, the first stock market, the Tulip bulb mania, engineering of dijks and dams, Dutch & Flemish art and architecture, religion, witch trials, the Enlightenment, the Industrial Revolution, the world wars, and contemporary Dutch culture and environmentalism. Students will be encouraged to explore topics within their areas of interest or branch out into new fields. 

London - Spring Semester with travel May 2024

Students standing on cobblestone streets with London Tower Bridge in background.

Earn 3 credits and satisfy an honors requirement and an Arts & Humanities requirement and two of the four needed to earn the River Hawk Experience Distinction (RHED) in Global Engagement.

Tour major historical sites, including the Tower of London, Westminster Abby (recent funeral ceremonies for the Queen), the British Museum and Library, a two-day stay in Stratford-upon-Avon (Shakespeare’s birthplace, family home and final resting place), and a variety of tours of the whole city! You’ll see LIVE theatre productions! There are activities scheduled most days, but students will also have a lot of time to explore their own interests and places, such as Ireland, Scotland or France. Academically, this is truly a class for people with little to no experience with Shakespeare. Irrespective of major, students have a blast! For more information, please email: Kevin_Petersen@uml.edu or email: Erin_Maitland@uml.edu.

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Belfast – Summer Session with travel June 17-30, 2024

Castle ruins on green cliffs above the coast of Northern Ireland.

Earn 3 credits and satisfy an honors requirement and an Arts & Humanities requirement and two of the four needed to earn the River Hawk Experience Distinction (RHED) in Global Engagement.

Belfast is home to a dynamic literary scene and vibrant student life, courtesy of one the world’s leading research-intensive universities: Queen’s University Belfast. There, on QUB’s campus, we will study for two weeks while also traveling around the island’s two countries – Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland – and studying the rich history of the island, with a particular focus on the past century and the political violence known as The Troubles that so defined the city.

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France, Germany & Switzerland - Summer 2023

Water next to a building in Strasbourg.

Earn 3 credits and satisfy an honors requirement and an Arts & Humanities or Social Science requirement, and two of the four needed to earn the River Hawk Experience Distinction (RHED) in Global Engagement.

This course on the history of the Alsace-Lorraine region of France, The Black Forest and Rhineland of Germany, and the city of Basel, Switzerland, features a nine-day cultural immersion trip to Strasbourg, France from May 26-June 3. Students will take day trips to Metz, Colmar, and Riquewihr in France, Heidelberg and Freiburg in Germany, and Basel in Switzerland. Specific sites include: Gallo-Roman artifacts (Metz), medieval fortifications and churches (Metz, Strasbourg, Basel, Colmar, Heidelberg) art museums with collections from ancient through modern (Strasbourg, Basel, Colmar), and the clock-making museum in the Black Forest.

Chile - Winter 2023

Students pose for photo in Chile with city in background.

Earn 3 credits and satisfy an honors requirement and an Arts & Humanities or Social Science requirement, and two of the four needed to earn the River Hawk Experience Distinction (RHED) in Global Engagement.

As tall as the United States is wide, Chile is a remarkably diverse country, home to some of the world's most celebrated poets and writers, a vibrant art and street art scene, and a recent history that includes them restoring their democracy that had been, in 1973, overthrown with possible assistance by the United States' Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). This study abroad experience takes students across the beautiful Central Valley of Chile, from Santiago to the seaside cities of Valparaiso and Viña del Mar.