Faculty-led short term travel courses are an exciting, enriching way to study abroad. You will meet in a traditional classroom setting throughout the semester to prepare for travel through readings, lectures, and coursework; then you'll travel during a semester break or during the summer to enhance your learning.
How to Apply
Submit your travel course application and scholarship application to the Global Education desk on the 2nd floor of the Commons or Decary Hall 126. The deadlines to apply are November 1st for spring travel courses and April 1st for fall travel courses. If you have any questions, you may contact the professors listed with each course or email global@une.edu.
Explore Travel Courses
Help to develop your faculty-led travel course is here!
Use our development grant to bring your travel course to life. This grant will help you travel abroad to explore the possibilities of starting your course.
Belize
BIO 421: MARINE TOPICS: CORAL REEF STUDIES
This course presents an in-depth study of the biology and taxonomy of corals while examining the ecology of the coral reef system and the future of reefs, concluding with a field lab. You will snorkel in the beautiful lagoons of Ambergris Caye, the Hol Chan and Bacalar Chico Marine Reserves. The group is housed in a field station on the northern tip of Ambergris Caye with access to the reef ecosystem, mangroves, sea grass beds, and jungle.
Morocco
PTH 725: Department of Physical Therapy Cultural Competency Experience
Sally McCormack Tutt, PT, D.P.T., M.P.H.
This course will provide PT graduate students with knowledge regarding cultural competency and sensitivity through classroom learning and learning experiences within the community in Tangier, Morocco. Students will begin by researching and examining some of the differences between the U.S. and Morocco in the areas of public health, health care, and culture while on campus in Portland. As the course progresses, it will move the study of cultural competence beyond the classroom into the world around us. Students will travel to the University of New England campus in Tangier, Morocco, in early January in order to further experience the different cultures through learning activities. These experiences will provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate cultural sensitivity with a variety of populations and in a variety of settings.
Thailand
PHP 405: GLOBAL HEALTH
This Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience explores the concepts of global health as well as contemporary health issues in Thailand. Through lectures and experiential learning, you will learn about social and environmental healthcare in the tropics, traditional and alternative medicine, border health and care of displaced persons, as well as clinical diseases in the tropics. Open to fourth-year pharmacy students.
Costa Rica
BIO 290/290L or BIO 451: Tropical Forests and Global Change
This is a spring semester course that includes travel to Costa Rica for nine days over spring break. Costa Rica is an area with tremendous biodiversity. It is home to both rainforest ecosystems and dry forest ecosystems, and each ecosystem is affected in different ways by human activities. Students will conduct fieldwork examining how human-induced changes in the environment — such as defaunation, invasive species, and global warming — impact these two forest types. In addition, students will hike around a volcano, zipline through the forest canopy, and enjoy time to simply explore the sights and sounds of tropical forests. After returning to the U.S., students will spend the rest of the semester drawing upon their travel experience to help them identify strategies to protect these natural systems from further human disturbance.
Dominican Republic
SRM 290: Latin American Sport and Gender
This course views sport as a social institution and a microcosm of the longer social processes that stage, reinforce, and perpetuate myriad inequalities in society. In this course, we analyze the gendered aspects of sport and the relationships among gender, sexuality, and sport in Latin America. We consider the ways that sport reinforces, and potentially undermines, heteronormality as well as hegemonic notions of masculinity and femininity. During spring break, you will travel to the Dominican Republic to more closely examine gender and sport in Latin America. You will also engage in a service learning project tied to promoting sport for the women and girls of Latin America. This course can fulfill a Social and Global Awareness (SGA) requirement.
Galápagos
MAR 451: Natural History and Evolution of Galápagos Fauna
This is a spring semester course offered every other year that includes traveling to Ecuador and the Galápagos Islands for 11 days at the end of the semester. Throughout the semester, students participate in lectures, discussions, research and presentations focusing on endemic species and the natural history, ecology, behavior and evolution of the animals and plants that inhabit the islands. The laboratory portion of the course consists of visiting the Galápagos Islands aboard a private yacht. Highlights of the trip include exploring the Otavalos Market (Ecuador’s largest indigenous market), walking in Darwin’s footsteps to explore the sites that inspired his legendary theory of evolution, up close encounters with species such as flightless cormorants, Galápagos penguins, Galápagos tortoises and marine iguanas, observing and discussing the effects of development on the islands, hiking on the islands, stargazing aboard the boat and snorkeling with Galápagos sea lions, turtles and other marine wildlife. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to explore one of the world’s most inspiring ecosystems.
Kenya
ENV 348: Environment, Health, and Community Development in East Africa
This is a spring semester course offered every other year with a two to three-week field experience in Kenya in late May/June. Semester studies focus on environmental, health and community development issues facing the country today, set within East Africa’s political, cultural and historical contexts. The field lab experience features visits to leading universities, museums and national parks, an overland journey from Nairobi to Kisumu through the Great Rift Valley, homestays with Kenyan families, hiking in the Kakamega Rainforest, boating and birding on Lake Victoria, hands-on experience working with local partner organizations and learning about (by doing) community-based conservation with researchers at a Maasai-owned educational resource center and conservancy in Kenya’s South Rift. Watch this video to learn more.
Mexico
CIT 420: Global Citizenship
This travel course fulfills the Citizenship graduation requirement and includes a nine-day trip to Mexico during spring break. Students will spend their first few days in Cuernavaca, an important cultural center in Central Mexico, where they will live with host families and immerse themselves in the community. They will then travel to the nearby village of Amatlán, where they will stay at an ecotourism center, teach English in a local school, and learn about Amatlán’s unique cultural heritage.
Morocco
Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy in Morocco
Kathryn M. Loukas, OTD, MS, OTR/L, FAOTA
This elective course for second year Occupational Therapy graduate students provides advanced study in occupational science, occupational therapy without borders, and interprofessional practice with emphasis on the cultural context of occupation. Students will explore the transaction of place, objects, and people as they engage in everyday occupation and service to expand occupational participation in Morocco. Occupational experiences with agencies and organizations in Morocco will provide population-based reflection and hands-on experiences. This course includes the development of a sustainable project with outcome measurement based in ecological theory. This course, designed to immerse the student in a new culture, will facilitate renewed perspectives of occupation, occupational therapy, interprofessional practice, and global understanding of the value of occupation in society. Students will travel to the University of New England campus in Tangier, Morocco in early January.
Panama
BIO 421: CONSERVATION & ECOLOGY OF A CARIBBEAN ISLAND
This course covers topics in history and geology of the Caribbean with an emphasis on the island of Boca del Toros in Panama. You will study topics such as terrestrial, island and marine biodiversity, and the ecology and evolution of populations.
Ghana
GHANA IMMERSION IN HEALTH CARE
This program offers a health care immersion experience in which you'll work alongside Ghana Health Service, Community Health Educators and the community. Since 2008, UNE has been part of this partnership in the twin cities of Sekondi and Takoradi Ghana, West Africa. You will engage in direct health services, interprofessional collaboration, community education, and academic and cross-cultural exchange. Visit our website to learn more.
Belize
BIO 421: MARINE TOPICS: CORAL REEF STUDIES
This course presents an in-depth study of the biology and taxonomy of corals while examining the ecology of the coral reef system and the future of reefs, concluding with a field lab. You will snorkel in the beautiful lagoons of Ambergris Caye, the Hol Chan and Bacalar Chico Marine Reserves. The group is housed in a field station on the northern tip of Ambergris Caye with access to the reef ecosystem, mangroves, sea grass beds, and jungle.
Cuba
CIT 420: Global Citizenship
This program offers the unique opportunity to explore an exciting new era of U.S.-Cuba relations by spending nine days in Havana and in the small coastal town of Varadero. While there, you will perform volunteer activities on an organic farming cooperative and in a local elementary school. You will also engage in cultural learning, studying the history and impacts of the Cuban Revolution, music, dance and the national games of baseball and dominoes.
Costa Rica
BIO 290/290L or BIO 451: Tropical Forests and Global Change
This is a spring semester course that includes travel to Costa Rica for nine days over spring break. Costa Rica is an area with tremendous biodiversity. It is home to both rainforest ecosystems and dry forest ecosystems, and each ecosystem is affected in different ways by human activities. Students will conduct fieldwork examining how human-induced changes in the environment — such as defaunation, invasive species, and global warming — impact these two forest types. In addition, students will hike around a volcano, zipline through the forest canopy, and enjoy time to simply explore the sights and sounds of tropical forests. After returning to the U.S., students will spend the rest of the semester drawing upon their travel experience to help them identify strategies to protect these natural systems from further human disturbance.
Iceland
MAR 435: Natural history of Iceland
This course provides an in-depth study of the unique ecosystems for marine and terrestrial organisms, as well as the unique human history and culture of Iceland. You will explore geological features like volcanic craters and geysers, hike in the fault line between the American and the European plate and learn about adaptations to a subarctic climate. You will also explore the Viking history of Iceland, which is tightly related to the discovery of America, and Iceland's sustainable energy production.
Ireland
EDU 242: COMPARATIVE EDUCATION IN A GLOBAL CONTEXT
This course will investigate comparative education theories and philosophy to examine education in different contexts. By investigating contexts locally, nationally and globally, you will extend your knowledge about society and how this is enacted through the institution of its schools. In Ireland, students will visit schools and learn about Irish culture by touring castles, the Cliffs of Moher, and the Aran Islands. Other highlights may include the Ring of Kerry and the areas of Galway, Cork, Kinsale, and Killarney.
Italy
BIO 290: Anatomy and Art in Renaissance Italy
Professors Kash Dutta & Mary Schwanke
Discover the intriguing connections between human anatomy and the art of the Renaissance masters, including Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Caravaggio and Bernini. During your 10-day trip to Italy in May, you will tour historic sites in Rome, Florence, Bologna and Padua, representing the birthplace of modern anatomical science in some of Europe’s oldest universities.
Panama
BIO 421: CONSERVATION & ECOLOGY OF A CARIBBEAN ISLAND
This course covers topics in history and geology of the Caribbean with an emphasis on the island of Boca del Toros in Panama. You will study topics such as terrestrial, island and marine biodiversity, and the ecology and evolution of populations.
Ghana
GHANA IMMERSION IN HEALTH CARE
This program offers a health care immersion experience in which you'll work alongside Ghana Health Service, Community Health Educators and the community. Since 2008, UNE has been part of this partnership in the twin cities of Sekondi and Takoradi Ghana, West Africa. You will engage in direct health services, interprofessional collaboration, community education, and academic and cross-cultural exchange. Visit our website to learn more.
Granada, Spain
PHP 405: Global Health
This Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience provides you with a Spanish language and cultural immersion experience, as well as two courses at the University of Granada. Through lectures and experiential learning, you will examine the Spanish healthcare system within the European and U.S. context and reflect upon the changing healthcare landscape in the U.S. and abroad. Open to fourth-year pharmacy students.