Study Abroad

Find yourself in the world

Studying abroad or away with Honors is more than just visiting another geography and dabbling in new cultures; it’s engaging in global citizenship through interdisciplinary immersion. Honors’ off-campus engagement operates on a continuum with possibilities that range from fully structured programs with other UW students to direct exchanges with partner universities to open-ended, independent research.

Who is eligible: Our interdisciplinary international/study-away programs are open to UW students across all campuses, including those who are not pursuing Honors. Most programs can count towards general education credits and requirements in your major. Unless explicitly stated otherwise, no prerequisites or language requirements are needed to apply.

We support and encourage our undocumented students by working with the UW Study Abroad Office and Leadership Without Borders to provide step-by-step guidance. Learn more about resources for DACA students to engage in study abroad opportunities here.

Specific note for Honors Huskies: Honors students can complete an Honors experiential learning application to fulfill your experiential learning requirement through one of the below opportunities.

Summer A&B application deadline: January 31, 2025

EFS 2025 application deadline: February 29, 2025

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Study Away Summer 2025

Information about Honors Study Abroad programs for 2025 will be updated throughout autumn 2024.

Honors Ireland: Irish Voices – dynamics of diversity in Ireland (Summer A)

Program Directors: Catherine Connors, Classics & Juliana Villegas, English

Application and more information – COMING SOON!

• 12 credits
  • HONORS 384: Irish Voices: Identity and Migration in Ireland (A&H/SSc, W, D) – 5 Credits
  • HONORS 213: Field Studies Ireland: writing your story, finding your voice in the Irish context (A&H, D, W) – 5 credits
  • HONORS 213: Honors Ireland Independent Project (A&H) – 2 credits) 

Program Description: Based at University College Dublin, students will explore the vibrant cultural and historical landscapes of Dublin, with excursions to Northern Ireland and Cork. Who belongs in Ireland, and what does belonging in Ireland mean? For all of Ireland’s history, including its experiences of British colonialization, these have been active and contested questions that impacted everyone’s lives. The 1998 Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement that brought an end to thirty years of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland, affirmed that “it is the firm will of the Irish nation, in harmony and friendship, to unite all the people who share the territory of the island of Ireland, in all the diversity of their identities and traditions.” In recent years Ireland’s voters have affirmed several progressive human rights positions at the ballot box. This program brings students into contemporary conversations, well-grounded in historical perspectives, about justice and intergenerational activism related to gender, ethnicity, citizenship, and social status.

Honors London: Socializing Medicine – Comparing Concepts of Societal Safety Nets (Summer A)

Program Director: Mara Bann (mbann@uw.edu), Medicine
Program Coordinator: Tory Brundage (toryb@uw.edu), College of Education

Application and more information here!

• 6 credits of HONORS or MED, as EITHER:
  • HONORS 233: Socializing Medicine – Comparing Concepts of Societal Safety Nets (SSc, DIV, W) – 5 credits 
  • HONORS 233: Socializing Medicine – Comparing Concepts of Societal Safety Nets (SSc, DIV, W) – 1 credit 
• OR
  • MED 490: Socializing Medicine – Comparing Concepts of Societal Safety Nets (6 credits)

Program Description: Explore the concept of “socialized medicine” through a comparison of the development, implementation, and outcomes of a public healthcare system in Britain’s National Health Service (NHS) with the US’ market-driven healthcare system and what is often referred to as US public “safety-net” hospitals. We will bring together threads from health-related fields such as medicine, nursing, pharmacy, health administration, and public health as well as broader fields such as history, economics, public policy, and sociology to answer the questions: What role does medicine play within society and what forces shape the delivery of healthcare?

Based in London, this program draws on visits to important cultural and historical sites to probe how various topics (multiculturalism and immigration, collectivism vs. individualism, military conflict, technological innovations, and shared civic duty) inform societal capacity towards or away from a “socialized” medical system. Additionally, through observational field study and site visits, students will observe, compare, and critique the current state of health and healthcare delivery as well as outcomes in both the UK and the US with an eye towards equity and justice.

UWT/UWB/Honors Colombia: Unpacking Tourism – The Impacts of Coffee Culture Tourism in Colombia (Summer B)

Program Director: Ariana Ochoa Camacho (arianao@uw.edu ) SIAS UW Tacoma – Culture, Arts and Communication

Information Sessions: coming soon

Application and more information – COMING SOON!

• 12 credits
  • HONORS 384 (A&H/SSc) / TIAS 305 – 2 credits
  • HONORS 384 (A&H/SSc, D, W) / TCOM 499 (A&H) / BISMCS 473 (A&H/SSc) – 5 credits 
  • HONORS 384 (A&H/SSc, D, W) / TIAS 485 (SSc) / BIS 290 (W) – 5 credits

Program Description: This program draws on contemporary promotion materials for tourism to Colombia that are circulated in the US, Europe, and Colombia itself to examine how the region is represented and mediated in various modes. Together we will examine advertisements, websites, and travel literature, and juxtapose these representations with the material realities of tourism and its impacts in Colombia in the Coffee-growing region of Armenia, a UNESCO heritage site. We will be paying special attention to the different ways that Seattle and Colombia are represented within the global coffee economy and tourism, and tourism has been driven by the popularity of Disney’s film Encanto, which is set in the region we will be visiting. 

The program will take students behind the scenes to experience the realities of what it takes to promote and sustain tourism while gaining hands-on experience on coffee farms and in the heart of tourist activity. Students will be encouraged to learn about representations of coffee and coffee production and contrast these with the experiences of coffee farmers. We will observe patterns of tourism as the cultural and ecological tourist economy shifts and pay special attention to the representations of Colombianness in media that are congruent with particular notions of global power dynamics and social hierarchies. Students will apply textual analysis and critical thinking skills using cultural studies, and feminist and ethnic studies intellectual frameworks. Students will collaborate with students at The University of Quindío in research projects based on their experiences in Colombia.

Honors Sweden: Art & Activism in the Nordic Region (Summer B)

Program Directors: Kim Kraft (kimkraft@uw.edu) and Lauren Poyer (lpoyer@uw.edu), Scandanavian Studies

Application and more information – COMING SOON!

• 12 credits
  • HONORS 213: Art and Activism in the Nordic Region (A&H, D, W) – 5 credits
  • HONORS 384: History of Art and Activism in the Nordic Countries (A&H/SSc, W, D) – 5 credits
  • HONORS 213: Introduction to Nordic Languages (A&H) – 2 credits

Program Description: Dr. Lauren Poyer and Kim Kraft are excited to offer this interdisciplinary program again for Summer 2025 in partnership with the UW Honors Program. Students will earn 12 credits through experiential learning at museums, site visits, interactive workshops, and guest lectures focused on art and activism, plus an introduction to Nordic languages. 

The program will explore concepts of art and activism in Sweden and Finland as representatives of the broader Nordic region. We will reflect on questions surrounding “high” vs. “low” art; art education in the Nordics; urban design and planning in Nordic cities and the place of [and reaction to] public art; the role of museums in curating, preserving, and presenting culturally important artifacts; and the changing roles of media in communicating contemporary political, economic, and social ideas, especially in relation to identity. 

Neuroscience major and Honors student Jillian Holbrook, a 2024 participant, reflected on the transformative power of study abroad: “From traversing the galleries of the National Museum to questioning Sweden’s politics and approach to criminal justice to singing in the ABBA Museum to engaging with Nordic linguistic landscapes to enjoying Swedish candy, my first experience traveling internationally markedly considered art, activism, history, social justice, politics, language, and culture.” 

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2025 Early Fall Start Programs

Honors & Drama Rome, Italy (Early Fall)

Honors, UWB, and Environmental Studies Peru (Early Fall)

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Additional Study Abroad & International Learning Opportunities

Study Abroad Ad Hoc Honors

Students may receive Interdisciplinary Honors credit for work completed on a non-Honors study abroad program by creating and completing an additional ad hoc Honors project designed to supplement the regular study abroad experience. It is assumed that any Honors student who exercises this option is interested in pursuing the subject to a greater depth and with more intensity and is prepared to undertake the extra work.

More About Ad Hoc Honors Credit

UW Study Abroad

UW Study Abroad hosts a wealth of information for students interested in studying abroad, including hundreds of study abroad opportunities during every academic term, and resources on funding and financial aid, academic credits, navigating identities, and more.

UW Study Abroad

Independent International Learning

At the University of Washington, in addition to study abroad programs/courses, students may also engage in different types of independent learning opportunities that they may earn HONORS 499 credit for or use to satisfy the Honors Experiential Learning requirement. 

Fieldwork, Research & Independent Learning Abroad (FRILA): This option is for advanced and motivated students prepared to show initiative and invest time and energy, and most often requires that students have a UW faculty supervisor. Consult with an Honors adviser and the UW Study Abroad office before pursuing this option.

UW Social Impact Internships with Omprakash: Join this program to access independent social impact internships, immersive global learning, and a trusted pathway for academic credit and peer support. Offered through a partnership with Omprakash — a Seattle-based global education nonprofit — this program connects UW students with volunteer opportunities in 50+ countries and provides a digital space for shared learning and mentorship throughout the experience. Students who wish to travel abroad for an internship can earn up to 12 credits, and students who wish to intern domestically or via a remote opportunity can earn up to 3 credits. Learn more on the Omprakash website.

Additional UW-Approved Global Internship Opportunities:
Browse through additional global internship opportunities that have been vetted by UW Study Abroad.  

The Bonderman Travel Fellowship

Bonderman Fellowships enable students to undertake independent international travel to explore, be open to the unexpected, and come to know the world in new ways. Available to UW graduate students (including those in the Law and Business Schools and other graduate and professional programs) and undergraduate students across all three UW campuses, this fellowship gives students the opportunity to travel independently for at least eight months, to at least six countries, in at least two regions of the world. These are no-credit fellowships and fellows are not allowed to study or do research.

More About the Bonderman Travel Fellowship

The Gilman Scholarship Program

The Gilman Scholarship Program offers awards for undergraduate study abroad and was established by the International Academic Opportunity Act of 2000. This scholarship provides awards for U.S. undergraduate students who are receiving Federal Pell Grant funding at a two-year or four-year college or university to participate in study abroad programs worldwide.

More About the Gilman Scholarship

Waseda Global Leadership Fellows Program (GLFP), Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan

We are pleased to announce that the Waseda Global Leadership Fellows Program (GLFP) is transitioning from its current home in the Honors Program to the UW Japan Studies Program effective October 1, 2024. Now in its 11th year, the GLFP offers undergraduate students a chance to study a full year at Waseda within an international structure focused on leadership skills not part of the regular Waseda study abroad program. This program runs from autumn to early summer each year.

More about the Waseda GLFP

Other UW Resources

Try these other departments for even more study-abroad information and opportunities:

• UW Office of Global Affairs
• Foundation for International Understanding Through Students (FIUTS)
• CHID
• Engineering