STUDY ABROAD PROGRAMS

For in-depth information about a particular program, including application deadlines, click on the program links below.

China and Japan
Expand your knowledge of East Asia by studying in both China and Japan in one semester. Your first eight weeks of the fall semester will be in Beijing, at Beijing Language and Culture University, followed by seven weeks in Kameoka at Kyoto University of Advanced Science, just outside Kyoto, Japan. Intensive Chinese and Japanese language study, culture courses, and field trips included. One week free for travel in October. No prior knowledge of Chinese or Japanese language required for this program. Offered in even numbered years in the fall semester by North Central College.

For more information, contact Kimberly Larsson at North Central College.

Costa Rica
Spend spring semester studying, living with a host family, and working in Costa Rica–first on the Pacific coast and later in the capital city of San José. Study intensive Spanish for the first eight weeks in Manuel Antonio, followed by a mid-term excursion to Panama. The final six weeks include more Spanish instruction, internships, and volunteer community work in San José. No prior knowledge of Spanish required. Offered in the spring semester by North Central College.

For more information, contact Kimberly Larsson at North Central College.

Thailand

This 4-credit program in Chiang Mai, Thailand, gives student journalists and photographers an unprecedented opportunity to report on the ground in Thailand under the direction of an award-winning foreign correspondent. The focus is on Thailand’s animals, environment, tourism, and economy.

On-site in Thailand, students will be partnered with early-career Thai journalists.  Partners will work together on the same under-reported story. If program leaders deem the student’s story excellent, it may be pitched to a major media outlet in the United States. The Thai partner’s story could potentially appear in a top media outlet in Thailand.  Our inaugural program in January 2020 published student reporting such as this piece in US News and World Report about threats to Thailand’s indigenous seafaring people’s fragile cultural identity and traditions.

Foreign correspondent and New York Times contributor Richard Paddock and Hamline University Professor Suda Ishida will co-lead this program with photojournalist Lauren DeCicca. 

This course is affiliated with Peabody-Award-winning Round Earth Media (a program of The International Women’s Media Foundation). 

Join us for this one-of-a-kind opportunity to work with a foreign correspondent in Thailand to produce reporting with the possibility of publication. 

Offered in January 2023 from Hamline University.

Application and Program Information can be found here.

Tentative Program dates:

Arrive in Thailand: January 3, 2023;  Return on January 20, 2023

See an overview of the participation process.

NACU Contact: Michelle Apuzzio, NACU senior director of programs and communications