Off-Campus Study

Off-Campus Study programs exist in most regions of the world. You will find information on a very wide range of programs at www.grinnell.edu/offices-services/ocs.

Featured Programs

The programs featured on the Off-Campus Study website have been carefully selected and are believed to represent some of the best opportunities available today in off-campus study. From among the broad academic and geographical diversity of options, most students should be able to identify a program well suited to their academic goals.

Types of Programs

Most programs offer you the opportunity to enhance your major, concentration, or other area of academic interest while broadening your liberal arts education by learning about another area of the world. In some programs, the courses offered are linked by a common theme, such as women’s studies, environmental studies, or global development studies. In others, coursework may be closely connected to a particular major such as biology or economics. Programs may be organized and operated by American educational institutions, universities abroad, or a combination of both in a cooperative arrangement. Formats vary from traditional classroom-based instruction to fieldwork, independent study, and internship.

Program Competitiveness

It is important to note that off-campus study programs vary considerably in competitiveness. While some programs are highly competitive, accepting only students with higher G.P.A.s and specific course preparation, others may have more relaxed criteria for admission. Specific prerequisites and G.P.A. requirements are normally set out in the program information materials. Campus Program Advisers are also able to advise you regarding your eligibility for a particular program. Normally, Grinnell students apply to only one off-campus study program. Denial of admission to Grinnell students is rare because of the screening that takes place during the on-campus approval process.

Yearlong Programs

Approval to attend yearlong programs is limited and is granted by the Off-Campus Study Board on a competitive basis to students demonstrating exceptional academic achievement, strong written rationale, and support for their plans from their major department. The Off-Campus Study Board gives preference to well-focused proposals designed to deepen the student’s knowledge of a single culture within the context of a single integrated program. Successful applications for yearlong approval normally involve a request to study in one program in one country.

Assessing the Importance of Off-Campus Study

You may already have a good idea about where and what you would like to study off campus. However, if you are just beginning to explore the possibilities, you should reflect seriously on what you are planning to do. Personally, at this point in your life and education, you are likely to be at the optimal point in your capacity to learn by living and studying in a new and challenging environment. Since an optimal point occurs by definition only once in a lifetime, and off-campus study may hold valuable personal, academic, and professional benefits, the careful choice of an appropriate program may well be one of the most important decisions you make during your college career.

Core Rationale for Off-Campus Study

Grinnell requires that you select a program compatible with your academic goals, which you will clearly set out in a four-year course-plan and written rationale for off-campus study. It is up to you to define your goals in consultation with your academic adviser. Since your choice of program must be linked to your academic objectives, you should begin by thinking about why you want to study off campus, i.e., your core rationale. Most students choose to link their off-campus study to their major or concentration while others may wish to use the experience to enhance their understanding of other subjects studied on campus.

Additional Objectives for Off-Campus Study

In addition to the core rationale described above, your choice of program may be partly determined by additional academic objectives you want to achieve. For example, you may wish to broaden your liberal arts education by studying a language or taking courses not offered at Grinnell. You may also have broader educational goals connected to the experience of living in another culture. The possibility of community service, fieldwork, or an internship might be an important consideration. Additional objectives such as these are important to consider along with your core rationale and will help in selecting a program that is right for you.

Campus Program Advisers

A Program Adviser is assigned to every off-campus study program featured by Grinnell College. These advisers are very familiar with the programs they represent and can provide you with detailed program information as well as answering any questions you may have.

Peer Advisers

Every semester, large numbers of Grinnell students return from studying off campus. Talking with other students who have already studied on a program of interest to you is essential to making an intelligent decision about off-campus study.

International Students

Grinnell College is fortunate to have a diverse student body from many parts of the world. International students may be able to provide you with valuable insights and information to help you in making a decision about where to study off campus. The International Students Office will provide names of students from specified countries or regions.

Grinnell-in-London

Donna Vinter, English, Resident Director; William Ferguson, Economics (2015 vistinng faculty); Eric McIntyre, Music (2015 visiting faculty); Julianna Fuzesi, Political Science; George W. Jones, Political Science; Katy Layton-Jones, History

Grinnell-in-London offers students and faculty who teach on the program the opportunity to learn as a community about this dynamic place, its history, and its people through a careful selection of courses, opportunities for cultural integration, and co-curricular activities. Local staff offer a small set of regular program core courses that currently focuses on history, literature, politics, and theatre. The program curriculum is complemented by a rotating selection of courses offered by each year’s two guest Grinnell faculty, courses tailored to utilize London as a site and appeal to a range of students across disciplines. Students take 8 to 12 credits of program core courses, and choose one of two program tracks intended to provide a closer experience of British culture. One track is a course at Queen Mary College, University of London, an institution with one of the best campus cultures in London. Students interested in the Queen Mary track must meet a 3.0 gpa requirement. The other track is the internship track. Internship placements take into account the interests of each student. Several parliamentary internships have traditionally been available.

For centuries London has served as a hub for innovation, international trade, and global finance as well as the location for a vibrant urban economy.  The 2008-10 financial crisis disrupted London’s economy, but it has recovered somewhat. This course will investigate how London operates as a large urban economy that also serves as a center for international trade and finance; how London’s economic dynamism has also generated enormous inequities in the distribution of income and wealth; and how the financial crisis affected all of these interactions. Using economic location theory, this class will investigate how London became such a vibrant economic hub of innovation, trade, and finance. With attention to distinctions by class, race, ethnicity, nationality, and immigration status, this class will investigate London’s contemporary disparities in income, wealth, and access to opportunity. With attention to all of these matters, this course will address changes in the London economy since the 2008-2010 financial crisis. To what degree has the London economy recovered, and to what degree has the crisis caused lasting damage? Prerequisite: None. FERGUSON.

See THD-275.

The course proceeds chronologically through the history of London, from its Roman foundations to the impact of the Blitz and the ‘Swinging Sixties’. Using an array of primary and secondary sources, ranging from diaries to court proceedings, maps, newspaper journalism and paintings, we will trace the physical, social, cultural and political evolution of this historic city and the people who have populated it. Although we will begin with the origins of London, we will focus on the modern era, particularly the long nineteenth century. This will provide you with the opportunity to locate and observe evidence of the city’s history in the buildings and streets that surround you today. Prerequisite: None. LAYTON-JONES.

The goal of this course is to familiarize students with topics that unite and divide residents of contemporary London. These might include, for example, gentrification & redevelopment; the benefits of multiculturalism; the effects of immigration; poverty and inequality; traffic, congestion, and environmental quality; food, fashion, and both high and popular culture.  In what ways does the fact of London being a global city - through whose streets and networks flow information, capital, labor, financial services, and so much more - impact the lives of the ordinary Londoners who live here? To what extent is London a good place to live? How are these questions treated in the media, in museums, and elsewhere that London is represented and discussed? How are they thought about by the person on the street, in the pub, etc? How might they be they illustrated in different London neighborhoods? Through reading, discussion, getting out to London sites, and talking to ordinary Londoners, this course will engage students in examining the realities of life in London 2015. Prerequisite: None. VINTER, MCINTYRE

Henry V was a great lover of music and a composer in his own right. Queen Elizabeth was regarded as a virtuoso keyboardist credited with saving music from purges of the Reformation. Queen Elizabeth II was famously invited by John Lennon to “rattle your jewelry” rather than clap at a Beatles performance.  The Sex Pistols provided their own take on “God Save the Queen.” And Elton John performed at the funeral of Princess Diana.  In this course we examine the rich history of the British monarchy and the ways musicians and musical ideals have reflected the shifting values and struggles of the nation itself.  Students will explore 600 years of British history through the ears of musicians and monarchs and examine the music with which they surrounded themselves (or chose to banish) and what that music reveals about their priorities and the state of the nation. Prerequisite: None. MCINTYRE

The Politics of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. This course introduces students to the institutions and politics of the United Kingdom and its regions. We will seek to understand the historical processes that shaped UK politics, and establish the basic components of the Westminster system. Building on this we will delve deeply into the history and resurgent politics of its regions: Scotland, which is on the brink of a referendum for independence; Wales, which is finding new assertiveness towards London; and Northern Ireland, which still recovers from conflict through its ongoing Peace Process. In order to bring readings and theory alive we will visit some of London’s many relevant sites, among them the House of Commons, the offices of a Member of Parliament, the Royal Courts of Justice. With Britain at such a crucial juncture there has rarely been a more exciting time to study British politics. This course has no prerequisites except your curiosity and desire to develop your critical thinking skills. Prerequisite: None. FUZESI.

Students work for the equivalent of 16 hours a week for about 9 weeks, from mid-October until the end of term at an internship in the British Parliament. Placement in cooperation with a London-based agency. Applications for such selective parliamentary internships are made as part of the application for the Grinnell-in-London semester program prior to coming to London. Learning contracts must be approved by the instructor, the internship coordinator, and the work-site supervisor. Credit is earned and a grade assigned based on outside reading, short assignments, a longer final essay, and small group discussion focused on understanding and interpreting a parliamentary internship experience with an academic perspective. Meetings and assignments begin in September. Enrollment limited to three Parliamentary interns. Prerequisite: none. Required co-registration: POL 295: Governing Britain and its Regions. JONES.

Students work for the equivalent of 16 hours a week for 11 weeks at an internship. Placement in cooperation with a London-based agency.  Applications for selective GIL internships are made as part of the application for the Grinnell-in-London semester program prior to coming to London. Class discussions and assignments focus on understanding and interpreting students’ internship experiences and those of their co-workers within the U.K. work environment. Some outside reading and writing assignments required. Learning contracts must be approved by the instructor, the internship coordinator, and the work-site supervisor. Enrollment: 12. Prerequisite: none. VINTER and STAFF.

Also listed as ENG-275. This course will explore professional British theatre in all its variety, taking advantage of the unrivalled richness and diversity of the London stage. At its heart will be careful consideration of productions in the current London repertory, with plays ranging from classical to contemporary, and venues including subsidized, commercial and fringe theatres. We’ll think about theatre as a live performance art taking place in real time and space and, in those terms, all the different ways that theatre can be theatre. Course work will also include reading a selection of the plays we see, so as to cultivate students’ facility in analyzing dramatic texts of different styles and genres as they present human beings in significant action. Finally, since drama holds the mirror up to nature, we’ll have the opportunity to discuss the larger social, moral and political themes with which the plays are concerned - windows onto contemporary Britain and the wider world. Prerequisite: none. VINTER.

Grinnell-in-Washington, D.C.

Kesho Scott, Sociology (2015 faculty director) + staff

The Grinnell-in-Washington, D.C., program is offered in the first semester of each academic year. Part of the curriculum changes from year to year, reflecting the interests and expertise of the Grinnell faculty member leading the program that fall. Other courses—policymaking, internships, and the internship seminar—are offered every year.

Students are placed in internships that match their individual interests and experience. The internship is 12 weeks in length, Monday–Thursday, approximately 32 hours each week. During the internship, classes are on Fridays and on one weekday evening.

Students are housed in apartments in D.C., attend class just off Dupont Circle, and take multiple field trips in Washington, D.C.

Prerequisite: second-year status and good academic standing.

American Museums: What is the story they tell about who Americans are and what American culture is and what it is not? This course provides an introduction to the theoretical and practical examination of how American National identity and culture is constructed through the material culture of DC museum exhibitions. Through the lens of interdisciplinary approach, students will read historical materials on how particular museums have been founded, managed, and transformed? They will also learn how museum curators employ artifact accession and exhibition production? Besides, they will interrogate how the interplay between both dominant and minority cultures shapes the field. Students will visit and evaluate museums and virtual exhibits, study major exhibit controversies, and consider debates about the politics of memory and visual display. Finally, these theoretical and methodological readings will provide a basis for the hands-on section of the course (site visits) where students will create a proposal for an actual or virtual museum exhibit that critiques, supplements or expands the troupe of National Identity Studies showings towards a more diverse, inclusive, and intersecting America identity.Prerequisite: None. (AMS 130, SOC 111 or HIS 228 may be  helpful). Instructor: SCOTT

This course will introduce the political and organizational nature of policy making using an applied interdisciplinary approach, taking advantage of the resources available in Washington, D.C. Various approaches to public policy making will be discussed and analyzed using current policy issues of interest to the students on the program. The course will provide students with analytic tools to use in their internship and to use as a foundation for understanding the politics of policy making.  Prerequisite: None. Instructor: STAFF

This course includes readings and discussions on how organizations operate and how decisions are made in Washington, DC as well as reflections on students’ experiences as interns in Washington-based organizations. Students will analyze readings, share questions and insights from internship journals, develop portfolios of internship projects, and write a reflective paper (at the end of the semester) on their internship host organizations using informal ethnographic case study techniques. Prerequisite: None. Instructor: SCOTT

Each student will intern four days a week (approximately 32 hours per week) for 12 weeks. Beginning in the spring prior to going off campus, students will work with an internship coordinator to secure an internship which matches their interests and skills. Prerequisite: None. SCOTT

Featured Programs

Africa: Sub-Saharan
Botswana, Ghana, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania

Botswana: University Immersion in Southern Africa (ACM) (spring)

Ghana: University of Legon (CIEE)

Senegal: Minnesota Studies in International Development (MSID)

South Africa: University of Cape Town (IES)

South Africa: Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS)

Tanzania: Human Evolution and Ecology (ACM) (Fall)

Australia and New Zealand

North Queensland, Australia: Tropical Rainforest Management (SFS)

University of Melbourne, Australia (Arcadia)

University of Otago, New Zealand (Arcadia)

East Asia
China, Japan, Korea

China: Beijing (ACC)

China: Beijing: AU Abroad Program (American University)

China: Beijing: Contemporary Issues (IES)

China: Nanjing: Intensive Chinese Language and Culture (CIEE)

China: Hangzhou or Kunming - C.V. Starr-Middlebury School in China

China: Harbin or Kunming - Intensive Chinese Language (CET)

China: Shanghai - 21st Century City (Alliance for Global Education)

China (Republic of China) : Taipei (CIEE)

Japan: Osaka - Intensive Japanese Language and Cuture (CET)

Japan: Tokyo – Sophia University Arts and Sciences (CIEE) (spring)

Japan: Tokyo - Japan Study Program - Waseda University (ACM) (year)

Japan: Nagoya - Nanzan University (IES)

Korea: Seoul – Ewha University (ISEP)

South Asia
India

India: Pune - Contemporary India - Development, Economy, and Society (Alliance)

India: Cultures, Traditions, & Globalization (ACM) (fall)

India: Development Studies and Hindi (ACM) (spring)

India: Hyderabad - Arts and Sciences (CIEE)

India: South India Term Abroad (SITA)

Europe and Russia
Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, France, Germany and Austria, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Spain, Sweden

Multiple Countries

Comparative Women’s Studies in Europe Program (Antioch)

European Union Program (IES)

Serbia, Bosnia, & Kosov: Peace and Conflict Studies in the Balkans (SIT)

Belgium

Czech Republic

Denmark

England

London: Grinnell-in-London (fall)

London: London and Florence; Arts in Context (ACM) (spring)

London: London School of Economics (year only)

London: University College (spring)

France

Aix-En-Provence and Marseille Programs (AUCP)

Nantes Program (IES)

Paris: Hamilton College Junior Year in France (year)

Paris: Sweet Briar College in France

Germany and Austria

Germany: Berlin - Language and Area Studies (IES) (spring recommended)

Germany: Berlin - Metropolitan Studies (IES)

Freiburg (IES) (spring recommended)

Freiburg – European Union Program (IES)

Munich - Wayne State University (spring recommended)

Austria: Vienna (IES)

Greece

Hungary

Budapest: Semester in Mathematics (St. Olaf)

Budapest: Aquinum Institute of Technology (AIT)

Italy

Florence: Arts, Humanities and Culture (ACM) (fall)

Florence: London and Florence; Arts in Context (ACM) (spring)

Milan: Milan Program (IES)

Rome: Intercollegiate Center for Classical Studies in Rome (ICCS)

Rome: Trinity College in Rome

Netherlands

Poland

Warsaw: Central European Studies (CIEE)

Wroclaw: Culture and Politics of Reconciliation (Syracuse)

Russia

Spain

Granada: Institute for the International Education of Students (IES)

Madrid: Hamilton College in Spain

Madrid: Institute for the International Education of Students (IES)

Salamanca: Institute for the international Education of Students (IES)

Sweden

Latin America and the Caribbean
Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Mexico, Nicaragua, British West Indies

Argentina

British West Indies

Chile

Santiago or Valparaiso — Cooperative Latin American Studies Program (CIEE)

Santiago Program (IES)

Costa Rica and Nicaragua

Costa Rica and Nicaragua: Institute for Central American Development Studies (ICADS) — Internship Program

Organization for Tropical Studies

Organization for Tropical Studies: Global Health Program

San Jose: Language, Society and the Environment (ACM) (fall)

San Jose: Field Research in the Environment, Social Sciences, and Humanities (ACM) (spring)

Ecuador

Ecuador: Minnesota Studies in International Development (MSID)

Ecuador: Quito Program (IES)

Mexico

Middle East and North Africa
Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Morocco and Turkey

Egypt: American University in Cairo

Egypt: Cairo (AMIDEAST)

Israel: The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Jordan: Middle East and Arabic Language Studies, Amman (ACM)

Jordan: Area and Arabic Langauge Studies, Amman (AMIDEAST)

Morocco: Rabat: Area and Arabic Language Studies (AMIDEAST)

Morocco: Rabat: Regional Studies in French (AMIDEAST)

Turkey: Duke University in Istanbul

Turkey: SU Abroad in Istanbul (Syracuse)

North America
United States

Atlanta: Morehouse College and Spelman College

Chicago: Arts, Entrepreneurship and Urban Studies (ACM)

Chicago: Newberry Seminar in the Humanities (ACM) (fall)

Chicago — Urban Education (ACM)

Knoxville, TN: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ACM) (fall)

Washington, D.C.: Grinnell-in-Washington, D.C. (fall)

Waterford, CT: National Theater Institute

Woods Hole, MA: Marine Biological Laboratory — Semester in Environmental Science (fall)

Oceans and Seas

Sea Semester