Saint Louis University offers more than 45 study-abroad programs, with nearly half of those offered through the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures.
Our Study Abroad Programs
The Beijing Center for Chinese Studies in Beijing, China
Available fall and spring semesters
This program offers morning language classes with afternoon and evening seminars in English. You can take introductory business courses, as well as courses covering the Chinese culture, ranging from Chinese religion to the martial arts. You will take classes with many of China’s leading experts, professors and practitioners in the country’s intellectual and political capital. You will observe the historical and cultural roots of Chinese society and commerce. You will witness China in the cities and in the countryside, engaging with ethnic peoples in their own environment. You will study its fields and its factories, and see China’s opportunities as well as its challenges. You will travel intellectually, as well as physically.
Lyon, France
IE3 Global (two semesters) and business (one semester)
This academic year-long, full-immersion program allows you to experience France and its culture firsthand. You will take classes in the French university system with French students and other international students. You'll come back to SLU transformed by this charming country and its people.
Courses not only fulfill requirements for French majors at SLU, but you may also have an opportunity to complete some of your core requirements while in Lyon. A wide variety of academic opportunities in arts, humanities, sciences and business are available at the four universities involved in the program.
University of Poitiers in Poitiers, France
Available fall and spring semester
Study at the second oldest university in France. (François Rabelais, René Descartes,
and Francis Bacon are among its former students.) Highly regarded within France, the
University of Poitiers provides 24,500 students a full range of quality courses in
science, liberal arts, medicine, engineering, law, economics and management. Poitiers
provides a student-friendly environment with the highest per capita student population
of any city in France.
Take classes in the university's Centre de Français Langue Etrangère (CFLE) or enroll in regular university courses.
Goethe University at Frankfurt, Germany
Offered April through July
Goethe University is located in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It has 38,000 students enrolled, 4,400 of whom are non-Germans coming from more than 100 different countries. The university has 16 main departments and schools and a large variety of courses. However, the course of studies is more geared toward students from the College of Arts and Sciences.
All types of courses, taught in English and German, are available in this program. However, due to the German educational system, courses are not available until you have arrived in Frankfurt.
University of Stuttgart in Stuttgart, Germany
Offered April through July and May through June
Students participating in this program will take courses in the German language along with elective courses. German will be taught Monday through Friday morning and electives will be taught Monday through Thursday afternoon. The University of Stuttgart offers beginning as well as advanced courses in German. Training is given in all basic language skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing); however, emphasis is placed on developing proficiency in everyday situations.
At the University of Stuttgart, electives typically combine lecture style instruction with visits to museums, galleries or other relevant sites to enhance cultural knowledge. Courses are available in cross-cultural communication, European art history, international business, and transportation and urban planning.
Spring Hill College in Italy Center, Bologna
Year-long and semester-long programs available
The Italy Center offers students a variety of courses to take during the fall and spring semesters and in the summer. Courses are offered in business, humanities, philosophy and political science, just to name a few. All students are required to take a minimum of three credits of Italian.There is also a mandatory one-credit hour humanities course.
Students typically plan with their advisor to take a number of the core requirements and/or electives during their study abroad. Additionally, students often complete their foreign language requirements while living abroad.
The Italy Center curriculum also integrates social justice issues into academic work, whether it’s completing assignments in preparation for and during a Social Justice Tour or taking students outside the classroom and engaging them in the wider world.
Sant'Anna Institute in Sorrento, Italy
Year-long and semester-long programs available
Sant’Anna Institute is an international community of constant cultural exchange between
faculty, staff and students. A friendly and nurturing staff, spacious classrooms with
views of the sea, lush gardens and a continuous cross-cultural exchange make Sant'Anna
Institute an unforgettable learning environment.
Sant'Anna has a reputation for excellence in language instruction, and also offers
a wide range of university courses taught by highly qualified, English-speaking adjunct
faculty.
You also have the opportunity to engage in an array of extracurricular and community
service activities, as well as participate in excursion trips.
Babilonia - Italian language school in Taormina, Italy
Year-long and semester-long programs available
Taormina is an ideal study abroad location for students interested in total immersion into the Italian culture and language. A quaint medieval city, Taormina’s charm captivates students as they find themselves welcomed into the everyday life of this vibrant community. In Taormina, students are surrounded by architecture boasting Greek, Roman, Arabic, Byzantine, French and Spanish roots: simply meandering through Taormina’s winding, hilly streets uncovers a classroom of history.
Students take courses in Italian Language, art history, history, literature, cinema, archaeology, geology, and even participate in internships! Students must take a minimum of two language courses. Semester study abroad students attend classes in a historical 19th century building where classes are limited to a maximum of 10 students. The exceptionally low teacher to student ratio provides individual attention to each student, accelerating Italian language acquisition and promoting lively discussion in Italian studies courses. International students from numerous countries enroll in the Center for Italian Studies classes enhancing student interaction in classrooms.
John Felice Rome Center at the Loyola University Rome Campus, Rome, Italy
Year-long and semester-long programs available
The Rome Center offers a range of courses. Except for Italian, all classes are taught in English. Courses are typically offered in the following fields: archaeology, classical civilization, communications, economics, English literature, European and Italian history, fine arts and art history, international studies, Italian film studies, Italian language and literature, Italian society and culture, philosophy, political science, religion, Rome studies and theology.
While the academic program is central, intelligent travel is an important part of the Rome Center experience. Classes and scheduled vacations allow you to combine study and travel. Three-day weekends are the norm.
Villa Nazareth, Rome, Italy
Offered in the fall and spring for advanced students
Take courses with local Italian students with all subject areas being taught in Italian. You will attend courses in Italian, art, theology, music and literature in a city rich in cultural institutions and opportunities.
Saint Louis University in Madrid
Year-long and semester-long programs available
The Madrid campus of Saint Louis University is a unique study abroad experience. In any given semester, there are students on campus from as many as 65 countries, speaking more than 50 languages. Not only will you get to know Spain and the Spanish culture, but you’ll be able to learn about other cultures as well. Offering more than 200 courses, SLU Madrid allows you to complete core, major or elective requirements. Classes are offered in English or in Spanish.
Universidad Católica de Córdoba, Argentina
Available in fall and spring semesters
Loyola Marymount University’s Casa de la Mateada program gives you the opportunity to spend a semester immersed in the complex social, political and historical realities of Argentina. The program is rooted in four components, or pillars: accompaniment, academics, community and spirituality.
Casa de la Solidaridad in San Salvador, El Salvador
Year-long and semester-long programs available
This program’s academic curriculum incorporates traditional classroom activities, participatory research and interaction with the local community. Students receive a total of 15 semester credits for the term. The core courses that all students usually take include praxis/field placement and either Advanced Spanish I or Advanced Spanish Conversation. Other courses include sociology, political science, history, Salvadoran literature and Latin American theology.
You will be paired with a fellow classmate and assigned a field placement in a local Salvadoran community. You will work for two full days each week with that community for the entire semester. Through this learning environment, you will become more aware of and sensitive to the realities of those who are struggling to end social injustices while working to promote human dignity. You will become a part of the Salvadoran society not as a volunteer, but as a learner.
Mexican Health Care Systems Immersion Trip
Available in the summer
Participants visit health care clinics and rural communities, listen to first-hand immigration experiences, learn about health on a global scale and participate in a traditional Mexican ritual ceremony.
Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Ecuador in Quito, Ecuador
Year-long and semester-long programs available
After arriving in Quito, you will take a Spanish placement exam. The score obtained will determine the courses in which you can enroll. You can choose from a variety of subjects, including archaeology, communication, economics, psychology, geographic sciences, history, international relations, literature, natural sciences, political science, sociology, sustainable development, linguistics and many more.
Why Study Abroad?
- Studying abroad is the optimal way to learn a language. There is no better and more effective way to learn a language than to be immersed in it.
- Studying abroad provides the opportunity to travel. Weekends and academic breaks allow you to venture out and explore both your immediate and more distant surroundings. Some programs even have field trips planned in or around the curriculum.
- Studying abroad allows you get to know another culture first-hand. Cultural differences are more than just variations in language, food, appearances, and personal habits. A person’s culture reflects very deep perceptions, beliefs and values that influence their way of life and the way they view the world.
- Studying abroad will help you develop skills and give you experiences a classroom setting will never provide. Being immersed in an entirely new cultural setting is scary at first, but it's also exciting. You will encounter situations that are wholly unfamiliar to you and will learn to adapt and respond in effective ways.
- Studying abroad affords you the opportunity to make friends around the world. While abroad, you will meet not only natives to the culture in which you are studying but also other international students who are as far from home as yourself.
- Studying abroad helps you to learn about yourself. Students who study abroad return
home with new ideas and perspectives about themselves and their own culture.
Studying abroad expands your worldview. Students who study abroad return home with an informed and much less biased perspective toward other cultures and peoples. - Studying abroad gives you the opportunity to break out of your academic routine. You may become familiar with an entirely new academic system and have the chance to take courses not offered at your home campus.
- Studying abroad enhances employment opportunities. Through an employer's eyes, a student who has studied abroad is self-motivated, independent, willing to embrace challenges, and able to cope with diverse problems and situations.
- Studying abroad can enhance the value of your degree. While abroad, you can take courses you would never have had the opportunity to take on your home campus. In addition, study abroad gives your language skills such a boost that it is normally quite easy to add a minor in a language or even a second major without having to take many more additional courses after the return to your home campus.