Study Abroad

Plan early. Talk to your general LSA advisor, major advisor(s), and minor advisor(s) about your interest in going abroad.

Attend a First Step informational meeting with staff from the Center for Global and Intercultural Study (CGIS). Meeting times and locations can be found here. First Step provides an overview of the wide range of available opportunities for Michigan undergraduates to engage in intercultural experiences and why it is important to study or work in an environment different than the one you are used to.

Carefully research possible programs. Decide if you will study abroad via a U-M program or through another institution’s program.  

Michigan Study Abroad Resources
Non-U-M Study Abroad Resources

Study abroad is not just for juniors! Rather, the timing (and program choice) varies by what you hope to achieve by studying abroad. Individual courses that offer a study abroad component may be taken any time. Summer, semester, and year-long programs offer courses that have the potential to be used toward sociology requirements. In planning for study abroad, you should discuss with the sociology advisor which requirements should be taken here in Ann Arbor (and when) and which requirements might be satisfied with a course or courses taken abroad.

Study abroad courses are evaluated in the same way as transfer credits when considering them for inclusion in the major.  

If you would like to petition the department to include a course toward your Sociology major or LJSC/SHM minor requirements, you must submit the following to socadvisor@umich.edu: 

• A completed course petition form (PDF)
• A current syllabus (complete with reading list)

A non-Sociology course (transferred or taken on campus) must meet at least one of the following criteria. Meeting one of these criteria does not guarantee that the course will be accepted, but it does substantially increase the likelihood.

1. The course is offered through a sociology department at another university.
2. The course was taught by a sociologist. This means the course was taught by someone who holds an appointment as an instructor, lecturer, or professor in a sociology department or who holds a PhD in sociology.
3. The course readings listed on the syllabus are primarily (75%) sociological. This means that the books and texts are written by sociologists and articles are from sociological journals.
4. The course syllabus looks like the syllabus of a course in the U-M Sociology Department.The syllabus covers the same topics, has similar readings, and requires similar assignments.You must not have already taken the U-M course which the petitioned course resembles and must not plan to take it in the future. 

Michigan in Washington Program
Semester in Detroit
Semester in Washington Program (Georgetown University)
New York Union Semester (City University of New York)

Find a good program? Let us know!