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Philosophy Education Abroad Guide

Lake in the Alps By Jordan Allen Florence Italy

CU Boulder Education Abroad offers over 400 programs in over 60 countries! You can go abroad for a semester, year, and/or 2-12 weeks in the summer. Going abroad is strongly encouraged by the Philosophy department. Use the following information as a general guideline to plan your time abroad, and connect with your academic advisor as well. Work with Education Abroad advisors to get more details on how to get started, discuss your program options, and next steps. 

Quick Facts

  • Go abroad during your sophomore or junior year
  • The most common degree requirements taken abroad are upper-division PHIL electives, certain Gen Ed courses, and general elective hours
  • Often study abroad programs do not have actual Philosophy classes or departments. Classes with a Philosophy focus or content may be in other academic departments so students need to review all the available classes to determine if any might apply to the major or minor.
  • Use the Course Approvals List to find programs that offer courses approved for the credit you need

Planning and When to Go

  • First-year: Take Gen Ed and 1000-level PHIL courses that may not be available on the education abroad program you choose (see below for more details). 
  • Sophomore: Finish your lower-level PHIL courses, and consider taking PHIL 3480 and PHIL 2440. If needed, make sure your language abilities match the program you wish to attend.
  • Junior: Go abroad! Going abroad during your junior year allows you plenty of variety in your choices of classes.
  • Senior: Work closely with your advisor to ensure that you can get all of your requirements completed.
    Be sure that you know when the credits may be transcripted, as this can delay your official graduation date.

What Kind of Credit Can You Earn Abroad?

Usually Doable Tricky Probably Not
General Electives  A&S Gen Ed PHIL A&S Gen Ed PHIL A&S Gen Ed PHIL
Overall credit hours  Arts and Humanities, Natural Science (Non-Lab), Social Sciences Upper-division PHIL electives, Values and History courses Global Diversity PHIL 2440, PHIL 3100 Natural Science (Lab), Written Communication Metaphysics and Epistemology
courses, PHIL Track courses

Suggested Programs

Use these links to find programs that may be a good match for you and your course needs.
   

Additional Resources

Last Updated June 2024