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Religious Studies Education Abroad Guide

City view of Israel including Dome of the Rock
CU Boulder Education Abroad offers over 400 programs in over 70 countries! You can go abroad for a semester, year, 2-12 weeks in the summer, or even winter break. Going abroad is strongly encouraged by the Religious Studies 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 sophomore or junior year
  • Consider whether you are interested in studying specific religions in the classroom only, or if you would also like to experience the cultural aspect of a particular religion in everyday life. This will impact your possible destination.
  • The most common degree requirements taken abroad are upper-division RLST electives, certain Gen Ed courses, and general elective hours
  • Use the Course Approvals List to find programs that offer courses approved for the credit you need

Planning and When to Go

  • First-year: Start planning for education abroad! Take Gen Ed and RLST courses that may not be available on the education abroad program you choose (see below for more details). 
  • Sophomore: Save some of our RLST electives for education abroad. If needed, make sure your language abilities match the program you wish to attend. Education abroad during sophomore year is less common, but absolutely possible.
  • 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 RLST A&S Gen Ed RLST A&S Gen Ed RLST
Overall credit hours  Arts and Humanities, Natural Science (Non-Lab), Social Sciences Upper-division RLST electives Global Diversity N/A
 		 Natural Science (Lab), Written Communication RLST 1620, RLST 4830

Suggested Programs

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

Additional Resources

Last Updated March 2023