Why Art Majors Should Study Abroad
By Glenn Hild, MFA
Chair, Art
 |
"Study abroad provides many benefits, both academic and personal in the visual arts. On the academic side you will have the opportunity to visit, study, and experience artworks that before were known only via their reproductions in books, magazines or lectures. To understand the visual culture of another country really requires your presence in that culture. On the personal side you will grow as an artist and individual through learning to adapt to new surroundings. The opportunity to study and interact with other students, faculty, and people of another culture will enrich both your education and personal perspective of the world in which you live." |
Recommended Study Abroad Programs for Art Majors
Costa Rica
Veritas University
San José
Semester or Year
Your program fee (which is less expensive than a semester at EIU!) includes a full excursion package to some of Costa Rica's most well-known areas. Universidad Veritas offers small classroom sizes, so you will have plenty of attention and opportunities to practice your Spanish. You will also live with a Costa Rican family; not only will they help you become more quickly acquainted with Tican life but also with the language. At the Universidad Veritas, Art majors can take electives and possibly core courses, pending approval.
France
Paris Study Abroad (Faculty-led)
Paris
Summer
The program is designed to offer students the opportunity to take two courses while studying in Paris. A student may take 3 credit hours in Art History or 3 credit hours in Drawing/Watercolor Painting. Lecture classes are held three mornings a week while the bulk of learning occurs in museums, monuments, cafés and shops. Please note: This program will next be offered in Summer 2013.
Germany
University of Würzburg
Wuerzburg
Semester or Year
Würzburg is a young old city, as the people like to say. It is an old city because of its 1400 year old history. Each day, city-goers are surrounded by cultural artifacts dating back to different epochs. Yet, the city is young because Würzburg has one of the highest concentrations of 20 to 30-year-olds in Bavaria and thousands of students come to receive their education here. Baroque and Rococo Art in Germany is a course for Art majors available at the University of Würzburg.
Greece
American College of Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki
Summer, Semester or Year
Greece -- home of the Olympian gods, sun-filled, passionate -- has been a destination popular with visitors for centuries."Undiscovered" Thessaloniki is the second largest city in Greece, true crossroads of East and West, and gateway to the Balkans. Founded in 315 B.C, Thessaloniki is now a modern seaport city of 1.5 million inhabitants renowned for its wide avenues, neighborhood squares and tree-lined streets. Art majors can take electives at the American College of Thessaloniki and art majors with concentrations in art history can take core and core option classes.
Italy
Palazzi: Apicius and FUA
Florence, Italy
Summer, Semester or Year
Against the backdrop of Florence, a vibrant city layered in Renaissance art and history, you will experience an outstanding cultural environment where students will be able to nurture their talents. Both schools, Apicius and FUA, are located within walking distance of such landmarks as the Uffizi Gallery museum, the Palazzo Vecchio and The Accademia.While at FUA, Art majors can take art history and general electives.
Japan
Kansai Gaidai University
Hirakata, Osaka
Semester or Year
You can learn the arts of Japanese pottery and calligraphy in this unique program. Since all courses in the Asian Studies Program, aside from those focusing on the Japanese language, are conducted in English, it is possible for students with no previous Japanese training to pursue an in-depth study of Japan and Asia. You have the option of living with a host family or in a dormitory.
Spain
Pompeu Fabra University (ISA Program)
Barcelona Summer, Semester, or Year
Barcelona (pop. 1.5 million) is the heart and capital of the region of Cataluña in the northeast corner of Spain. The origin of this Mediterranean city goes back more than 2,500 years - ruled by Carthaginians, Romans, Visigoths, Moors, and Franks until it finally became part of the Spanish empire in the 17th century. Pompeu Fabra University offers an English-language art class on contemporary Spanish art and a course in Spanish on Spanish art and artists.
South Africa
University of Cape Town
Cape Town
Semester or Year
Due to Cape Town's extensive history as a port city, Cape Town's 3 million people are a blend of African, European, and Asian heritage and tradition. Cape Town is vastly diverse in landscape, people, and activities. You will find no shortage of things to do and learn in Cape Town. UCT is situated on a hillside slope of Table Top Mountain with views of the ocean and easy access to both the mountain and the water. Art majors with a concentration in Studio Art and Art education majors will find core and core option courses.
United Kingdom
Harlaxton College
Grantham, England
Semester or Year
Harlaxton Manor is a 100-room Victorian manor house located in the English midlands. Students live and study at the manor along with their faculty members and other Harlaxton staff members. Harlaxton offers upper-division electives for Art majors.
Harlaxton is a unique experience because you live, dine and study with your professors. This gives it a great community feeling because you interact with your faculty outside of the classroom. --Kayla Blue, Fall 2009
University of Glamorgan
Treforest, Wales
Semester or Year
Glamorgan is located in the small town of Treforest. Treforest is only minutes from the larger Pontypridd and just north of the Welsh capital, Cardiff. World class theatres, museums, galleries, and great football (soccer) matches are all within easy reach of Treforest. Glamorgan's location offers the best of both worlds: a small town feel with big city opportunities available at your doorstep. Art majors can take lower-division Art courses at the University of Glamorgan.
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