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History Education Abroad Guide

Road trip to Edinburgh by Katherine Harvey Norwich, England


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 History 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 junior year, it is also possible to study abroad during your sophomore year but less common
  • You can complete 12 of your 24 required upper-division HIST credits on Education Abroad. The most common degree requirements taken abroad are upper-division HIST 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: Take Gen Ed and 1000-level HIST courses that may not be available on the education abroad program you choose (see below for more details). 
  • Sophomore: Finish your 1000-level history courses, including HIST 1800 (Intro to Global History), and take HIST 3020 (Historical Thinking & Writing) so that you will be prepared to take 4000-level HIST classes upon return to CU Boulder. 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 HIST A&S Gen Ed HIST A&S Gen Ed HIST
Overall credit hours  Arts and Humanities, Natural Science (Non-Lab), Social Sciences Upper-division HIST electives Global Diversity Ancillary courses
 		 Natural Science (Lab), Written Communication HIST 3020 and the 3000-level Senior Seminar

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