Travel and Study Around the World
The University of Oregon offers programs for the study of French, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish languages and cultures. You can live, study and travel in Europe, Africa, and the Americas, in countries such as Bolivia, France, Italy, Mexico, and Spain.
Need Funding to Study Abroad?
The Department of Romance Languages offer significant scholarships for studying abroad. Whether it’s Senegal, Italy, Brazil, or Argentina, we can open the doors to a life-changing academic experience. We encourage students to explore additional funding opportunities on GEO’s study abroad page. Majors and future majors within the Schnitzer School of Global Studies and Languages can also apply for the Arlene Schnitzer Study Abroad Scholarship.
Featured Study Abroad Opportunities
This program, administered by Global Education Oregon (GEO), offers internship opportunities in a wide variety of industry career fields and locations around the world.
Internship opportunities are highly customizable, and we guarantee placement in your preferred career fields and location. Students can earn up to 12 UO credits, as well as life-changing work experience in a different culture. Please email globalworks@uoregon.edu to discuss your options.
Students can enroll as an exchange student at a top international research institution for a semester (fall or fall/winter), spring quarter, full academic year, or summer term. Exchange students experience an immersive study abroad experience, living and learning with local students in their chosen city.
Ready to get started? Fill out this interest form to get matched with a GEO advisor.
Tips for Choosing a Study Abroad Program
Before going abroad students should consult their assigned major or minor advisor about the selection of a program and the courses to be taken within that program.
- Choose a program that offers a maximum of immersion (e.g., living with host families or local students, coursework entirely in the target language, direct university enrollment opportunities, etc.).
- Longer programs offer you more opportunity to acclimate to the language, to be more fully immersed in the local culture, and to form meaningful relationships with people from the host country.
- Courses in which the readings and/or lectures are in English do NOT count toward majors or minors in the Department of Romance Languages, or the UO B.A. second language requirement.
- Students in all University of Oregon overseas study programs enroll in courses with subject codes that are unique to individual programs. Special course numbers are reserved for overseas study. Your UO advisor can help you determine course equivalencies to maximize the credits you can apply to requirements for your degree(s).
Study French Abroad
Global Education Oregon offers several opportunities to study in France, including exchange programs in Paris, Lyon, and Poitiers.
This direct enroll program is designed for you to immerse yourself in the French language (regardless of language ability) while also learning about French culture, politics and society. The program offers classes covering many disciplines, with coursework in history, sociology, political science, business and French culture and civilization. You will study at the international language institute (CIDEF) of the Université Catholique de l’Ouest (the Catholic University of the West), taking courses with US and other international students.
The city of Poitiers has a history of serving as a university center since the Middle Ages. The University of Poitiers was established in 1431 by Pope Eugene IV and King Charles VII, and is known for educating many famous philosophers and scientists – including François Rabelais and René Descartes, Joachim du Bellay, Guez de Balzac – throughout the ages. It is one of the oldest universities in Europe. There are currently over 26,000 students attending the University of Poitiers, 4,000 of which are international students.
The Lyon exchange program is ideal for students in a variety of majors who have a background in French language and are hoping to experience French cultural immersion. The program offers several options for students at higher or lower levels of French: a yearlong exchange with direct enrollment in a French university, semester and yearlong language institutes, or English-taught classes in international studies, political science, or business.
Study Italian Abroad
Global Education Oregon (GEO) offers several opportunities to study in Italy, including programs in Siena, Lecce, and the Dolomite Mountains, as well as an exchange program in Pavia. At the GEO Center in Siena, dedicated on-site staff arrange housing, organize excursions, offer on-site orientations, and connect students to to unique experiential learning and professional development opportunities.
Combine the study of Italian language (for absolute beginners to advanced) with courses in fields including anthropology, art history, communications, economics, food and culture, history and political science. You can elect to enroll in Italian semi-intensive language courses for 50 contact hours at the beginning, intermediate or advanced levels. In addition to Italian language courses, you can enroll in one to three additional courses offered on-site to round out your Italian cultural experience. In addition to the GEO courses offered on-site, you can also opt to enroll in an extra-curricular Italian cooking course.
The Lecce program offers you an opportunity to learn Italian language at an accelerated pace through intensive study and immersion in the Italian culture. This program can accommodate you, whether you want to begin or continue the study of the Italian language, at any level. You can earn the equivalent of a full year of Italian language (e.g. 201, 202, and 203) in just two months, while spending your summer in the popular tourist destination of southern Italy. In addition to intensive language courses, the program includes excursions around the local area.
Study Portuguese Abroad
Students interested in learning Portuguese can participate in the CET: Social Justice and Inequality in São Paulo program.
Browse All Portuguese Programs
Dig into social issues and challenge your perspectives with a semester in São Paulo. Using Brazil as a case study, take on a curriculum focused on understanding the dynamics of global poverty and inequality. Beyond thematic coursework, a semester with CET Brazil also includes pre-departure materials, on-site orientation, Portuguese language class, housing with local students, and a Traveling Seminar.
Study Spanish Abroad
Global Education Oregon (GEO) offers several opportunities to study in Spanish-speaking countries, including programs in Spain and Mexico. At the GEO Centers in Oviedo and Segovia, dedicated on-site staff arrange housing, organize excursions, offer on-site orientations, and connect students to to unique experiential learning and professional development opportunities.
This summer program is designed for you to learn Spanish language through immersion. You can take intermediate or advanced Spanish, as well as courses on Mexican history, literature, and culture. Mexico is an ideal location to continue your Spanish language studies, as the pronunciation, vocabulary, and colloquial expressions used in Mexico are also commonly heard in the U.S., offering you a smoother linguistic transition between the two countries. You will take classes in Querétaro's beautiful historic district. As part of the immersive experience, you will live with a Mexican host family.
Enroll in one or both of two, four-week intensive Spanish language sessions offered in July and August. You may earn up to one year of Spanish language credit for enrolling in both sessions. Classes are offered at the beginning through advanced levels and are taught in Spanish by experienced professors from the University of Oviedo.
You will take your core language courses in Spanish (beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels) through the Curso de Lengua y Cultura Españolas para Extranjeros (ELE) at the University of Oviedo. At ELE you will attend courses with US and other international students. A cross-cultural communications course, taught in English, is conducted by local faculty. Oviedo is located in the province of Asturias; known as Spain's "Paraíso Natural" or "Natural Paradise." It has a reputation for being one of the safest and cleanest cities Spain, offering great quality of life for students. The hospitality and warmth of the Asturian people coupled with the absence of mass tourism and low presence of English speaking visitors in the region are the keys to Oviedo’s strength as a student learning environment for cultural and linguistic immersion.
This four-week program will allow students to fully immerse themselves in the beautiful city of Oviedo while studying the languages and literatures of Spain with Professor David Wacks from the University of Oregon’s Spanish Department. Oviedo is located in Spain’s northern green coast at the foot of the Aramo mountains in the region of Asturias. It has a reputation for being one of the safest and cleanest cities in Spain, full of pedestrian streets, sidewalk cafes, markets and cider houses. Students will enroll in two 300 level Spanish courses taught by Professor Wacks. Both courses can be applied toward the Spanish minor or major at the University of Oregon. Courses will be held at the GEO Oviedo Center and will include ample opportunities to explore the course content through field trips to locations in and around Oviedo.
Live and study in one of Spain’s most beautiful and historically interesting cities. Located just 20 minutes northwest of Madrid by high-speed train, Segovia is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is an ideal location to experience Spanish language, society, and culture. This program is catered towards intermediate and advanced Spanish language learners and is available in the summer, fall and spring terms.
This 10-week Spanish language immersion program offers first year Spanish language students the ability to complete the final term of the 100 level Spanish series as well as the second year of Spanish all in the spring term. Students who have already completed the entire 100 level Spanish series can complete the entire second year of Spanish and earn additional Spanish elective credits on the program.