Studies Abroad

Guilford sponsors several Semester Abroad programs, each offering up to 18 credits. Students can receive Guilford credit through programs led by Guilford faculty or programs offered through direct enrollment in other universities. The fall programs include those in Beijing, Guadalajara, London, Munich, Kyoto and Siena. The spring programs include those in Brunnenburg (Italy), Cape Coast (Ghana), London and Kyoto. There is a year-long program in Tokyo. Multiple opportunities exist for study in additional locations.

Some courses are offered through foreign universities; some courses are taught by faculty selected from the country of residence, and when a Guilford faculty leader accompanies a program, she or he also teaches a class. Each program seeks a balance between formal academic study and the opportunity for extensive exposure to life in a different culture. The cost of Guilford faculty-led programs is usually only slightly higher than the cost for a full semester on the Guilford campus; some financial aid is available. Many other study abroad opportunities are available through Guilford-affiliated programs; these direct enrollment programs may necessitate a surcharge. Information is available from the study abroad office and Web site.

NOTE: Various Guilford-affiliated programs have different cumulative GPA requirements. A student must be in academic good standing to be eligible for participation in any Guilford-led or Guilford-affiliated study abroad program.

More information about all the programs is available in the study abroad office and through the study abroad Web page.

Beijing, People's Republic of China

  • 250 China Culture Course. 3.
  • 450 Intensive Chinese.10. Fulfills language requirement.
  • 450 Special Topic (To be announced). 3. Offered by faculty leader. May fulfill intercultural requirement

Brunnenburg, Italy

  • 102 Orientation. 1. Preparation for the semester in Brunnenburg with introduction to the historical background of the area, the problems related to the German-Italian cultures in the South Tyrol and issues pertaining to Ezra Pound. Also focuses on observation skills, coping with culture shock and adapting to another culture. Required. CR/NC.
  • 250 Saints and Heroes of the Middle Ages. 4. An examination of medieval culture through a study of the cult of the Saints, Christian iconography and epic poetry. This course will use the Brunnenburg Castle as well as surrounding churches, cathedrals, monasteries and other castles for the study. Required. May be used for elective history credit with approval of department.
  • 250 Ezra Pound’s The Cantos. 4. A study of the epic poem through an examination of The Cantos. This analysis also relates history to the various cantos. Attention is also given to questions arising from the reading of the cantos that relate to the political and economic vision of Ezra Pound. Fulfills humanities requirement and may receive elective credit in English or major credit for English majors.
  • 250 Agro-Archeology. 4. An introduction to the history and prehistory of agriculture, drawing from the resources of the Tyrolean Alps. Bi-weekly field trips. An examination of the impact of changes in agriculture on the social and religious realm as reflected in myth, legends, customs and beliefs. Required. May be used for elective sociology/anthropology credit or major credit for sociology/anthropology majors.

Cape Coast, Ghana

  • ENGL 240 African Literature. 3. Our conception of African Literature is as capacious as the Continent is diverse and complex. Historically, we can generalize that Africa has undergone three major transformations: the pre-colonial, colonial and post colonial eras. African literature reflects these multiple historical transformations and their associated experiences. African literature has served as one of the powerful channels that permit the transfer of the experiences, conceptualizations, histories and knowledge of African people during each of these historical periods. At the same time, African literature has served as a “space” where positions are questioned. In order to grasp the various issues that African literature articulates it has been necessary to look at it from three perspectives: the aesthetic, the linguistic and the thematic. In this course, we shall focus on the thematic concerns of African literature. The thematic studies will reveal the commonalities and differences in the various issues that have preoccupied Africans at different historical periods. Required. Fulfills humanities and  intercultural requirements.
  • 102 Orientation. 2. This course is designed to introduce students to the nation of Ghana with special reference to the culture, belief systems, geography and history. Once students are on site in Ghana, a considerable portion of this course will be devoted to the study of Fante, one of the Akan group of languages spoken by a large percentage of the Ghanaian population. The course will be aimed at enabling students to achieve a basic proficiency level with which they can successfully establish and maintain effective cross-cultural communication and relationships in southern Ghana. This orientation language component will be taught by Ghanaian language teachers. Required. CR/NC.
  • 104 Fante Proficiency. 3. This course will be a regular university course on the school calendar year schedule, especially designed for the Guilford students. Required. Fulfills foreign language requirement.
  • 250 Community Project. 3. This course is designed to encourage students to become involved in a selected community. It will be structured to provide opportunities for internships that will enable students to become active participants and/or observers of a Ghanaian environment as manifested by a local community. The main objective is to provide experiential learning opportunities in settings such as a health post, nursery schools, local rural development project, etc. Students will keep a journal. A paper will be produced by the students under the guidance of a faculty supervisor. Required.
  • Elective Courses (normally two for each student). 3. Electives are to be chosen from a list of courses in major disciplines that will be made available to students. The courses will be selected from first-year to senior-level courses available during the second semester of the academic year in the various faculties of the University of Cape Coast. These will include courses in arts/humanities, the social sciences/business studies, agriculture, sciences and education. Required.
  • Independent Study (a possible choice to replace one elective). 3. Independent study and research for students in the fields of African culture, history, economics, geography, etc. under the direction of a faculty adviser. Students will be required to have a faculty liaison with regard to selected literature for review. A research paper at a level beyond the term paper is required. Special elective.

Guadalajara, Mexico

Introduction

All coursework in Guadalajara taken at the University of Guadalajara’s Center for Foreign Students (CEPE) is taught in Spanish. The Guadalajara study abroad program requires a minimum of one year of college-level Spanish for acceptance. All students enrolled in the program will take Spanish language courses at CEPE.

Placement examinations

The designated faculty leader for the Guadalajara program will administer a Spanish language placement text provided by CEPE to all participants prior to the start of the program. Completed tests will be mailed from the Guilford study abroad office to CEPE where they will be scored. On the basis of this test, students are placed into the appropriate Spanish language level.

If a student is placed by CEPE into a level of language that is lower than the course into which s/he expected to be enrolled, the Guilford faculty leader and CEPE advisor will encourage the student to enroll in the CEPE course into which he or she was placed. CEPE only agrees to make the exception of placing the student in a higher-level course with prior authorization of the Guilford faculty leader, and the student must sign a waiver stating that he or she will accept full responsibility for the academic outcome.

 

If a student is placed into a level of language that is higher than the course into which he or she expected to enroll, the student may choose to enroll in either the higher level or the expected level of coursework.

 

Credit towards the Guilford Spanish major

If a Guilford student enrolls in a CEPE Spanish language course level determined to be the same or lower than the level of Spanish language coursework for which that student has already received Guilford credit, that student will not receive credit toward the Spanish major for such coursework. Since the CEPE Spanish language courses are not exact equivalents to Guilford courses, lower level coursework than a student has already accomplished will be considered remedial and will be allowed to count as credit toward graduation. The chair of the Guilford foreign languages department determines whether or not the level of Spanish language taken at CEPE is lower, the same or higher than coursework for which Guilford credit has already been received.

 

Grades

All grades received from CEPE are recorded directly as grades (not transfer credits) on a student’s Guilford transcript. CEPE awards grades on a 100 point scale. The Guilford registrar’s office converts those numerical grades to letter grades according to the following scale:

 

94 – 100 = A 84 – 86 = B  74 – 76 = C  64 – 66 = D
90 –93 = A-  80 – 83 = B- 70 – 73 = C-   60 – 63 = D-
87 – 89 = B+  77 – 79 = C+ 67 – 69 = D+ 0 – 59 = F

 

  • ART 333 Mexican Art. 3.Fulfills arts and intercultural requirements.
  • BUS 231 Mexico and International Trade. 3. Fulfills business and policy studies and intercultural requirements.
  • BUS 232 International Trade. 3. Fulfills business and policy studies requirement
  • GST 102 Orientation. 1. Preparation for Mexican culture with some introduction to historical background of the area and city and preparation in observation skills, coping with culture shock and adapting to another culture. Required. CR/NC.
  • GST 252 Mass Media in Mexico. 3. Fulfills intercultural requirement.
  • SPAN 352 Community Development. 4. The theory and practice of community development. Included is a field component that introduces students to some of the special problems involved in developmental projects. Students work with and get to know a diversity of people. Fulfills intercultural requirement. Required.
  • HIST 224 Economics and Political History of Latin America. 3. Fulfills intercultural requirement.
  • HIST 226 Economics and Political History of Mexico. 3. Fulfills intercultural requirement.
  • HIST 231 General History of Mexico (up to 1872). 3. Fulfills intercultural requirement.
  • HIST 232 General History of Mexico II. 3. Fulfills intercultural requirement.
  • PSCI 236 The Mexican Political System. 3. Fulfills intercultural requirement.
  • SOAN 332 Prehispanic Cultures. 3. Fulfills intercultural requirement.
  • SPAN 131 Level I. 2.
  • SPAN 134 Level IV. 2. Fulfills foreign language requirement.
  • SPAN 232 Level II. 2. Fulfills foreign language requirement.
  • SPAN 233 Level III. 2.
  • SPAN 235 Level V. 2.
  • SPAN 236 Level VI. 2. Fulfills foreign language requirement.
  • SPAN 237 Level VII. 2.
  • SPAN 238 Level VIII. 2. Fulfills foreign language requirement.
  • SPAN 239 Level IX. 2.
  • SPAN 240 Level X. 2. Fulfills foreign language requirement.
  • SPAN 331 Mexican Culture. 3. Fulfills intercultural requirement.
  • SPAN 332 Mexican Cinema. 3. Fulfills arts and intercultural requirements.
  • SPAN 333 Contemporary Mexican Literature. 3. Fulfills intercultural requirement.
  • SPAN 334 Latin American Literature. 3. Fulfills intercultural requirement.
  • SPAN 335 Hispanic American Literature. 3. Fulfills intercultural requirement.

Kyoto, Japan

The Kansai-Gaidai Semester is offered both fall and spring semesters.

  • 450 Japan. 16. Wide selection of courses taught in English. Japanese language instruction required on site.

London, England

  • BUS 346 International Business. 4. Designed to enable the students to understand the critical importance of the role of multinational decision-making and strategy with respect to trade issues. Fulfills business and policy studies requirement.
  • ENGL 205 Introduction to Creative Writing. 4. Introduces students to the pleasures and rewards of creative writing, using London as a context and stimulus. 
 
  • ENGL 223 Shakespeare and Elizabethan Literature. 4. Introduces the life and work of William Shakespeare and his contemporaries through lectures, workshops field trips and theatre visits.
 
  • GST 102 London Orientation. 1. Preparation for British culture and living in London; introduction to culture shock, some British history and culture, safety and thriving in another culture. Required. CR/NC.
 
  • GST 250 Introduction to British Life and Cultures. 4. Offers students an introduction to contemporary Britain by examining the history of its major social and political institutions, the cultural values of its peoples and significant contemporary socio-political issues and debates. Extensive field study.
 
  • GST 250 The Economic Integration of the European Union. 4. Examines major issues in international trade and commercial policy and uses real-world applications to derive and illustrate models of international trade.
 
  • GST 250 History of Modern Design. 4. Examines the products of applied design during the past 150 years, including examples of furnishings, industrial design, fashion and graphic design in relation to demand, technology and production, standards, fine art, social reform and the dynamics of consumption.
 
  • GST 250 International Marketing. 4. Explores the decision-making process in the marketing of products and services in the international marketplace and covers the formulation of key elements in international marketing strategy, such as identification and assessment of potential markets; price setting; and design, promotion and distribution of products and services.
 
  • GST 250 Media in Britain.  4. Explores British media organizations as social, economic and cultural entities and examines specific determinants and processes of production. Areas of study include broadcasting and the film industry, the press and the ‘convergent’ new media of digital television and the Internet.
 
  • GST 250 Music in Twentieth-Century Britain. 4. Examines a wide range of musical styles important in twentieth century Britain; considers music-making from diverse settings: the South London Anglo-Caribbean community to “Madchester” all-night parties; rural folk clubs to West-End variety shows; and coal-mine brass bands to art-house cinema.
 
  • GST 250 The Rise of Science. 4. Highlights Britain’s leading role in the history of world science; takes both a historical and modern science perspective and highlights the contributions leading British scientists have made as well as the difficulties they have faced.
 
  • GST 250 International Internship. 4. London offers a vast resource for experience-based learning. The work environments available to FIE interns cater to almost every conceivable major and range from large multinational corporations to small- and medium-sized enterprises, including voluntary, political and public service organizations.  Required.
 
  • GST 350 Modern Britain 1815-present. 4. Examines the key political, social and cultural developments
    of the last 200 years in the United Kingdom of Great Britain.
 
  • GST 350 International Marketing. 4. Explores the decision-making process in the marketing of products and services in the international marketplace.
 
  • GST 350 Social Welfare Issues and Community Welfare Provision in the UK. 4. Introduces participants to the historical and conceptual framework within which social welfare provision has developed in the UK.
 
  • GST 350 Contemporary British Theatre and Approaches to Theatre Criticism. 4. Reviews the varieties of theatres available (commercial, subsidized and fringe) from a variety of perspectives and considers the economic, aesthetic and historical aspects of theatre management and production. Students are required to attend a significant number of productions. Note: theatre courses are subject to an additional fee.
  • PSY 347 Social Psychology. 4. Factors affecting the behavior of the individual in the social setting; laboratory and field research in social interaction.
 
  • REL 204 Understanding Civilisations: Islam and the West. 4. Explores the sources of conflict that have led towards “a clash of civilisations.” Fulfills humanities and intercultural requirements.

Siena, Italy

  • 102 Orientation. 1. Preparation for Italian culture with some introduction to historical background of the area and city and preparation in observation skills, coping with culture shock and adapting to another culture. Required. CR/NC.
  • 101 Italian Language. 4. Introduction to understanding, speaking, reading and writing Italian. Required.  Fulfills foreign language requirement.
  • 250 Art and Spirituality. 4. Examines spirituality through the physicality of various arts—frescoes, sculpture, painting, festivals, landscape—in an interdisciplinary way.
  • 250 Music History. 4. Focuses on critical listening shaped by knowledge of musical trends, influences and techniques. Includes attendance at live performances to develop awareness of evolving music literature over time.
  • 250 Theatre: Italian Comedy. 4. Examines the changing nature of satire in Italian theatre from commedia dell’arte to political satire. Focuses on reading and appreciation of dramatic texts with possible performance component.

Tokyo, Japan

  • The Year in Japan.  Students enroll at International Christian University, Mitaka, Tokyo, where they live and take meals and classes with Japanese students. A wide selection of courses is taught in English at the university; participants are also expected to study Japanese. A year of language preparation is encouraged.
  • 450 Japan. 16. Students take courses in intensive Japanese the first term and during the following two terms may continue Japanese and/or take courses available in English. Most disciplines have courses taught in English.