Short-term Abroad Programs
Short-term Abroad Courses
To excel in their career, our students need not only a deep understanding of global and regional issues but also the ability to communicate, negotiate, and lead in a cross-cultural environment. Short-term abroad programs allow students to strengthen these skills as they travel with Elliott School professors to their regions of expertise. Students will earn credit faster through these intensive academic and cultural experiences and increase their international knowledge and skills.
Winter 2024 Elliott School Short-term Abroad Program
Applications open: Sept. 1st, 2024
Applications close: Oct. 15th, 2024
Deposit deadline: Nov. 1st, 2024
- Foreign Influence in Senegal: Exploring Its Effects and Senegalese Perceptions
Location: Senegal
Dates abroad: Dec. 30th, 2024 - Jan. 8th, 2025
Faculty lead: Matthew Kirwin
Pre-departure class dates: Nov. 4th (Time TBA) and Dec. 9th (Time TBA)
Description: In STAP Senegal, students will explore how foreign countries seek influence in Senegal and West Africa and how Senegalese interpret and respond to the efforts. The program will consist of lectures, site visits, focus group discussions, and cultural excursions such as visits to Goree Island and St. Louis. For the final project, the students will jointly write a white paper that assesses the actions of the various countries seeking to gain influence and how Senegalese react to these messages and interventions--issues that U.S. policymakers are keen to learn more about. Students gain a deep understanding of Senegal and international affairs, Senegalese culture, and foreign power competition.
This STAP course is open to graduate and undergraduate students.
Spring Break 2025 Elliott School Short-term Abroad Program
Applications open: Sept. 23rd, 2024
Applications close: Oct. 25th, 2024
Deposit deadline: Nov. 15th, 2024
- Solutions in Sustainable Development: Agriculture and Climate Change in Malawi
Location: Malawi
Dates abroad: March 8th - March 16th, 2025
Faculty lead: Samuel Ledermann
Pre-departure class dates: Jan. 17th, Feb. 21st, Feb. 28th (Time TBA)
Post-trip class dates: March 28th and Apr. 11th (Time TBA)
Description: This course provides an opportunity for graduate students to apply what they have learned and gain invaluable field experience abroad for their careers in sustainable development. The project-based course is offered in collaboration with Dr. Julius Manda from the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), who leads efforts to increase the adoption of sustainable agricultural practices amongst smallholder farmers. Under the guidance of their faculty advisor, who has extensive experience working and researching across sub-Saharan Africa, students will apply qualitative, participatory techniques to monitor progress made by Malawian smallholder farmers in improving their livelihoods through sustainable agricultural technologies. Beyond sustainability, the course will focus on vulnerabilities to climate change and how to build resilience. Last year, the course focused on adopting double-up legumes, and students completed over 50 focus group discussions and interviews. This year’s focus will be finalized later in the Fall of 2024. The joint findings from the short-term course will flow back into programming by IITA. The program will include exposure visits with both local and national experts and start in Lilongwe. The majority of the time is spent in rural Malawi interviewing smallholder farmers. On last year’s trip, we went to the rural Dedza district. For this year’s trip, we might head to Northern Malawi. You can find impressions from last year’s trip on our @stap_esia Instagram account. We will be accompanied by a GW graduate student who participated in last year’s trip throughout the fieldwork.
This STAP course is only open to graduate students.
- The National Security and Gender Nexus: An Exploration of the Bridge of the Americas
Location: Panamá
Dates abroad: March 8th - March 15th, 2025
Faculty lead: Tahina Montoya
Pre-departure class dates: Jan. 13th, Jan. 27th, Feb. 10th, Feb. 24th at 7:00 - 8:30 pm
Description: This short-term abroad course offers a theoretical and practical examination of national security and gender nexus to understand better peace, armed conflict, international security, and peacebuilding. The course is divided into two main sections, including an overview of theory and contemporary international frameworks and thematic issues (themes covered will be tailored based on students' research). Assignments will center on students' chosen research topic and include a presentation on the research topic before departure, a Theory & Reality presentation, and a policy brief.
This STAP course is open to graduate and undergraduate students.
- Ethical Decision-Making in International Institutions
Locations: The Netherlands and Belgium
Dates abroad: March 8th - March 15th, 2025
Faculty lead: Yasaman Sutton
Pre-departure class dates: Jan. 25th and Feb. 22nd at 9:00 am - 3:00 pm
Description: The course allows students to gain invaluable experience abroad for their future careers. In collaboration with prominent contacts at international institutions, including a global technology company and the International Criminal Court (ICC), along with lectures and tours at other European institutions, students will have the opportunity to discuss policy development with leaders in the vanguard at the apex of international business and government, ethics, AI, and law.
This STAP course is only open to graduate students.
Request Info-Session Recording by emailing [email protected]
Summer 2025 Elliott School Short-term Abroad Programs
Applications open: Jan. 13th, 2025
Applications close: Feb. 17th, 2025
Deposit deadline: Mar. 7th, 2025
- State and Society in Egypt
Location: Egypt
Dates abroad: June 11th - June 21st, 2025
Faculty lead: Nathan Brown
Pre-departure class dates: May 13th, May 28th, and June 4th at 9:00 am. *This schedule is subject to change. The official schedule will be shared with enrolled students.
Description: This course will focus on state institutions in Egypt and their engagement with Egyptian society. There will be a special focus on religious and legal institutions since those are fairly accessible but often less understood; they also fall within the expertise of the instructors. In looking at Egyptian legal institutions, the course will examine the role played by those institutions in shaping and being shaped by existing social structures. The course's examination of religious institutions in Egypt will offer insight into their role in Egyptian society and the relationship among legal, religious, and political structures in Egypt. This understanding will be bolstered by a general overview of the development of Islamic law from its classical formulations to the present day.
This STAP course is open to graduate and undergraduate students.
- Stepping up to the Challenges of a New Multilateral Order: Perspectives from Geneva
Location: Switzerland
Dates abroad: June 21st - June 30st, 2025.
Faculty lead: Heidi Hiebert
Pre-departure class dates: TBH
Description: This program will involve five intensive pre-departure discussion sessions dedicated to key themes that inform the study of international organizations. Additionally, during these sessions, students will workshop their respective research agendas and be coached in the research method of semi-structured interviews. As part of the program preparation and practice, students will conduct semi-structured interviews with senior officials at the IMF and World Bank here in DC. Before arrival in Geneva, and in collaboration with the program professor, students will be expected to have secured interviews with the best-candidate individuals serving various international organizations, and corresponding areas of global governance, located in Geneva.
This STAP course is open to graduate and undergraduate students.
**More Summer STAP Courses will be announced in the coming weeks.
Frequently Asked Questions
- How do I apply?
To begin an Online Application, use the links above or find the brochure for the program(s) you are interested in applying for in the programs section of GW Passport. Once there, click "Apply Now" to be in an application. (If no “Apply Now” button appears, the application cycle for the program is not yet open.) Students must apply via GW passport and log in using their GW Net ID and password. You will select the semester in which you wish to study abroad. The system will then direct you to your application home page. Complete all e-signature documents, fillable forms, and offline requirements as listed on the right side of the screen.
- Are there funding opportunities available for these programs?
ESIA does not offer any short-term abroad-specific scholarships at this time, but we encourage students to look into external funding opportunities. If you have funding or scholarships for tuition, you can apply them to the cost of tuition. If you have other scholarships or funding, please check with the financial aid office to see if they can be applied to the other program fee costs posted to your student account.
- What if I missed the info session?
Please email [email protected] for info session recordings.
- I am a faculty member interested in creating a STAP course; how should I proceed?
A call for STAP proposals for the next academic year is circulated to faculty during the Spring semester. If you are interested in creating a program, please email [email protected].
If you have any questions about Short-term Abroad programs, please contact [email protected].