A significant percentage of Gettysburg History majors choose to study abroad. They have participated in college-affiliated programs in Australia, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Spain, and the United Kingdom.
- Thirty-one programs are directly affiliated with the College, and more than 100 others are offered in collaboration with other schools.
- Most study abroad programs offer courses that can count toward the History major. Keep in mind that of your ten required courses for the major, seven must be taken here at Gettysburg College within the History Department. So, for instance, if you’ve received two AP credits for History, only one study abroad course would count toward the History major.
- Most study abroad programs don’t offer courses that automatically count as one of the three 300-level courses (beyond Hist 300) required for the History major. That’s because few programs require a 15-page research paper as we do for our courses here. However, there is a way you can get a study abroad course to count as a 300-level course for the History major. You’ll need to complete your own 15-page research paper, which would be based on the subject matter of your study abroad course. For example, one History major studying abroad in Poland took a course that dealt with World War Two in Europe, and wrote a very good 15+ page paper on the Polish Resistance during the war. That paper was submitted to the student’s advisor, who then notified the Registrar that the course counted as a 300-level course toward the History major. It also fulfilled one of the area distribution requirements (in this case, for Europe.) These papers are not graded, but are assessed as S/U.
- In order for a study abroad course to be approved for a 300-level credit, you must do the following:
- Have a conversation before the study abroad semester with your advisor about the expectations for the research paper.
- During your study abroad semester, or within a time period after the semester concludes, which was agreed upon with your advisor, complete a 15 page research paper.
- Include primary source research in your paper, as you would do in a course here. If there are exceptional circumstances that make primary sources inaccessible, let your advisor know as soon as possible.
- Include a bibliography, as you would do for a paper in a course here.
- Submit the paper to your advisor.
Off-campus study programs are also available across the United States, including in such venues as the United Nations in New York City and the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, DC. Students interested in studying abroad or in another location in the US can contact the Center for Global Education for more information.