October 9, 2019 Broadening Horizons Through Study-Abroad Experiences
Our students go beyond our classrooms in Knoxville. We design not only for our community but also for the world around us. We expand our horizons through intercultural experiences that expose us to new cultures that cultivate mature designers. We transform the world with good design, and here are some ways we do that.
Fall
During the fall semester, we offer several study abroad opportunities for our students. We normally travel to Italy and Denmark for fall terms abroad, and in fall 2020, we will establish a Japan study abroad opportunity.
We collaborate with the University of Arkansas to offer a fall and spring semester study abroad in Rome, Italy, through the University of Arkansas’s Rome Center. This program embraces the complexity of designing for a contemporary world among historically significant environments. Spring applications normally close in October, and fall applications usually are due in April.
Our program in Copenhagen, Denmark, is open to all students in our college. Hosted by the Denmark International Studio, students in architecture, graphic design, interior architecture and landscape architecture can study design and culture in Scandinavia. Spring applications are due Oct. 15, and summer applications usually are due in March.
Spring
During the spring semester, we offer five study abroad opportunities, including the previously mentioned Rome and Copenhagen experiences and three other programs in Germany and Poland.
Our Germany study abroad is only offered in the spring. Students study at Bauhaus University, an internationally-known architecture and design institution. This exchange program offers students the chance to study design in a thriving German city, Weimar. Through this program, students earn 15 credits, including studio. Applications for spring usually are open until October.
Our students also travel to Krakow University in Krakow, Poland, our longest-running study abroad program, celebrating 27 years in 2020. Our college was the first architecture program in the United States to establish a study abroad program with Poland in 1992. Over the years, more than 500 students from Knoxville and Krakow have participated in this study abroad exchange program. The deadline to submit applications is usually September. Watch for 2021 applications in fall 2020.
Created in 2018, the UT School of Art started an exchange program for undergraduate students with the Eugeniusz Geppert Academy of Art and Design, through the support of the Erasmus+ Program. Graphic Design students are invited to apply to travel to Wroclaw, Poland, to study design with students from all over the world.
Summer
In summer, we offer three full-summer programs and a variety of mini-terms that are typically 4-6 weeks in length.
Students can travel to Denmark for a full summer or a mini-term semester.
Our full-summer terms are held in Finland and Nashville. Our Finland Summer Architecture Institute brings Architecture students to Helsinki, Finland, to study the role of architecture within national cultural identity. See the Highlights on our student Instagram takeover from the 2019 Finland trip.
The Nashville Urban Design Studio exposes our students to the issues and opportunities of urban design in middle Tennessee. We work closely with the Nashville Civic Design Center to investigate and ideate for this region close to home. Read about the work in our 2019 Nashville Urban Design Studio.
Mini-terms in summer have included Greece, Spain and northwest Europe. Coming in summer 2020, we’re excited to announce a Rome mini-term for Architecture, Graphic Design and Landscape Architecture students. Apply by Nov. 14 for this mini-term.
During the Greece mini-term in 2019, students developed architectural photography skills by photographing ancient and contemporary architecture, interiors and landscapes for a month. See the video one of the students produced about the trip.
In Spain, students studied three centuries of Spanish design at a variety of sites including buildings, landscapes, gardens, interiors, museological collections and urban zones.
In 2019, five of our students participated in the UT Normandy Scholars program, a mini-term study abroad program that explores World War II in Europe.