UChicago Study Abroad

08/30/2026

The new Sydney September course is underway!

08/14/2026

Study Abroad Opportunities for Winter and Spring 2027

It’s not too late to apply to study abroad this academic year! Read about the 13 programs with applications still open, including a special opportunity for Spring 2027: Middle Eastern Civilizations in Rome (applications due Friday, October 9).

Learn more: https://study-abroad.uchicago.edu/open-programs

Photo: The Spring 2025 Middle Eastern Civ in Rome group during orientation (Fara Taddei, Graduate Assistant)

06/22/2026

06/16/2026

To inspire students just beginning their Summer International Travel Grant experiences, we’re posting a throwback to last summer!

SITG Dispatch from Jogja, Indonesia (2025)

Selamat Pagi! I’m Toby Chan (Class of 2026), studying economics and psychology at UChicago. Thanks to the FLAG grant, I spent my summer in the city of Yogyakarta picking up Indonesian. I was interested in learning Indonesian out of an interest in South East Asia, and was drawn to the concept of Gotong Royong and the communal emphasis of Javanese culture.

Living with a host family was a really meaningful experience that I got to be a part of. For two months, I lived with Bapak Prijo and Ibu Dian in Kotagede, an old neighborhood of Jogja (as the city is affectionately nicknamed). Bapak Prijo, who used to work in the cultural office in Jogja, is a big wayang (leather puppet) aficionado. And Ibu Dian, who’s quite active in her gamelan group, recently organized a record-breaking event featuring the most people wearing kebayas (traditional outfits) at one time on the steps of Prambanan (Hindu temple and world heritage site). I also had a host sister, Aurora, from the Johns Hopkins School for Advanced International Studies, who was on an exchange program for her masters.

Jogja is kind of like the Boston of Indonesia. It’s the center of Javanese culture, as well as a huge college town. As a result, it has a particular mixture of history and a unique youth culture. My day mostly consisted of taking Indonesian classes from my gurus at Wisma Bahasa. After that, I would have noodles and pick up a susu jahe (ginger milk) from my favorite bakmie joint—Bakmie Mbah Gito’s. Then I would meet up with friends, foreign and local, and wander different parts of town. Typical sidequests include watching a wayang puppet show from dusk till dawn, doing the Masangin—a ritual of walking blindfolded through two large banyan trees in the southern square, joining senam—morning neighborhood exercises, and doing community service by painting roads and erecting flags in preparation for Indonesian independence day.

It’s been bagus sekali (very nice) having this degree of immersion while practicing my Indonesian skills, and again and again I’ve been overwhelmed by the hospitality and kindness that people have shown me on this opposite side of the world (the antipode of much of the United States is in the Indian Ocean below Indonesia!). Thank you so much to everyone I met in Jogja and the FLAG grant for making this possible.

Read Toby’s full SITG dispatch on our website: https://study-abroad.uchicago.edu/student-voices/sitg-dispatch-jogja-indonesia

06/01/2026

A look back at photos taken by students during study abroad!

A look back at photos taken by UChicago Class of 2026 students during study abroad

05/28/2026

Congratulations to Harlie Grenead, Class of 2027, for winning Second Prize in the 2025–26 UChicago College Study Abroad in 60 Seconds Contest! Harlie studied abroad at Yonsei University in Seoul for the 2025–2026 exchange year.

Title: “What I Expected”

Description: This short film captures the different aspects of life I encountered in South Korea and how they contributed to my changed worldview after my study abroad year. The film features footage and sounds I documented on my phone along my adventures.

Check out our previous posts for student videos of Beijing and Hong Kong. Up next: the First Prize video!

05/28/2026

Congratulations to Zeran Fei, Class of 2026, for winning Third Prize in the 2025–26 UChicago College Study Abroad in 60 Seconds Contest! Zeran participated in the Beijing: East Asia, Then and Now program in Autumn 2025.

Title: “‘Little Bliss’: Moments in China”

Description: “小美满,” the title of the song playing in the background, means “little bliss.” It is the song my Chinese class learned and sang at the conclusion of our Beijing study abroad program. This song is about finding happiness in ordinary moments and trusting life’s twists and turns. Inspired by that idea, this video gathers various moments from my time in China—some ordinary, some new and exciting—to reflect how living and studying abroad taught me to slow down, appreciate every experience, and find joy in small moments.

Stay tuned for more winning videos from the contest!

05/28/2026

Congratulations to Erika Lenhardt, Class of 2027, on her video’s Honorable Mention in the 2025–26 UChicago College Study Abroad in 60 Seconds Contest! Erika participated in the Winter 2026 Economics program in Hong Kong.

Title: “Between Skyscrapers and Temples”

Description: The video tries to encapsulate the urban and historical aspects of Hong Kong. From views at Victoria’s Peak to the Big Buddha, Hong Kong captures it all. The upbeat music reflects the fast-paced energy of the city while also showing the excitement and wonder I felt while exploring it.

Three more videos to come!

05/28/2026

Watch a playlist of the winning videos from our Study Abroad in 60 Seconds Contest!

2025–26 Prize-Winning Videos

First Prize: “A Typical Afternoon in Paris” by Ciara Kinney and Lena Tran, both in the Class of 2027 (Paris: Psychology)

Second Prize: “What I Expected” by Harlie Grenead, Class of 2027 (Seoul: Yonsei University Exchange Program)

Third Prize: “‘Little Bliss’: Moments in China” by Zeran Fei, Class of 2026 (Beijing: East Asia, Then and Now)

Honorable Mention: “Between Skyscrapers and Temples” by Erika Lenhardt, Class of 2027 (Hong Kong: Economics)

Congratulations to all of the winners!

by Ciara Kinney and Lena Tran, both in the Class of 2027 / First Prize in the 2025–26 Study Abroad in 60 Seconds Video Contest / In Paris, enough can happen ...

05/26/2026

Learn more about RLL Photo Prizes: https://rll.uchicago.edu/rll-photo-prize