Faculty-led Short-Term Abroad Programs
Short-Term Abroad Programs (STAP) are courses that expand learning beyond the classroom on GW campuses. For a semester-long course, in addition to going to the regular lectures, students also have the opportunity to travel as a class to an international destination(s) preselected as part of the curriculum. The collective international experiences present a unique way to enhance and innovate the learning of knowledge and gaining of cross-cultural and global perspectives.
Additionally, STAP courses can be a great alternative to traditional semester- or year-long study abroad programs, and STAPs are generally more affordable and require a shorter time commitment.
- Program Applications & Course Registration
Enrolling in an STAP course requires that students submit an application through the GW Passport platform in order to be admitted. Please note that students cannot register themselves for an STAP course on GWeb, and you will instead be registered by CCAS Global staff after completing all required materials and submitting your program deposit.
For Summer 2026, please note the following general application deadlines.
- Application Deadline: March 22nd, 2026
- Deposit & Commitment Deadline: March 31st, 2026
Note: PSYD8270 & PHIL2111W/HONR2053W have earlier deadlines.
- Program Costs
Each STAP course has an associated fee to support their unique programming abroad, and fees are applied to the student eBill for the semester in which you are enrolled in the course. Upon acceptance, students will be prompted to pay a $350 program deposit by the Deposit & Commitment Deadline to secure their seat in the course. Please note that deposits are not an additional cost of participation, and are refundable within the Deposit & Commitment Deadline. For registered students, the deposit serves as a credit to your account and offsets a portion of the program fee on the student eBill. Follow links below for program-specific cost information.
- Financial Support
Summer 2026:
Thanks to generous support from a CCAS alumna donor, CCAS Global is able to reduce course fees for all students enrolling in a Summer 2026 course! Additional details about fee reductions and program costs can be found within the application page for each program.
Need-based Aid:
CCAS Global also provides a limited number of need-based scholarships for students enrolled in an STAP class. The scholarship prioritizes applicants with demonstrated financial need and requires that you maintain a FAFSA on file with GW. CCAS Global will work with the GW Office of Student Financial Assistance to determine each student applicant’s specific financial eligibility.
Upcoming CCAS Global Events
Summer Session I Courses
- Belgium | Confronting Putin: European Responses to Russia's War on Ukraine (PSC 2994/6489)
Location Abroad: Brussels, Belgium
Dates Abroad: June 7th - June 13th, 2026
Credits: 3.0
Faculty Director: Andrew Hyde (andrew [dot] hyde
gwu [dot] edu)Course Description: This course will focus on the strategies, policies, and instruments both the European Union (EU) and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) are using to assist Ukraine. These have been rapidly implemented and frequently adapted given the shifts on the battlefield, the growing European perception of a larger Russian threat and an apparent reduction in the U.S. commitment to Europe’s security. The course will visit related institutions in Brussels while looking at the opportunities and challenges these policies and programs pose to U.S. foreign policy.
- France | Global Perspectives on Psychodynamics and Cinema (PSYD 8270)***
Please note that this program has an earlier application timeline due to obligations with the travel partners in France:
Application Deadline: February 1st, 2026
Deposit & Commitment Deadline: February 11th, 2026
Location Abroad: Cannes, France
Dates Abroad: May 18th - May 23rd, 2026
Credits: 3.0
Faculty Director: Professor Katherine Marshall Woods (katm
gwu [dot] edu)Eligibility: This program is restricted to graduate students, with priority given to students in the Professional Psychology Program. Other interested students should expand upon their relevant experience and/or coursework in their application.
Course Description: The Global Perspectives in Psychodynamics and Cinema explores the psychological concepts related to filmmaking as a form of global media arts. Students will learn to screen and analyze films while locating the psychological elements within this art form. By examining film characters and theme development, students will gain psychological tools that will help refine one’s psychological frameworks, better grasp the human condition while becoming conscientious consumers of media. The location of the class is in Cannes, France during the closed, film-industry only Cannes Film Festival.
- Ghana | Cultivating Sustainability Leadership: Connecting Local and Global Perspectives (GEOG 3195/6293)
Location Abroad: Accra, Kumasi, Tamale, and Wa; Ghana
Dates Abroad: May 20th - May 28th, 2026
Credits: 3.0
Faculty Director: Professor Moses Kansanga (mkansanga
gwu [dot] edu)Financial Support: With generous support from GW's Global Food Institute, the first 8 students to complete all application requirements and commit to the course will be eligible for an award of $750 to help offset program costs.
Course Description: How do we sustain a growing and relatively more demanding global population while staying within planetary boundaries? The urgency of sustainability leadership has never been greater, given the rapid convergence of environmental degradation, social inequality, and economic instability across the world. Through a blend of real-world case studies, hands-on fieldwork in Ghana and reflective leadership practices, this course provides a platform for students to engage with sustainability transitions by situating pressing environmental issues in the Global South within a broader global context.
- Greece | Ancient Greece and the Origins of Western Thought (PHIL 2111W/HONR 2053W)***
Please note that this program has an earlier application timeline due to obligations with the travel partners in Greece:
Application Deadline: February 22nd, 2026
Deposit & Commitment Deadline: March 4th, 2026
Location Abroad: Athens, Santorini, and Crete; Greece
Dates Abroad: May 19th - May 31st, 2026
Credits: 3.0
Faculty Director: Professor Mark Ralkowski (mralkow
gwu [dot] edu)Course Description:This short-term abroad course offers the extraordinary opportunity to study ancient Greek philosophy in Athens and the Peloponnese, and on the island of Santorini. We will visit the Oracle at Delphi that pronounced Socrates the wisest human being, and we will have class near the jail cell where the Athenians forced Socrates to drink hemlock. We will walk through the ruins of Aristotle's Lyceum, and we will visit the stunning site of Akrotiri on the island of Santorini that may have inspired Plato’s Myth of Atlantis. Before coming home, we will set sail from the Piraeus to get a sense of the place where the Athenians defeated the Persians and fought the twenty-seven year Peloponnesian War with the Spartans. This exciting program will introduce you to ancient Greek philosophy and take you to some of the places where the history of philosophy began!
Summer Session II Courses
- Austria | Vienna: Art & Empire (CAH 4189/6270, HIST3101/6101)
Location Abroad: Vienna, Austria
Dates Abroad: 7/9/2026 - 7/24/2026
Credits: 3.0
Faculty Director: Prof. Bibiana Obler & Prof. Kara Braciale
Course Description: This course will offer a history of art and empire across time, taking Vienna as its case study. Through readings, discussions, site visits, and opportunities to make art themselves, students will learn about history as accretion and art’s role as a force that can support or subvert empires. While the scope of this history is broad, and the range of arts wide, students will channel this background into focused research projects on topics of their own choosing.
- Denmark | Special Topics in Design: Danish Design through Culture (CGD 3010/CIXD 3110)
Location Abroad: Copenhagen, Denmark
Dates Abroad: 7/30/26 - 8/8/26
Credits: 3.0
Faculty Director: Prof. Marc Choi & Prof. Aasawari Kulkarni
Course Description: This course is designed for students to engage with and experience Copenhagen through the lens of design and its many applications. Students will investigate urban wayfinding systems, street signs and typography, local arts and crafts traditions, and local design history & culture. Additionally, this course will introduce students to new perspectives through studio visits to contemporary design studios and conversations with practicing designers. Students will analyze how culture and language shape the design landscape of Copenhagen to research and create formal design works. Through this course, students will take away a deep and practical understanding of the interdependence between design and culture.
- India | International Art Therapy: Cultural Awareness, Unconscious Bias & Reciprocal Learning (ARTH 6265)
Location Abroad: Chennai, India
Dates Abroad: 7/3/26 - 7/24/26
Credits: 2.0
Faculty Director: Professor Heidi Bardot
Course Description: This course offers an exciting opportunity for participants to explore their own racial, cultural self-awareness, and unconscious bias through self-assessment; to develop strategies for working with diverse communities; to hone critical thinking skills; to learn from local leaders; and to re-create art therapy specific to the cultural setting and influences. Participants will be in India for three weeks and involved in coursework and community work, art and cultural experientials, discussion groups, and much more.
- Portugal | Special Topics in Critical Heritage: Comparative Approaches to the US and Portugal (ANTH 3991)
Location Abroad: Lisbon, Portugal
Dates Abroad: 7/12/26 - 7/25/26
Credits: 3.0
Faculty Director: Professor Raquel Machaqueiro
Course Description: This course will take as a departing point the monumentalization of the so-called “Discoveries” in reference to the Portuguese maritime expansion, to critically analyze what constitutes heritage, who gets to define heritage, and with what goals. Students will learn more about the politics of memory in Portugal, establishing comparisons with the history of the United States, especially regarding the history of slavery, colonialism, and decolonization.
- Kenya | Koobi Fora Field School: Paleoanthropological Field Program (ANTH 3836/6836 & 3832/6832)
Location Abroad: Koobi Fora, Sibiloi National Park, Kenya
Dates Abroad: 6/12/26 - 7/26/26
Faculty Director: Dr. David Braun
Course Description: This unique course is open to undergraduate and graduate students who wish to learn the basic principles and field methods of paleoanthropology on location. Interested students are encouraged to contact the Faculty Director for more information.