Current Student Resources

Study Abroad

Through “embedded” courses or numerous study abroad programs at Penn State, students may gain exposure to different situations that help them open their minds, and possibly change their lives. Such experiences prepare students for the global professional environment of the 21st century.

Embedded Programs, Spring 2025

Embedded courses allow students to complement a semester of classroom work with a focused week of study and hands-on work in a foreign country. An embedded course exists in each of our five majors, and those spring semester courses combine a classroom experience on campus with a working spring break trip.

COMM 402 International Reporting

This program is designed to give student journalists experience in reporting the news in a foreign country.

In spring 2025, students will travel to Kazakhstan, which is the ninth largest country in the world and one of the least understood. Student journalists iwill travel to Almaty, Kazakhstan, during spring break to report on this Central Asian country that once formed the backbone of the ancient Silk Road and is now emerging as a power to be reckoned with. 

Kazakhstan’s economy is the largest in Central Asia, due primarily to its vast natural resources, including gas and oil and minerals used in many modern industries. For much of the 20^th century, Kazakhstan was one of the republics that made up the Soviet Union. 

Today, it is forging an independent path which includes maintaining close ties with its two powerful neighbors—Russia and China—and with Europe and the United States. Penn State’s journalism students will immerse themselves for nine days in Almaty, the cultural capital of Kazakhstan and the former capital city. In this three-credit course, each student will pursue an individual story that sheds light on some aspect or issue that is helping to define modern Kazakhstan. 

Students will explore the country’s past as a traditional nomadic culture, the challenge of maintaining ties to Russia while not becoming the next Ukraine, and the educational, environmental, economic, and energy initiatives that have made Kazakhstan a regional leader and a potentially strategic partner for the United States. 

Students will have the opportunity to use their journalistic skills and knowledge to produce stories for publication in professional media that will put a spotlight on this increasingly important country.

Each student will research, report and produce a significant piece of journalism that touches on some aspect of life in this ancient city that straddles Europe and Asia. Strategically located on the Bosphorus peninsula between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean, Istanbul has been a hub of political, cultural, religious, and artistic ferment for more than 2,000 years.

 In previous years, students in the course have traveled to Brazil, China, Cuba, Estonia, Greece, Israel, Mexico, Panama and South Africa.

COMM 419H World Media Systems

Nestled in the heart of the Balkan peninsula, Bulgaria is the easternmost member state of the European Union. As a territory on the crossroad between Asia and Europe, Bulgaria features a fascinating history and a multiethnic society that distinguishes it from traditional Western European destinations.

For five centuries, Bulgaria was a province of the Ottoman Empire, and in the twentieth century it experienced both fascism and communism. In 1989 it embarked on a transition to capitalism and liberal democracy, and in 2007, Bulgaria joined the European Union.

The trip to Bulgaria during spring break 2025 is an intensive cultural and learning experience that continues “on the ground” the survey of Southeastern European media, history, and culture undertaken during the first part of COMM 419H World Media Systems.

Through visits and exploration of cultural and historical sites, tours of the capital Sofia, and visits of local media institutions, students will learn how the country navigates its tumultuous history, multiethnic society, and divided geopolitical allegiances between Western Europe, the United States, and Orthodox Russia.

The travel component is integrated into the three-credit course COMM 419H World Media Systems. This course is designed to train you to think critically and holistically about the history, culture, and media in Southeastern Europe. Through the lens of media, the focus is on how political, economic, and socio-cultural environments influence the intense transformations of Southeast European societies. In this course, we use an interdisciplinary analytic framework that intermixes media studies, history, politics, and social theory.

COMM 437A International Documentary Production

Students research and produce a short documentary film to be shot during their abroad experience. Previous filming locations have included Amsterdam, England, Iceland, Israel, Ireland, Peru and Hungary. In spring 2025, students will travel to Mexico City to produce short documentary films.

Study Abroad

A traditional study abroad program will open your mind and change your life. It will also prepare you for the global professional environment of the 21st century.

CzechMates

Students interested in a media related experience during the summer should consider the CzechMates program, an approved program sponsored by Penn State.

For students interested in a semester-long media related experience that includes internship placement, the CzechMates program also offers many opportunities.

Of course, locations around the world with other program provide many options — and many resources exist to support students.

Study Abroad: Resources

1. Office of Global Programs

   Lists all programs, options and available financial aid.
   

2. Peer Advisers

   Students who have studied abroad will consult on a walk-in basis in 422 Boucke Building.
   

3. Education Abroad Advisers (EAAs)

   After talking to a peer adviser, make an appointment with an EAA to discuss: choice of program, the application process and financial aid. EAAs are also located in 422 Boucke Building.
   

4. Bellisario College Academic Advising
   Advisers in 204 Carnegie Building and the faculty adviser in your major will help make study abroad courses fit your course of study.

Study Abroad: Need to Know

A traditional study abroad program will open your mind and change your life. It will also prepare you for the global professional environment of the 21st century.

Planning and preparation represent a big part of the process when considering study-abroad opportunities.

1. Your degree requirements.
   See an adviser to go over your degree audit to ensure your abroad program aligns with your graduation plans.
2. How your credits abroad will count.
   Studying through a Penn State international program or through a non-Penn State international program differ in terms of accreditation and transfer of credits. *World Campus is not affiliated with Global Programs and is not an Education Abroad approved study abroad program
3. Your financial aid situation.
   If you wish to receive financial aid or have received financial aid in the past, discuss your study-abroad plans with the financial aid office to understand how studying abroad works with your financial aid qualifications and obligations. Go to the Financial Aid Office, 314 Shields Building, or call 814-865-6301.
   
4. Your internship possibilities and obligations.
   If there is a possibility of an internship abroad, it is extremely important for you to understand all the internship obligations before going abroad. You must meet with Assistant Dean for Internships and Career Services Bob Martin (208D Carnegie Building, 814-863-4674) prior to going abroad or your internship will not be approved for credit.