The Black Studies department encourages students to take advantage of the Education Abroad Program. Several Black Studies majors have combined honors opportunities with EAP to develop research projects while abroad and write honors theses on such topics as “The Dalit Panther Movement in India,” “The Chinese Under Apartheid,” and “NAACP Hate Crime Findings.”  

We hope students gain a better understanding of cultural diversity and sharpen their knowledge of major themes in Black Studies through their experience studying abroad.

UCEAP gives students an opportunity to immerse themselves in a different culture, experience other locales, and gain a better understanding of how other people live. At the same time, studying abroad challenges you to grow socially as well as academically. Black Studies is committed to fostering global citizenship, the ability of people from all backgrounds to enlarge their sense of themselves and the world we live in.  

Studying Abroad is also a great way to increase awareness and understanding of the African Diaspora and the way Black lives are manifested in various societies. The potential to enhance your personal and academic growth makes studying abroad a wonderful opportunity to deepening one’s knowledge of Blackness from a global perspective.

You could study abroad as soon as the summer after your first year. If you wish to study abroad during the academic year, you will probably want to go during your 3rd or 4th year, after you have completed the pre-major requirements. It is possible to graduate abroad or even go during a fifth year. 

If you go abroad in your junior year, you should consider doing a senior thesis based on the coursework and intellectual interests you developed while studying abroad. This provides the ideal way to integrate your time abroad with the completion of your major.

With a wide range of programs in over 40 different countries, you have many options. Many UCEAP host universities offer classes in ethnic studies, history, global studies, political science, or media studies -- all of which could be appropriate for our majors. Students are encouraged to decide on a place that allows them to enhance research interests.

UCEAP students automatically earn UC credit for the work they complete abroad. However, the application of credit to major requirements is subject to the discretion of the department and approval of the college. Students are advised to email course descriptions to our undergraduate advisor and keep relevant faculty and staff fully apprised of their plan of study throughout the entire time they are abroad.  

Returnees must submit a Petition for Degree Requirements in order to receive department major and/or General Education credit for your work completed abroad.

Use Gaucho Credit Abroad to search for the types of credit (i.e. major, minor, GE areas, or electives towards graduation) that UCSB students received for courses taken on UCEAP. You can find more UCEAP courses in the UCEAP Course Catalog and additional course listings on UCEAP partner university/program websites.

• Explore program options
• Attend info meetings
• Contact the UCSB EAP Office
• Contact the Department of Black Studies