The Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies encourages its students to complete a portion of their undergraduate study through the UC Education Abroad Program. Chicana/o Studies majors can deepen their understanding of indigenous cultures, globalization, community building, and grassroots organizing by spending time in other parts of the Americas. By studying in countries like Mexico, Chile, Costa Rica and even Spain, students can enrich their college experience and add an international dimension to their undergraduate education

Studying abroad can have two overarching benefits for Chicana/o Studies majors: (1) achieving an understanding of how Latin American history and culture connect with the Chicano experience and (2) acquiring proficiency in Spanish, thus helping them fulfill the major’s language requirement.

Spending time in Latin America will enable students to gain a more global appreciation of the local realities that affect the Chicana/o community in the United States. For students interested in issues of colonization and post-colonization, living in Latin America will enhance their knowledge of these complex, historical dynamics; students will get a sense of how colonial legacies emerge on both sides of the U.S./Mexico border.

Chicana/o studies majors will find that a term, or better yet, a year in a foreign university not only enhances their critical thinking and writing skills, but that the experience of adapting to another academic and cultural world expands their self-understanding and gives them a keen sense of the political and social differences in today’s world. The personal and intellectual growth of study abroad provides further advantages when it comes to the challenges of graduate and professional study.

While it is possible for students to go abroad at almost any point in their academic careers, the particular quarter, semester, summer or year that they study abroad depends on what courses they plan to take. Students interested in Language and Culture programs, or in fulfilling major preparation and General Education requirements, can participate as early as their sophomore year.

Students wanting to fulfill upper-division major requirements should study abroad during their junior or senior year and take classes that are taught in Spanish if possible.

Transfer students are eligible to participate as early as their first quarter at UCSB. 

EAP offers a variety of short-term and year-long programs in various locations in Mexico, Costa Rica, Chile and Spain. There are programs for students with every level of Spanish, from those who wish to begin study of the language to those who are fluent speakers. Spanish language programs include:

Immersion Programs
(Two years Spanish or its equivalent required)
• Chile, Mexico, Spain

Spain Special Focus Program
(Two years Spanish or its equivalent required)
• Field Research, Mexico City

Language and Culture 
(zero to one year Spanish or its equivalent required)
• Madrid, Spain

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.

All EAP 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.

• Explore program options
• Attend info meetings
• Contact the UCSB EAP Office
• Contact the Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies