We encourage economics majors and minors to enrich their economic knowledge by participating in study away and internship programs. We believe that study away offers students an opportunity to better understand that people live and experience the world in different ways, whether this is through navigating a foreign university system or buying groceries at a local market. This exposure to different ways of living and imagining the world helps build a better understanding of diverse economic norms and institutions across the world.

Students studying away will experience firsthand the ways in which everyday life and routine is mediated by local politics, economics, customs and religion. They also have a unique opportunity to reflect on their own identities and the identities of others in regards to nationality, race, ethnicity, gender and class. In the process, students will develop language skills and solidify their understanding of the relationships between language, culture and economic systems. Ultimately, students will learn to adjust and adapt to new situations, environments and systems  skills and resourcefulness that will be useful throughout their lives.

Visit the Global Focus website to learn of the numerous study away programs offered by other institutions and sponsored by Connecticut College.

Language and culture

Given the intimate link between language and culture, we urge students to connect their first two years of language studies at Connecticut College to their study-away experiences. This can be achieved by enrolling in study-away programs that offer courses and/or immersive learning experiences in the same language studied at the College.

Preparing to study away

We think it is critically important that our majors and minors rigorously prepare for their study away experiences, but also have an opportunity to unpack those experiences when they return. Economics majors who plan to study away are recommended to enroll in a pre-departure seminar offered by the Hispanic Studies Department. During this pre-departure seminar, students who are preparing to study away can meet and learn from the experiences of those returning.

For those who want to study away, we require our majors and minors to develop a Study Away Rationale that provides a rationale for their specific program selection with the help of their major advisor. Criteria for the Rationale may include, for example, a program that offers a unique opportunity for language study (including languages that are not taught at Connecticut College); a program that offers courses in areas of economics that are not regularly taught at Connecticut College (for example, economics of information, contract theory, or courses with a geographic regional focus beyond the expertise of our faculty); or a program that provides instruction in research methodologies that may contribute to developing a research plan for an Honors Thesis or Senior Integrative Project.

Applying courses to the major or minor

Students are strongly encouraged to consult with the student’s advisor to make sure the courses they plan to take or took would count towards the economics major or minor. A maximum of two economics courses taken during a study away semester can be applied to the major or minor upon approval by the student’s advisors and the Chair of the department.

On return, students must complete a Course Exception Form available from the Registrar. The student must then take the Course Exception Form to the Chair for approval and then to the Registrar's office.

SATA Vietnam

SATA Vietnam offers our students the chance to become immersed in the life of a developing country whose history is intrinsically interesting and at the same time inseparably a part of major currents in world affairs. Colonialism and its aftermath, the Cold War, Confucianism and Communism, war and revolution, globalization: all are manifest in the atmosphere of Hanoi. SATAVietnam's academic program takes full advantage of its setting, which will enrich the education of students interested in the arts, history, cultural studies, economics, international relations, Asian studies, environmental studies, and American studies, among others.