Summer Study Abroad in Psychology
Study abroad is an experience of a lifetime! Not only can you earn UMSL course credit towards your degree, you get to see the world and learn about new cultures. Every summer 1 or more psychology courses are offered as summer short-term study abroad courses. See below for previous and current offerings.
  • Spain, June 2018

    Take a Psychology class and a Political Science class to earn 6 credits this summer!

    PSYCH 2299: Psychology of Gender through the Lens of Culture (3 units, Dr. Casad)

    From a social psychological perspective, this course examines how gender norms and roles, education and employment, relationships and sexuality, discrimination and violence, and intersectional identities are influenced by cultural forces. Broader frameworks of power, ideologies, and social justice are used to dissect how social constructions of “difference” have created cultural practices that marginalize some groups. The course includes applying concepts to understand historical and modern cultural influences on gender issues in Spain and Europe.  A combination of mini-lectures, classroom discussions, classroom activities, reading quizzes, field excursions, and written assignments will be used to facilitate your learning.

    POL SCI 3900: Politics, Religion, and Migration in Europe (3 units, Dr. Mushaben)

    Known as  al Andalusia, the  Spanish region stretching from the  north-central city of Toledo to Seville in the southwest and the eastern coastal  city of Valencia  stood for  over  four hundred years  not only as  the most culturally, scientifically, architecturally and intellectually advanced area of  Europe. It was also recognized as the most religiously tolerant kingdom in the world, fostering the peaceful co-existence between Muslims, Christians and Jews from roughly 700 AD up to 1492.  Over the next six  centuries, Spain would be  wrecked by the expulsion of Jews, the  horrors of the  Catholic inquisition, a brutal civil  war,  the  forces of fascism and military dictatorship under  Franco.  His death in the mid 1970s opened the door to democratization and  eventual  membership in the  European Union as of  1986.  In recent years, Spain has witnessed a dramatic influx of refugees  from Northern Africa, hoping to escape the  equally  brutal forces of  ISIS  terrorists, claiming they  want to “restore” a fundamentalist versions of Islam.

    Thus there is no  better place to begin an investigation of the interaction of  politics,  religion and migration  across  Europe in modern times. Since  the terrorist attacks of  9/11(2001), many European nations  have witnessed growing prejudice, marginalization and  backlash against Muslims, as well as  a number of isolated  terrorist attacks on major cities extending from London and Paris to Berlin, Nice and   Barcelona.  This course will examine the role of legal-structural, historical institutional and political-cultural factors that have shaped “church-state relations in EU states, as well as their recent responses to the refugee crisis and terrorist attacks. We will  explore populist politicking, socio-economic stratification,   identity formation, interest group mobilization and citizenship ideals at the local, national and supranational levels – and their consequences  for welfare,  gender, health care, and educational policies in those countries. The interdisciplinary nature of our readings will make this course suitable for earning credits  in a  variety of “major” fields.

    Activities include:

    • Barcelona: Las Rambles, Boqueria Market, La Sagrada Familia, Picasso Museum
    • Valencia, Granada, Alhambra, beaches and cliffside town in Costa del Sol, Puente Nuevo Bridge, Mondragón Palace
    • Seville: visit Córdoba Mezquita, Plaza de España, Gothic Cathedral, Flamenco dancing
    • Madrid: Royal Palace, Puerta del Sol, El Prado
    • DEADLINE TO APPLY: February 23, 2018
      Scholarships Available!
      Information and application at studyabroad@umsl.edu

    Italy, May 2017

  • PSYCH 2299 Directed Readings in Psychology: Psychology of Identity and Social Justice

    This seminar will provide an intellectual forum for examining the structures of power, ideologies, and the meaning of social justice at the intersections of identities such as race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexuality, religion, and nationality. We will dissect how the social construction of “difference” within systems of power has resulted in cultural practices that marginalize some groups. We also will analyze how historical and institutional contexts have shaped modern culture in Italy and the structure, dynamics, and consequences for identity and social justice in European societies. A combination of mini-lectures, classroom discussions, classroom activities, reading quizzes, field excursions, and written assignments will be used to facilitate your learning.

  • Student Testimonies 
    Greece, May-June 2016
    PSYCH 4392-Psychology of Intergroup Relations: A European Perspective

    This seminar will provide an intellectual forum for examining the nature of relations between human groups and the psychological mechanisms that drive them. Major topics of investigation include intergroup conflict, war, genocide, stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination, and social harmony. We will examine cultural influences on collective behavior and incorporate lenses of gender, race, ethnicity, social class, and religion in our analysis. A combination of mini-lectures, classroom discussions, classroom activities, field excursions, field studies, and written assignments will be used to facilitate your learning.

    Student Testimonies

  • For more information, contact me at
    casadbj@umsl.edu or 314-516-4504.

    Also see the Study Abroad Website at http://studyabroad.umsl.edu/

    http://studyabroad.umsl.edu/