The History Department vigorously encourages history majors to consider
completing some of their undergraduate study through the University of California Education Abroad Program. Life’s paradox is that we cannot know what we are until we see ourselves from outside. Our past and our future are profoundly linked. Study in a foreign university can deepen students’ understanding of the history of the world in a unique and powerful way. Because all courses taken through EAP are accepted as UC courses, with careful planning students may spend as much as a year of study in a foreign university with no loss of progress toward graduation. What are you waiting for?
Everything has a history: cultures, religions, nations, languages, customs,
political systems, societies, economies, and so on. And history is studied everywhere, so we encourage history majors to take advantage of the opportunities offered by EAP to study in another country. Don’t just study the history of Europe, or Africa, Asia, Latin America; study history in Europe,
Africa, Asia, or Latin America! History will come alive when you visit the places
you read about or see monuments that survive from the times you are studying.
Studying history abroad means living in and with history. You will also be able to take history courses that are not available at UCSB (perhaps including the
history of the U.S. from another point of view) .
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You should go to an EAP country that engages your particular historical
interests. If you want to enhance your language skills, consider EAP in France,
Germany, Italy, Spain, Japan, or other countries whose language you want
to speak. This way you can combine historical and language study. Studying
in a country that speaks a foreign language will help you become truly proficient, and language skills are essential for any historian. It is possible to fulfill the College of Letters and Science language requirement via EAP and with close consultation with your department and college advisors.
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•Freshman: It is best to begin planning as early as possible for study abroad. If you want to begin or continue the study of a foreign language through the short-term language and culture programs, you can apply in your freshman year to go abroad as a sophomore.
•Sophomores and Juniors: You can apply in your sophomore year to do a
language and culture program in your junior year. But if you want to complete a
significant portion of your history major abroad, you should apply in fall of your
sophomore year to do your entire junior year abroad. Students doing immersion
(full-year) programs in their junior year are advised to complete some of their
upper-division electives prior to going abroad. If you go abroad for your junior year (or earlier), it may be possible to undertake preliminary research toward
meeting your proseminar requirement. This will require discussion with the
History Advisor and with one or more faculty members, preferably in advance.
You may also be able to follow up on historical topics you studied abroad by
taking a directed reading course on an individual basis with a faculty member
after you return.
•Seniors: If you want to go abroad in your senior year, you should complete
all your major requirements or plan to take courses meeting your remaining
requirements while abroad. It is possible to graduate while abroad, but close
consultation with advisors in your department and the College of Letters
and Science is essential.
•Transfer Students are eligible to participate as early as their first quarter
at UCSB. For more information, visit http://www.eap.ucop.edu/eap/transfer.
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Keep in mind that at least 20 units of upper-division major coursework (or
12 upper-division minor units) must be completed in residence at UCSB along with other residence requirements. Consult an advisor in the College of
Letters & Science for more information.
You are strongly advised to review your course choices with the departmental
advisor in order to maximize the number of EAP units you can apply toward the
History major.
EAP students automatically earn UC credit for the work they complete abroad. However, application of credit to major requirements is subject to the discretion of the student’s major department and approval of the college.
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Consult the EAP web pages to see what program options are available for your
major. An excellent resource is Course Finder, an online EAP database that
lists approved EAP courses and allows students to search specific courses
taken by UC students during the last five years. Find it at http://www.eap.ucop. edu/coursefinder. More courses may be found by navigating to the host universities’ websites from the Countries page on the system-wide EAP website at http://eap.ucop.edu/eap/country/. Click on the flag of the country you wish to
explore, then “web links” to get to the website of the host university. Once you
have researched your options, speak to a student peer advisor at the EAP Campus Office, located at 2431 South Hall, to get more information about your future host country. Then make an appointment with an advisor in the College of Letters and Science to discuss general education, residence and other requirements.
Here is a list of EAP host countries that offer unique opportunities in history:
Australia -- Barbados -- Brazil -- Canada -- China -- Chile -- Costa Rica --
Denmark -- Egypt -- France -- Germany -- Ghana -- Hong Kong -- Hungary -- India -- Ireland -- Italy -- Japan -- Korea -- Mexico -- The Netherlands -- New Zealand -- Philippines -- Russia -- Singapore -- South Africa -- Spain -- Sweden
Taiwan -- Thailand -- Turkey -- United Kingdom -- Vietnam
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Department of History
HSSB 4001
University of California, Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9410
Phone: (805) 893-2992
www.history.ucsb.edu
