Take your global and international studies international to analyze how people, power, ideas, and resources move across borders—linking theory to practice in politics, economics, culture, and the environment. International study immerses you in diverse institutions, communities, and policy settings, expanding how you conduct comparative research, interpret data, and assess the impacts of globalization on human rights, migration, development, health, and climate. You’ll advance in international relations, political economy, cultural and area studies, and sustainability while tackling projects on war and peace, security, displacement, and demographic change. Build your portfolio through case studies, policy labs, community partnerships, and internships—strengthening cross-cultural analysis, ethical reasoning, and the ability to translate global insight into action in NGOs, government, and international organizations.
My UCEAP internship taught me the value of language immersion and has inspired me to work for an intercultural exchange organization in my future career. My French improved drastically and being in an immersive professional setting played a huge role in that improvement. My experience left me with soft skills such as active listening, adaptability, and cross-cultural communication. Through hard work and perseverance, I gained the hard skill of foreign language proficiency in French and I am more excited than ever for life after UCSB. I am confident that I can contribute in meaningful ways to my future workplace, regardless of whether it is abroad or domestic.
Through my internship, I acquired a combination of hard and soft skills that will be useful to any future career or leadership opportunity I pursue. I developed valuable intercultural communication skills as I had to demonstrate clarity when communicating with my supervisors. I also further developed time management skills as I balanced school and met my internship deadlines. It was incredibly fulfilling to earn the respect of my colleagues and trust from my superiors that allowed me to work on more meaningful projects over time.
As an international studies and business major, studying abroad was the prime of my college career. Without this experience, I would not have been able to connect what I learned to real-time situations. This experience made me realize how thankful I am for what I am learning in my major and made me a more conscious global business person. The professors and experiences abroad taught me to be open to new ideas and ways of doing things.
Living in Europe means effortless travel to numerous countries. A weekend in Paris? Just a train ride away. A week in an all-inclusive Turkish resort? A few hours by plane. Not to mention the beauty of the Netherlands itself–old architecture, delicious stroopwafel, King's Day parades, and the greenest nature you've ever seen. Even though I encountered my fair share of obstacles (I was not sufficiently prepared for Dutch weather and I got on the wrong bus more times than I'd like to admit), my time studying abroad was remarkable.
I have never had an experience as rewarding as my internship abroad. I can't believe how much I have grown, personally and academically, in a short period of time.
The classes at PUC were incredible because they were about Latin America and taught by Latin Americans. I took a political science class taught by an influential figure in Chilean feminist politics. The fact that the classes transferred to my degree made it even better. Best of all, I had the opportunity to live in a welcoming society and witness real-time change in Chilean politics – it was an amazing experience.
By far, the one accomplishment I am most excited to share with my friends and family is the fact that I was able to live with a Czech family for my semester in Prague. Though it was incredibly challenging the first few months, I'm happy to say I learned a lot from them as I improved my communication skills and received the gift of learning about Czech culture from them.
It was a unique experience to be in a bilingual, non-language class where French and English were spoken interchangeably with a range of accents like Australian, Russian, and Egyptian. It was my first experience being in such a diverse cohort with so much culture and tradition. I immediately appreciated what it meant to live in an international melting pot.
