CGS Study Abroad
In keeping with Boston University’s tradition of internationalism, many CGS students choose to study abroad in their junior or senior years. CGS students also have opportunities to study abroad after completing the first year.
CGS Study Abroad Programs in London
Great Britain—and particularly London—has played a key role in the lives of scientists, from Newton to Darwin, who developed many of the major concepts that allow us to understand our natural world. The Prime Meridian, the electron, the nuclear model of the atom, gravity, evolution, and modern physical geology represent just a few of the significant contributions made by English scientists to our understanding of the natural world.
Boston University International Programs offers two summer programs for CGS students who have completed their freshman year: the London Natural Sciences Program and the London Humanities Program. These programs support the general education philosophy of the CGS core curriculum, allow students increased flexibility in their schedules, and utilize the considerable resources in and around London. Enrolling in these London summer programs gives students the option to take additional elective courses in the spring of the freshman year and the fall of the sophomore year.
The Summer London CGS Program in the Natural Sciences is designed to use the museums and historic sites in and around London to complement the classroom. The two natural science courses will enhance student understanding of science by providing a hands-on historical approach to the acquisition of knowledge in the sciences. Studying the history and practice of a scientific discipline on location and in context will enhance both learning and appreciation of the scientific theories.
The two courses in this program will replace the spring freshman natural science requirement (NS 102) and the fall sophomore natural science requirement (NS 201).
The London Humanities Program uses the museums, parks, famous homes, and theaters of London and surrounding areas to extend and enrich classroom instruction in literature, art and philosophy. Together the two courses will develop students’ understanding of major movements in the arts and philosophy while honing their appreciation of both. The courses will also enhance students’ understanding of how the humanities reflect and affect the social, political, and scientific contexts in which they are produced and shape how we think of ourselves as human.
These two courses will replace the humanities course required in spring semester of freshman year (HU 102) and in fall semester of sophomore year (HU 201).
Fall CGS London Program
The College of General Studies London Fall Program provides a unique opportunity for first-semester sophomores to study in one of the world’s most cosmopolitan cities. Over the course of the fifteen-week program, students will take the CGS core curriculum (History of Western Ethics; Evolution and Biodiversity; Revolutions in China and Russia) along with one four-credit elective and a three-credit British culture course. Excursions to museums, theatres, and historical sites in surrounding towns and cities complement the curriculum.
Faculty-led trips
Usually CGS faculty lead international trips once or twice a year, during spring break or in May. In recent years, students have traveled to China, Tibet, Egypt, and Peru. These are short excursions (about two weeks) which can be taken for academic credit as well as for the pleasure of travel.