Faculty-Led Study Abroad

Explore the World with Faculty-Led Study Abroad

The Faculty-Led Study Abroad Program offers short-term study abroad programs that allow UM-Flint students to experience the world. These global learning opportunities allow students to travel with their peers and faculty leaders, providing them with the academic experience of the destinations’ cultures, customs and histories.

The deadline to submit the completed and approved application for the Faculty-Led Short-Term Study Abroad Program for the 2027–28 academic year is March 1, 2027. Please complete the online InfoReady application. If you have any questions or require additional resources, please contact Zachariah Mathew at zmathew@umich.edu.

Benefits of Faculty-Led Programs

For Faculty

• Significantly enhances one’s teaching, research, and service.
• Provides global competence, which can then be passed on to students.
• Allows connecting with students in a more meaningful way than in large lecture-style courses.
• Adds experiential learning objectives to your courses.
• Provides a fully supported method to travel and conduct academic work abroad.

For Students

• Classes are taught by UM-Flint faculty.
• Students earn credit toward their major, minor, or degree program.
• Programs are pre-planned and structured.
• Programs are sponsored by UM-Flint departments, schools, and colleges.
• Students have the opportunity to build strong connections with UM-Flint faculty members.

For more information regarding faculty-led study abroad, please contact Zachariah Mathew at zmathew@umich.edu.

2027 Faculty-Led Education Abroad Programs

The following programs will be offered to UM-Flint students in 2027. Express your interest in receiving email updates about upcoming information sessions and when applications open.

Service Learning in Kenya (Summer Course and Travel)

This service-learning course offers undergraduate and graduate students a transformative educational experience in Kenya, with a central focus on healthcare, education, and global engagement. Designed to deepen understanding of health disparities and educational inequities, the course integrates academic learning with community-based experiences that emphasize the social determinants of health and the role of education in health promotion.

Design Thinking in Japan (Summer Course and Travel)

Students experience firsthand Japan’s culture and business practices, see how organizations operating in traditional and modern arts spaces conduct business in a fast-paced, changing environment and develop their own sense of aesthetics. Students have the opportunity to exchange ideas with arts and business professionals in Tokyo and other parts of Japan.

Place-Based Learning in India (Winter Course and Summer Travel)

A unique opportunity to explore the intersections of education, culture, and social justice in India is available to undergraduate students in education and social work. This two-part experience begins in an ashram in rural Karnataka, where students assist in teaching English as a second language and basic computer skills. The second half of the program takes place in Bangalore, where students learn about community-based initiatives addressing poverty, child welfare, and educational access.

Holocaust and Genocide: The Rwandan Experience (Winter Course and Summer Travel)

In this course, students theorize and understand genocide and mass violence at an intellectual level before traveling to Rwanda to learn first-hand the lived experience of genocide. Students will see how Rwanda has healed and rebuilt itself after the Genocide against the Tutsi in the 1990s and explore a modern, urbanized, developed, forward-looking African country.