Faculty-Led Programs

Greece

Greece’s deep and storied interactions with Europe, Africa, Asia, and North America allows students to recognize the limitations of narrowly defined cultural titles, such as “east” and “west,” and also highlights the interconnectivity of cultures throughout the world. UNCA’s summer program in Greece aims to explore the ways in which Greece has defined and expressed its identity in the world. Focusing on the concepts of “nation” and “global citizenship,” this program will examine the myriad cultures that have shaped and been shaped by Greek culture and cultural identity.

Program Contacts:

Lyndi Hewitt–lhewitt@unca.edu

Jake Butera–jbutera@unca.edu

Japan

Delve deep into the history, culture, and religions of Japan via the lens of Kyoto, which is widely considered to be the spiritual capital of Japan. In Kyoto, students are immersed in Japan’s cultural memories and experience Japan’s many traditions that are carefully maintained in the forms of daily activities, folk festivals, shrine and temple visits, culinary practices, and arts and crafts.

Explore the relationship between tradition and innovation in Japanese art and design. Investigate the historical and contemporary elements that merge in Tokyo’s dynamic cultural scene.

Program Contact:

Lei Han– lhan@unca.edu

Panama

Panama offers a unique opportunity to study the history and development of modern ecological theory and practice while engaging in a field-based practice in tropical research, nature writing, and self- reflection. Traditional ecological study will be complemented by exploration of the complicated history of Americans and Europeans traveling through the tropics to study and lay claim to its biological diversity.

Program Contacts:

Becca Hale–rhale@unca.edu

Andrew Laughlin—alaughli@unca.edu

Netherlands & Belgium 

New Media Research and Production: Brussels/Rotterdam/Amsterdam is structured to expand the worldview of UNC Asheville students through multicultural immersion in a media arts- focused study program.

Cinema, video art, photography, computer- generated art, internet art, hacktivist art, and experimental music/sound art are foregrounded in the artistic communities and cultures of each city we visit.

This program gives UNC Asheville students unparalleled experience relevant to their scholarship, creative expression and practical experience.

Program Contacts:

Peter Kusek–pkusek@unca.edu

Curt Cloninger–ccloning@unca.edu

Ireland

This study abroad program approaches a study of Irish culture and history in a unique way. Ireland is both a modern nation state and has been an occupied colonial territory. It has a long,  rich history of literature and the arts, but like in many colonized places, aspects of indigenous language and culture have often been suppressed. Ireland was the site of a revolutionary movement for independence from its colonizer, but is still connected through economic, political, and cultural ties. In this context students will complete a HUM 324 course and an ART 310 course, creating a substantive travalogue project based on their experience and much more!

Program Contacts:

Sarah Judson– sjudson@unca.edu

Anne Slatton—-aslatton@unca.edu

Many of our programs repeat bi-annually. In recent years, UNCA faculty have led programs to: Italy, Ecuador, Germany, South Korea, Taiwan & Hong Kong and Amsterdam & Brussels.

Please contact the Study Abroad Office for more information on Faculty-led opportunities at UNCA.  

Non Exchange Programs

Exchange Programs