Ready for an adventure! Want to learn on a train or in a rainforest? Consider our study abroad / study away programs. The benefits of international study and travel include intercultural awareness, sensitivity, and communication skills, as well as exposure to different cultures, perspectives, and geographic regions. Conduct field research and learn from hands-on real-world experience all while making life-long friends.
Check out some of our past programs!
Study Away Across America on Amtrak!
Study Abroad to Costa Rica
Upcoming and Recent Study Abroad/Away Programs
Spring Break 2027 - Yucatan Peninsula, MEXICO
Experience the Yucatán beyond the resorts. This immersive study-away course takes students from Maya communities and historic cities to rapidly developing coastal destinations to explore how tourism, migration, culture, and development are reshaping the region. Through site visits, conversations, observation, and reflection, students will examine who benefits from tourism, whose stories are represented, and how communities navigate economic opportunity alongside social and environmental change. Along the way, students will build confidence traveling in a Spanish-speaking environment, engage with diverse perspectives, and develop a deeper understanding of the connections between people, place, identity, and development.
Summer 2026 - Monteverde, COSTA RICA
Costa Rica is a world leader in land protection, biodiversity, ecotourism, and reforestation while also experiencing profound social and economic development over the past several decades. It is an ideal place for students to learn about sustainability in practice, rural community development, and population pressures related to urbanization and migration. Students will also learn Spanish, live in a cloud rainforest, and participate in daily community life.
2027 and Beyond
Mexico - Local Communities and Development
Amtrak - Trains, Cites and Sustainability
Detroit - History and Resilience
Wales - Community Transformations
Questions? Please Contact Us
Kathryn Hannum
- Assistant Teaching Professor
- khannum@mtu.edu
- 906-487-2824