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Study Abroad

For students interested in study abroad, be sure to refer to Vanderbilt’s Global Education Office website for a complete listing of our university’s pre-approved study-abroad programs: https://www.vanderbilt.edu/geo/program-search-tool/.

To see a listing of courses that other students have taken through Vanderbilt’s pre-approved programs and how those courses were evaluated for Vanderbilt credit, you should use the Study Abroad Course Search Tool, linked here: https://cc.app.vanderbilt.edu/cc/study-abraod. This is a very helpful listing that provides information on whether or not the course is transferrable, and whether or not it counts for a specific major and minor. (“HART Non-Equivalent” just means that there is no exact equivalent numbered course at Vanderbilt). If there is a course offered through a program that does not appear in this evaluation list, you may request a review of the course for possible transfer credit, and the process is described in detail here: http://registrar.vanderbilt.edu/study-abroad-course-review/  You will need to obtain a complete, up-to-date syllabus for the course, and the complete name of the instructor. Note that the course evaluation process for Vanderbilt’s pre-approved programs is now handled through the University Registrar’s Office, rather than through GEO, as of January 2015.

When planning to incorporate Art History courses taken abroad into the HART major, keep in mind that courses advertised by a particular program may not always be available, for various reasons. Courses may close due to enrollment, whether they are full or did not enroll enough students to run and were thus cancelled, or sometimes the faculty teaching certain courses may change or may not be available during a given semester. In our experience, HART majors usually are able to take one or two courses in study-abroad programs that will count toward the major, most commonly as electives. Sometimes the scope and content of a course are such that the course can count as an Area Requirement for the major, and even as one of our specific numbered courses, although the latter is not as common. However, it is most prudent to plan to complete your Area Requirements on campus, and save your two electives for study abroad. The HART department will accept a maximum of two study-abroad courses toward the major. Remember that HART majors must take the 1000 (100)-level course and two 4960 (295) Advanced Seminars on Vanderbilt’s home campus.

Choosing a Study-Abroad Program: There is no specific semester-long “HART program” abroad. Many Vanderbilt students campus-wide take an Art History course abroad, regardless of major, and regardless of country of study. Many of our HART majors study with Vanderbilt’s programs in Italy, France, the UK, and Denmark, but also occasionally Australia and New Zealand. There are plenty of other possibilities; just refer to the GEO website. Remember that many abroad programs have an integrated language-study component; if you are a student of French, you will most likely be interested in the Vanderbilt-in-France program, for example.

Maymester programs also provide an excellent study-abroad opportunity, and when offered by HART faculty, these courses will count toward the HART major or minor.

During the academic year, GEO offers helpful information sessions twice weekly, Study Abroad 101, in the Student Life Center, and we recommend that all students interested in study abroad attend one of these sessions; please contact GEO or consult their website for dates and times.

Study abroad through a non-Vanderbilt program requires special advance approval through the Dean’s office of your school, and a leave of absence from the university during your semester abroad. Courses offered through non-Vanderbilt programs may or may not be able to count for the HART major or minor. For further information and procedure, refer to the GEO website: from the left menu bar on the home page, select Prospective Students, and then Non-VU Programs.