Study in Asia
Studying in Asia is an excellent complement to the minor in Asian Studies. It gives students an opportunity to immerse themselves in the region they have been studying, improve language skills, and gain different perspectives on both Asian and global matters. Courses taken abroad may count towards the minor with the permission of the director.
Search for study abroad programs:
BC students can choose among three Hong Kong universities with different academic opportunities:
University of Hong Kong
The University of Hong Kong is the city's oldest tertiary institution. A public institution with a multinational student body of over 22,0000, course offerings include the humanities as well as natural and social sciences, and English is the official language of instruction.
Fall term: Starts in late August and ends in late December.
Spring term: Starts in late January and ends in late May.
Chinese University of Hong Kong
The Chinese University of Hong Kong is a research university with a student body of just under 20,000 students. The campus overlooks Tolo Harbor and is the largest and greenest campus in Hong Kong. CUHK offers classes in business administration, education, engineering, law, medicine, science, and social science. BC students may choose courses from a wide range of curricula offered in English.
Fall term: starts at the end of August and ends in mid-December.
Spring term: starts in early January and ends in mid-May.
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology opened in 1991 and accommodates approximately 9000 students in the Schools of Science, Engineering, Business Management, and the Humanities and Social Sciences. The campus occupies an impressive 60 hectar site on the Northern end of Clear Water Bay Peninsula in Kowloon. BC students primarily take courses in the areas of accounting, economics, finance, global business, information & systems management, management of organizations, and marketing. Many courses are taught in English.
Fall term: Starts in late August and ends in late December.
Spring term: Starts in late January and ends in late May.
BC in Kathmandu offers a semester immersion in the study of Buddhism.
Center for Buddhist Studies, Kathmandu
The Center for Buddhist Studies at Rangjung Yeshe Institute (RYI) was founded by Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche as an institution of higher learning for those wishing to deepen their understanding of Buddhist philosophy and practice. It has been conducting seminars and study programs in Nepal for more than 25 years. The Institute works in close partnership with Kathmandu University and offers undergraduate and post-graduate degree courses in Buddhist Studies and related topics.
Fall term: Starts in mid-August and ends in mid-December.
Spring term: Starts in mid-January and ends in May.
BC students can study at a Jesuit university in Quezon City, metropolitan area of Manila.
Ateneo de Manila University
Ateneo de Manila University is a Jesuit institution located at Loyola Heights, Quezon City. The university enrolls nearly 8,500 students. Students enroll directly into the university system, choosing courses from over 31 departments offering a wide range of programs in English including in philosophy, theology, economics, business administration, law, and development, healthcare education, rural projects, and women in politics. Following the academic program, students take part in a month-long service project immersing them in the local community.
Two top universities in Seoul are available for semester-long study.
Seoul National University
Seoul National University is a leading institution of advanced education in Korea and enrolls about 20,000 undergraduate and 11,000 graduate students. The Kwanak Campus accommodates four graduate schools, eleven colleges, sixty- six research institutes, and many other supporting facilities. The majority of courses are taught in Korean, but courses in English are offered in every department, from the humanities, social, natural, and life sciences to education, human ecology, nursing, and management.
Fall term: Starts in late August and ends in late December.
Spring term: Starts in March and ends in late June.
Sogang University
Sogang University is the leading Jesuit private university in Korea with approximately 13,000 students and more than 21 departments. It is of particular interest to students specializing in history, political science, management, international studies, and Asian or Asian-American Studies. Students with sufficient Korean language proficiency may enroll directly in regular courses at Sogang University, while those with no language background can enroll in a Korean language course and a selection of courses taught in English.
Fall term: Starts in late August and ends in late December.
Spring term: Starts in March and ends in late June.
A semester-abroad program is available at Singapore’s top university.
National University of Singapore
The National University of Singapore (NUS) offers a global approach to education and research with a focus on Asian perspectives and expertise. NUS is a research university with an entrepreneurial dimension that spans three campuses, enrolls 38,000 students from more than 100 countries and forges partnerships around the world. NUS offers a number of innovative study opportunities and multidisciplinary programs which are generally open to exchange students. University Town (UTown) – Singapore’s first residential college system – is an educational hub which offers a model of living and learning that is distinctively NUS. Sports and the Arts play a vital role at NUS.
Fall term: Starts in late July/ early August, and ends in early December
Spring term: Starts in early January, ends in early May
Two top private universities right in Tokyo offer semester or year-long study to BC students.
Sophia University
Sophia University is a Jesuit university not far from the Imperial Palace. Sophia enrolls 12,000 students in 29 departments on its Yotsuya campus in central Tokyo. The Faculty of Liberal Arts offers an extensive curriculum in English to international students and Japanese degree students with strong English language proficiency.
Full year: Starts in mid-September and ends in late July.
Spring term: Starts in April and ends in late July.
Waseda University
Waseda University is one of Japan’s most prestigious private universities offering courses in all disciplines. BC students are integrated into Japanese student life by participating in university activities and choosing to join clubs—ranging from karate and flower arranging to rock music and folk dancing. Waseda also sponsors trips to Sumo wrestling matches, Noh drama, and traditional Japanese music concerts.
Spring term: Starts in early April and ends in late July.
Full year: Starts in mid-September and ends in late July.
Several OIP-approved external programs are available to BC students through partner organizations.
Beijing
BC currently has no internal programs in Beijing, but there are two approved external programs:
China Studies Institute
The China Studies Institute started as an American University program and has since expanded dramatically. It is now an independent study-abroad program with over 200 students a year. CSI offers complete language immersion as well as a large range of Chinese Studies courses taught in English in small classes. Students have the opportunity for Internships and themed study trips all over China.
The Beijing Center for Chinese Studies
The Beijing Center for Chinese Studies (TBC) combines intensive course studies, opportunities for language immersion, and academic excursions across the country for a well-rounded understanding of China.
Shanghai
Two approved external programs are available to BC students in Shanghai through the Alliance for Global Education
The Alliance for Global Education: 21st Century City
The 21st Century City program makes cosmopolitan Shanghai your classroom. It allows students to explore issues of sustainable urbanization, economic reforms, or Chinese politics and foreign policy while living with Chinese roommates and studying Chinese language.
The Alliance for Global Education: International Business in China
The International Business in China program offers the unparalleled opportunity to study international business and economic development in Asia's financial center. Outside the classroom students get a first-hand encounter with China's rapidly changing business environment through corporate visits and internships with Chinese and multinational companies.
New Delhi
The School of International Training (SIT) offers BC students a program in New Delhi
SIT: Public Health, Policy Advocacy, and Community
The Public Health, Gender, and Community Action program offers a field-based, experiential approach to learning. Main topics include: social determinants and the political economy of health, the scourge of malnutrition, and regional and grassroots approaches to improving access to healthcare. Each program has a small group of students (typically 10–35). Students gain high levels of access to many different stakeholders and experts relevant to the issues the program is examining. While some learning will be conducted at the SIT program center, extensive learning is done outside the classroom — in host communities, field stations, NGO headquarters, ecological sites, health clinics, and art studios.
Varanasi
BC students can choose between two programs in Varanasi at the Ganges River.
The City, the River, the Sacred
The City, the River, the Sacred program through the Alliance for Global Education explores the intersections between religious practice, urban studies, and environmental issues through 15 credits of coursework. Learn Hindi or Urdu—and use your language skills on a daily basis as you move about the city; study the city’s rich traditions, and travel with experienced resident staff to diverse destinations in North India including stops in Delhi, Kolkata, Darjeeling, and the Himalayan foothills.
University of Wisconsin program in India
The University of Wisconsin program in India is based in Varanasi due to the city’s ethnic, religious, and linguistic diversity, which reflects the diversity of India at large. Both a modern metropolis and a major pilgrimage site on the Ganges River, Varanasi offers access to a variety of religious communities, as well as study of the beginnings of Jainism and Buddhism. Students enroll in both Hindi language and culture classes, and participate in both individual and group tutorials, as well as craft an independent research project.
Pune
The Alliance for Global Education offers BC students a program in Pune.
Alliance for Global Education - Contemporary India
The Alliance for Global Education program in Pune focuses explores contemporary India as a complex yet unified multi-cultural, multi-linguistic, religiously pluralistic democracy, and rising economic superpower through 15 credits of coursework. Pursue your own academic interests and distinguish yourself professionally by completing an internship, directed research project, or documentary film. Engage with Indian culture through co-curricular classes in traditional Indian vocals, instruments, or dance. Participate in local activities and excursions to explore Pune and the surrounding area. And live like a Pune resident with an Indian host family and commute to campus via auto rickshaw.
Hyderabad
The Council on International Educational Exchange offers BC students a semester program at the University of Hyderabad.
CIEE - Art and Sciences Program in Hyderabad, India
The Art and Sciences Program in Hyderabad program is provided in collaboration with the Study in India Program (SIP) at the University of Hyderabad. As a hub for international undergrads, SIP offers specially designed courses for students to discover Indian society, history, and culture. Choose from classes specially designed for international students, as well as a vast selection of direct-enroll options at an award-winning university. Complete your adventure with plenty of eye-opening travel and exploration.
Kunming
BC students have the opportunity to spend a semester in Yunnan, China’s southwest, through the School for International Training (SIT)
SIT: Language, Cultures, and Ethnic Minorities
The SIT Program in Language, Cultures, and Ethnic Minorities covers a wide range of topics of study, including the role of traditional Chinese cultures and belief systems in contemporary life, ethnic minorities, rapid urbanization, agriculture, and social change, health and traditional Chinese medicine, tourism and sustainability (cultural and environmental). It also offers educational excursions.
Ho Chi Minh City
A service-oriented semester study in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) is available through Loyola University Chicago.
Loyola Vietnam Center
The Loyola Chicago Vietnam Center in Ho Chi Minh City provides students with the opportunity to experience and learn about the social, cultural, political and economic dynamics shaping contemporary Vietnam. Students participating in this program will immerse themselves in Ho Chi Minh City through a service or internship placement while also having an opportunity to see much of the rest of Vietnam and Cambodia as well during academic excursions.
The Fung Scholars Program at Boston College provides opportunities to support international experiences in Asia. In line with the Office of International Programs’ mission, the program is designed to expand BC students’ access to study, intern, volunteer, and academic research opportunities in Asia, as well as to help students develop as well-rounded, interculturally competent, and globally conscious citizens.
Deadlines:
- Spring: November 1
- Summer: February 5
- Fall/Academic Year: March 25
The Mizna Fellowship Fund was established through the generous gift of one of BC’s alumni to create new opportunities for BC undergraduates for international travel for research, language study, internships and service learning initiatives throughout the Islamic world.
Eligibility: Boston College students including freshmen, for whom travel may be an introduction to the world of Islamic scholarship and to seniors who seek to expand their understanding of Islamic cultures, history, language and societies in order to author a distinguished senior thesis.
Deadlines:
- Summer: February 5
- Academic Year: October 1
Contact: Christina Hatzipetros
The purpose of the Thea Bowman AHANA and Intercultural Center (BAIC) Study Abroad-Summer Tuition Remission service is to cover the cost of tuition only for undergraduate Boston College students who wish to study abroad.
Boren Scholarships, an initiative of the National Security Education Program, provide unique funding opportunities for U.S. undergraduate students to study less commonly taught languages in world regions critical to U.S. interests, and underrepresented in study abroad, including Africa, Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, Eurasia, Latin America, and the Middle East. The countries of Western Europe, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand are excluded.
Maximum scholarship awards are:
- $8,000 for a summer program (special initiative for STEM students only; 8 weeks minimum)
- $10,000 for a semester
- $20,000 for a 6 - 12 months
Deadline: February 8
The Bridging Project offers scholarships to American undergraduate students participating in study-abroad programs in Japan. Funding from private foundations and major U.S. corporations, through donations to the nonprofit US-Japan Bridging Foundation, makes it possible to award about 100 scholarships each year to assist students with the travel and living expenses they will incur while studying abroad in Japan for a semester or an academic year.
Eligibility: Undergraduate students participating in studying in Japan programs
Deadlines:
- Academic year beginning in the fall: April 11
- If you will be studying in Japan in the Spring, please submit your application in August or September; the deadline for submitting applications will be October 11.
Contact: aatj@aatj.org
The Freeman-ASIA Program is designed to support U.S.-based undergraduates with demonstrated financial need who are planning to study abroad in East or Southeast Asia. The program’s goal is to increase the number of U.S. citizens and permanent residents with first-hand exposure to and understanding of Asia and its peoples and cultures.
Deadlines:
- Summer: March 14
- Fall: April 11
- Spring: TBA (October)
Contact: Christina Hatzipetros
The Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) Program is an intensive overseas language and cultural immersion program for American students enrolled at U.S. colleges and universities. The program includes intensive language instruction and structured cultural enrichment experiences designed to promote rapid language gains.
Eligibility: The CLS Program is a nationally competed award open to all eligible U.S. undergraduate and graduate students in every field.
Deadline: The application for the Summer CLS Program will open in the fall
The Fund for Education Abroad (FEA) invests in promising students with financial need who wish to study abroad. Potential applicants who meet our eligibility requirements may participate on any international education program that meets their academic objectives. FEA gives preference to students with demonstrated financial need, and strongly encourages students to apply who represent a group that is traditionally underrepresented in education abroad. These groups include, but are not limited to: First-generation college students, minority students, and community college students.
Eligibility:
- U.S. citizen or permanent resident
- Currently enrolled as an undergraduate at a college or university in the U.S. (graduate students are not eligible)
- Study abroad program must be eligible for credit at the student’s home institution
- Study abroad program must be at least 4 weeks (28 days) in country/countries
Deadline: Grant for the spring opens on July 24th
Japan Student Services Organization (JASSO) offers scholarship for qualified international students who are accepted by a Japanese university, graduate school, junior college, college of technology (3rd grade or upper) or professional training college (hereinafter referred to as “Japanese school”) under a student exchange agreement or other student exchange arrangement on a short-term basis from 8 days to one year between Japanese school and their home higher educational institution outside Japan (hereinafter referred to as “home school”).
Diversity Abroad, in cooperation with the AIFS Foundation, will offer $500 scholarships for fall and spring semester. Five scholarships are available for each semester. Economically disadvantaged students, first-generation, students with disabilities and ethnic and racially diverse students are strongly encouraged to apply. Visit http://www.diversityabroad.com/overseas-ambassadors for application details and additional information.
Eligibility:
Required diversity criteria:
- African-American/Black
- Asian/Pacific Islander
- Disabilities
- First Generation
- Hispanic/Latino
- Low-Income
- Multiracial
- Native American
Deadlines:
- Fall: June 1
- Spring: TBA
The U.S. Department of State’s Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship is a grant program that enables students of limited financial means to study or intern abroad, thereby gaining skills critical to our national security and economic competitiveness.The Gilman Scholarship Program is open to U.S. citizen undergraduate students who are receiving Federal Pell Grant funding at a two-year or four-year college or university to participate in study and intern abroad programs worldwide.
Click here for details on application
Please contact the Office of International Program (OIP) advisor Christina Hatzipetros at christina.hatzipetros@bc.edu or 617-552-3827 for more information.