Our department strongly encourages students to take advantage of study abroad opportunities and programs. An Earth Scientist can never see too much of our planet. Because the department has more than one major, the prerequisites for study abroad vary with each individual major. Depending upon the student’s study plan and the courses available at the foreign school, the department can be quite flexible. Most importantly, students should work out their program well in advance (a year ahead is not too early) with a departmental advisor or the Undergraduate Studies Committee.

There are no departmental prerequisites for studying abroad. However, students should try to complete the basic courses for their major before traveling abroad so that they may take full advantage of their foreign experience and be able to take courses abroad that they do not have the opportunity to take at Boston College.

There is no limit on the number of courses that can be approved toward the major as long as the courses are approved in advance by the department Undergraduate Studies Committee, the Foreign Study Advisor (Professor J. Christopher Hepburn) or the Department Chair. Whether courses from foreign institutions will be counted toward the major depends entirely upon the school they are attending and the offerings at that particular university. Courses taken abroad are generally applied toward major elective credit. The department believes strongly that an abroad program is very worthwhile, exposing students not only to other cultures, but other physical environments and geological situations. The department will try to be as flexible as possible to allow students the opportunity to study abroad. Based upon prior student experience, the department particularly recommends programs in Ecuador and Australia. Students should email professors Hepburn or Kafka to plan their semester or year abroad.