Faculty-Led Programs

Study Spanish in Spain, archeology in Greece, history in China, global studies issues in Chile, or human rights and human diversity in Mexico. A variety of field courses have been created by Laurier’s outstanding faculty to add an experiential learning opportunity to their courses.

Courses will be posted throughout the fall term, please revisit this site regularly.

GS388: Costa Rica

Applications accepted until April 15th 2025. To apply: email Dr. Tom Deligiannis tdeligiannis@wlu.ca

A Global Role Model for Sustainable Development and Peace is a third year (0.5 credit) course in Laurier's Department of Global Studies where students and instructors undertake a two-week field trip in Costa Rica to more deeply explore important issues around sustainable development, the renewable energy transition, ecotourism, and peace. This course was offered in Spring 2024 and is again being offered in the Spring 2025 term.

The course begins with an intensive four-day in-class session here in Waterloo before the group departs for Costa Rica, followed by two weeks traveling around Costa Rica, speaking with various experts and organizations, and learning first-hand about some of the organizations, groups, and sites working on these issues. Students will complete some writing assignments while in Costa Rica and then complete a research essay on their own time when they return. There's no additional class time for the course after we return.

There are no prerequisites for this course. Any Laurier student can take the course.

This year's course is scheduled to run in May, 2025, with four days of in-class learning from May 6th to May 9th, and then two weeks in Costa Rica from May 11th to May 25th. A final syllabus for the course will be ready in April. However, I can send the syllabus from the Spring 2024 course upon request to provide an idea of what was expected, what we did, and where we went. The 2025 agenda is largely the same.

The course is led by Prof. Alicia Sliwinski and Prof. Tom Deligiannis.

The course will cost $3576.00 CAD plus airfare and tuition. Airfare will be about $800-900.00 CAD (exact prices depend on the price when we book and can vary a little), while tuition for the spring session for one course is about $900.00.

The $3576.00 cost includes all accommodations and ground transport in Costa Rica, all breakfasts, half the dinners and a few lunches. The other half of the dinners and lunch costs have to be covered by the students. The only other costs on top of the $3576 is $20 USD entrance fee to L'Amistad National Park in Costa Rica, and students may need to get vaccinations and medicines for Costa Rica, depending upon what vaccinations they've already had. These vaccinations typically cost students another $100-200, again depending upon need.

There are some funding opportunities to partially offset the course costs. The Global Studies Department will be offering three $1000.00 scholarships from the Adele Slater Award (where students from any department are required to submit a piece of writing relating to issues of Peace and Conflict Studies (https://students.wlu.ca/programs/arts/global-studies/news/recurring/adele-slater-award-for-writing-on-world-peace.html). As well, the Faculty of Arts will be offering several scholarships from the Schultz Scholarship competition to students in programmes in the Faculty of Arts who meet the GPA criteria and are going on the trip. Both the Schultz scholarship and the Adele Slater Award will be open for applications from March 3 to April 3rd. Please contact Dr. Tom Deligiannis for additional details about the scholarships. Laurier International may have some small bursaries available, but we do not yet know how much or when this information will be released. Students are encouraged to contact Laurier International directly: https://students.wlu.ca/academics/global-engagement-and-exchanges/index.html

Students interested in taking GS388 should contact Prof. Deligiannis (tdeligiannis@wlu.ca). Students can enroll in GS388 starting Monday, Feb. 24th and should provide a refundable $1500 deposit to the Faculty of Arts office, 5th floor, DAWB, across from the elevators as soon as possible. Unfortunately, only cheques can be submitted for the deposit.

If interested students have any additional questions, please do not hesitate to email Prof. Deligiannis (tdeligiannis@wlu.ca). It's going to be another amazing course, and we hope that you can join us.

Past Courses

Learn more about past faculty-led programs abroad.

CS288: Beer, Communication and Culture

Students on this course will visit London, Greenwich, Brussels, and Brugges, with trips to unique breweries, pubs, and cultural venues. We will explore the differences in beer styles, experiences, and cultures. We will be investigating the way people communicate about beer and the culture of beer. We will read scholarly and popular literature about beer in communication and culture.

The course is a full one-credit course, with intensive interaction with Professor Jeremy Hunsinger and Dr. Jessica Cameron. Students will be staying together in hostels or dorms. There will be a fee that will cover housing and travel on the ground. You will be responsible for your flights, food, drink, and possibly other costs.

SP288: Spanish Language Learning

This 1.0-credit intensive Spanish language and cultural immersion experience is led by a Laurier faculty member in Spain for approximately one month.

HI288: Arts Study Abroad Program: Poland

This is a 1.0-credit summer course on the subject of the Holocaust. The course also includes visits to memorial sites and museums around the country related to the history of the Holocaust.

"Regardless of everyone's personal reasons for taking part in the trip, we were all able to walk away with a deeper understanding not only of the Holocaust, but of what being a student of history truly means."

Erica Parnis

Learn more about the student experience of confronting the Holocaust in Poland.

HR361: Migration and Human Rights in Mexico

Laurier undergraduate students travelled to Mexico to better understand the realities of migration, including how people become displaced, barriers along the migrant journey and how organizations offer assistance.

"Being completely immersed in the issue allowed me to see the discrepancies between what we hear in the news at home and what the reality is for the people afected."

Neala Hayratiyan

Learn more about the Migration and Human Rights in Mexico student experience.