The world is becoming a smaller place, and many students are incorporating travel to other countries into their college years. Studying abroad can be a boon to numerous degree fields – and not just the obvious ones, like a foreign language, international studies, literature, or humanities degree. Perhaps you want to get a job teaching English as a second language in another country. Perhaps you want to be involved in an international business. Or maybe you want to provide health care and training for humanitarian organizations. For all, you can benefit from the culture you experience and the contacts you’ll develop in an international program.

IU East has many international programs and trips to choose from. Perhaps you’re thinking about going to Belize, China, Italy, Canada, or Costa Rica with your professors. Or perhaps you want to go with an Indiana University Office of International Studies program, which can take you abroad to every continent except Antarctica. The experience will be well worth it – the increasingly global dimension of practically every field could make the international scholar a more viable candidate when you enter the job market! For more information about our overseas programs, you can email Dr. Julien Simon at jjsimon@iue.edu.

Of course, although these trips go many beautiful and soul-enriching places, the greatest dividend is what you learn. You’re not just a tourist – you’re a scholar. And fortunately, that learning can start right here, at your computer. The library offers thousands of general-knowledge resources that contain information of benefit to an international studies focus. But we have lots of databases specifically tailored to global studies, as well. For general material, try World History In Video, World History Primary Sources, or Leisure, Travel, and Mass Culture: The History of Tourism. Literature, of course, is particularly well supported by library resources – databases like South and Southeast Asian Literature, Caribbean Literature, Black Drama, African Writers Series, Scottish Women Poets of the Romantic Period, and Latino Literature: Poetry, Drama, and Fiction explore writings across the world. News and current affairs are supported by databases like Informe Revistas en Espanol and Hong Kong Journals Online. Majoring in history? Try Feminism in Cuba or British and Irish Women’s Letters and Diaries. And for social issues, Liberation Movements in Africa and Africa America or Middle East and Islamic Studies eBook Collection might be perfect for you. Even business majors are covered by specialized international tools, such as Asian Business & Reference. It’s practically a world tour, from the comfort of your own chair!

Need any help finding the information you need? Ask us at iueref@iue.edu!