Mission Statement
The USC Study Abroad Programs and Offerings provide students with interests in global architectural and urban study opportunities to extend the boundaries of their academic engagement beyond the USC campus. Students develop an understanding of the relationship between the built environment and culture that serves to build a broader, more thoughtful, critical framework for their own work. They can compare the development of architecture and urbanism in Europe, Asia, or other travel locations with that of the United States.

Introduction
Each year, the USC School of Architecture provides approximately 45 students with the opportunity to study in Como, Italy; Saintes, France; or Asia.  [A full semester of study is offered including courses in design; history and theory; technology; and language and culture.] It is clear these programs have a powerful and memorable impact on students.  During almost every alumni gathering, be it Homecoming or an Architectural Guild event, former students reflect on their USC education and speak fondly of their semester abroad and how it affected their professional work.  This is clearly an opportunity students should consider seriously. The benefits of this experience last many students a lifetime.

One of the most powerful impacts of this learning experience is the difference it presents between a familiar US context and the uniqueness that European/Asian cities offer.  Experiencing these places allows students to think more creatively about urbanism and the rich possibilities the design of a city offers its citizens for interaction and stimulation.  Resolving design problems within this foreign context also provides an intellectual and creative challenge that engages students directly in understanding the place at several different levels.  This is perhaps what separates the USC study abroad program from conventional tours where students are taken from city to city without much opportunity to sketch, measure, speculate, design, and study these places.

Students in the program are introduced to a contrasting system of spatial organization that challenges conventional assumptions.  They emerge with a more cosmopolitan understanding of the built environment, and they leave with a sense of how history and culture have led to distinct physical patterns of settlement. We are convinced it allows students to understand more about designing within a US context by providing a powerful example for questioning how things can be accomplished differently.  These differences are etched in the minds of participants and often emerge later in studio work as new ways of conceptualizing design.

Classes are taught in a highly integrated manner. This gives students another way of thinking about how information from other disciplines can affect the process of design exploration and decision-making.  Furthermore, lectures, site visits, and design exercises are contributed by a distinguished group of colleagues outside of the USC faculty,  as well as faculty from the USC School of Architecture.

There is a sense of adventure in a new and challenging context that stimulates thinking, learning, and comprehension.  Students traditionally work hard and are acutely aware of the preciousness of time, which is carefully spent maximizing the benefits of this experience. These trips stimulate discussions that continue throughout the semester.  Our experience has been very positive with regard to safety and security.

Eligibility and Admission
The goal of the overseas study programs is to provide a place for 12 to 15 outstanding fourth and fifth year architecture students each semester to extend the boundaries of their architectural studies beyond the USC campus.  Students develop an understanding of the relationship between architecture and the culture that serves to build a broader, more thoughtful, critical framework for their own work. They can compare the development of architecture in Europe or Asia with that which has occurred in the United States.

Every upper division student with a GPA of at least 2.75 is eligible to apply for one of the current foreign studies programs. Students are asked to apply for all programs that they would participate in and rank their preference so that if they are not selected for their first choice program they could still be accepted in their second or third choice. The selection process involves a review by the Directors based on academic performance, interviews, and other factors relating to each program and a final assignment by the Chair of the undergraduate program and the Chair of Foreign Studies. 

The schedule for application and selection is included on the calendar of events provided at the annual study abroad info session to be held on Wednesday, October 28, 2009 at 6 pm. The week of this info session also premieres exhibitions of the work of the students who studied abroad during the previous year.

Current Semester-Long Undergraduate Study Abroad Programs:

Fall Semester in France: Saintes

In the Fall of 1996, the School of Architecture offered for the first time a study abroad program, based in southwestern France. The program is held at le Centre d'Etude d'Architecture et d'Urbanisme, a teaching and research center that is located in Saintes, France.

Spring Semester in Italy: Anthony A. Marnell, II  Italian Architecture Studies Program

The School of Architecture offers a study abroad program in Como, in northern Italy. Students have classroom and studio space in the Villa Olmo, a beautiful 19th century neoclassical building overlooking Lake Como. Como is a small town that dates back to the Roman era located about 30 miles from Milan.

Summer Semester in Asia: Japan, China, Malaysia

The USC School of Architecture Summer Program in Asia includes two weeks in Japan, two weeks in China, and the balance of the semester in Malaysia, which serves as its home base. 

More Programs To Be Announced Soon!

Check back regularly to see about the new programs coming to the USC School of Architecture.