Study Abroad: Northern Kentucky University, Greater Cincinnati Region

Study Abroad Opportunities

Interested in study abroad or study away programs that connect to your interests in history and geography? We value experiential learning and encourage our students to participate in educational opportunities outside the classroom, whether abroad or here at home.

Two students with Norse banner in front of the Mediterranean Sea

Student in front of Galata Tower, Istanbul

Masked student sitting with public art in Korea

Our departmental faculty have led or participated in study abroad programs to Ecuador, Egypt, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Scotland, Spain, and Turkey, among others! Several of our faculty have active research programs in places ranging from Europe and the Middle East to Africa and Central and South America.

Closer to home, faculty research focuses on the coal mines of West Virginia, the Underground Railroad in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, and the Shaker communities of Kentucky, Indiana, and Ohio. Students have spent summers earning academic credit while excavating at Historic Jamestowne and Thomas Jefferson's Monticello.

If there is a place you would like to explore, we can help!

Within the department, contact Prof. Quinn for details on various study abroad programs she is currently associated with through the Kentucky Institute for International Studies; contact Dr. Sutherland for details on department-specific funding opportunities like the Steely Travel Fellowship; and contact our acacdemic advisor Rebekah Richardson for assistance on getting your study abroad program credits to work with your major or minor!

For more information about the process or other travel opportunities, visit the Office of Education Abroad.

Catching up with 2024-25 W. Frank Steely Travel Fellowship Recipient

Steven Devoto, History & Social Studies Education

In December and January of 2025-26, I had the absolute pleasure to take part in a two-week KIIS travel abroad program to Greece, thanks to the generosity of NKU’s Department of History and their endowed Steely Travel Fellowship. The classes that the program offered allowed for a great deal of personal discovery and freedom while still providing structure and plenty of chances for interaction with fellow peers and professors. Lectures and lessons naturally flowed with and into the excursions and sites we visited, so while we were at the Ancient Agora of Athens, for example, we had a lesson on everyday life. Personally, I find reading and learning through books to be challenging at times, so the way information was shared on the study abroad program was astounding. The most valuable thing gained during the trip, however, was a real physical and personal connection to the spaces and cities that I have read about and learned about in my classes at NKU. You can stare at maps and pictures all you want, but being physically present in these places allows you to develop a sense of immersion, connection, and scale. You get to see how the spaces bleed into each other, how people move and walk around them, and how external factors like wind or sun impact the people who lived there.

Why study abroad?

With only 10% of American undergraduates studying abroad, an international experience will certainly add to your resume and show potential employers that you are able to step outside of your comfort zone, navigate new situations, problem-solve solutions, interact with people from other cultures, and bring an awareness of diverse, global communities into the workplace that can help combat cultural stereotypes and foster collaboration and innovation. Our department encourages students to get out and explore the world.

In fact, the Department of History and Geography has had a long association with study abroad programs, a connection made stronger by our own Dr. Francois LeRoy’s assumption of duties in the Office of International Education, first as the Director of International Education (2009) and currently as the Executive Director of the Center for Global Engagement and International Affairs, including the Office of Education Abroad. Here, Dr. LeRoy oversees the Office of International Students and Scholars, the American English Language Program, and the Office of Education Abroad. Under his leadership, faculty from across the campus have been encouraged to develop or participate in study abroad programs of varying lengths to meet the educational needs of NKU’s busy student population.