Program Dates: May 22 – June 21, 2025

Cost: $5,500 plus airfare (subject to BOV approval) 

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General Overview
Students will be immersed in Italian culture and mathematical study during a five-week intensive course of study although no experience with the Italian language is expected. Students will earn six credits from two VMI courses:

• All cadets will take MA331X: History of Mathematics in Europe. This counts as an X course for the Civilizations and Cultures requirement at VMI.  There will be no pre-requisite for this class, but good ability in pre-calculus topics is expected.
• For the second course:
  • For cadets who have completed MA123-124, the second course will be MA311: Differential Equations.  This is required for AM, PY, CH (research track), and all engineering majors.
  • If a cadet has already taken MA311, we would work with the cadet on a case by case basis to find an independent study that meets the requirements of their major.
• Both courses are taught in English, the grades will count towards the VMI GPA, and for those students who have completed a course in Differential Equations, there are opportunities to replace this course with an independent study (on a case-by-case basis).

The program also includes travel to Pisa and Florence to see historical sites like the Leaning Tower, the Statue of David, and the Sistine Chapel, and museums such as the Galileo Museum.

Cadets will have at least one free weekend to travel on their own (at extra cost).

Eligibility

Any VMI cadet or current student in good standing with an accredited university is eligible to apply.

Room and Board

Students will be housed together in an authentic Tuscan hotel: Residence Le Santucce and breakfast is included. Some other meals such as welcome and departure dinners will be included as well.

Program Directors and Course Instructors

COL/Dr. Troy Siemers earned his Ph.D. from the University of Virginia. He has been a professor at VMI since 1999 and department head since 2013. He has led previous study abroad trips to Lithuania, France, and Germany. His interests include ultrarunning, football (soccer) and all sorts of gaming.

MAJ/Dr. Blain Patterson earned his PhD from North Carolina State University. He joined VMI in 2019 and is excited to help led his first study abroad program. His academic interests include improving teaching and learning of undergraduate mathematics. Blain is avid board gamer who plays tabletop, role-playing, and trading card games.

MAJ/Dr. Sarah Patterson is a professor at VMI in the Applied Mathematics Department. She earned her Ph. D. from Duke University in 2019. Her interests include mathematical modeling, pedagogy of mathematics and computation science, and hiking with her two dogs.

Study Abroad in Tuscany Overview

 

Program Dates: May 28, 2025 – June 28, 2025

Cost: $7,995 plus airfare (subject to BOV approval) 

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General Overview

Students will be immersed in French culture and language during a five-week intensive course of study that includes level-appropriate language instruction and a French culture and history course taught in English. The program will also offer students the opportunity to travel to important historical sites in Paris and Normandy. Students will earn a total of nine hours of credit: three hours for ERH 339 Art of Medieval Europe and six hours of French at the 100, 200, or 300 level, which can be counted toward fulfilling their VMI language requirement. The program is aimed at those fulfilling a language requirement (either 2 or 3-year requirement), French majors and minors, English majors, and Art History and Visual Culture minors/concentrations, but is appropriate for and open to all cadets.

Eligibility

Any current student in good standing with an accredited US university is eligible to apply.  

Room and Board

Students will be housed together in authentic Parisian apartments.  Meals are not included.

Program Directors

LTC Catharine Ingersoll holds M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Art History, specializing in medieval and northern Renaissance art, from the University of Texas at Austin. Since 2015 she has taught courses in art history and visual culture in the Department of English, Rhetoric, and Humanistic Studies at VMI. She primarily publishes on German art of the 15^th and 16^th centuries, but she teaches classes and mentors student projects in a wide variety of art historical time periods and geographic areas.

COL Jeff Kendrick earned his Ph.D. from the University of Kansas in 2012. He is the Director of Global Education at VMI and has led or co-led the VMI Paris summer program every year since its inception. He enjoys teaching language, literature, and culture classes, especially in the medieval and Renaissance periods. His research interests include the poetry of Marguerite de Navarre and other contemporaries, the Reformation in France, medieval lyric poetry, and medieval chivalric romance.

For additional information about the program, please contact LTC Ingersoll and COL Kendrick.

Study Abroad in Paris Overview

Program Dates: May 31 – June 27, 2025

Program Cost: $4,800 (pending BOV approval)

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The Virginia Military Institute, in partnership with Alcalingua-Universidad de Alcalá, is pleased to present a summer four-week language and cultural immersion program (six credit hours) in Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain.

General Overview

This is a language and culture program in which all participants will earn six hours of Spanish language and culture credit hours at the 100, 200 or 300*. Students will visit the most significant sites and museums in Spain and will be introduced to the history, traditions, and culture of Spain. In addition to classroom instruction, courses will include visits to the Prado Museum, the Reina Sofia Museum, and the Royal Palace in Madrid, among other sites. Students will have the opportunity to experience the rich culture, architecture, and history of Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Toledo, Consuegra, El Escorial, and Barcelona.

Eligibility

Any current student in good standing with an accredited university is eligible to apply. VMI students need only to submit an application. Applicants from other universities should include a faculty letter of recommendation, an official transcript, and a short essay outlining the applicant's personal and academic goals for the program, along with the application.

Cadets should complete the application process and provide a $250 non-refundable deposit by January 27, 2025. Cadets must pay the program fee in full or sign promissory note by February 27, 2025.

Academics

The program will allow students to take the following classes:

• 2 classes (6 credit hours) of Spanish Language at the appropriate level at the University of Alcalá in Madrid (transfer credit hours).

*Each student will take a placement test at the Universidad de Alcalá to determine their language proficiency and be enrolled in the appropriate courses.

Room and Board

Students will live in dorms on the Alcalingua-Universidad de Alcalá campus. The program fee includes three meals a day (breakfast, lunch, and dinner), seven days a week. The exception is weekend trips when the program fee only covers breakfast.

Program Director

Dr. Bárbara Xavier França is an Assistant Professor of Spanish at Virginia Military Institute. She holds a Master of Arts and a Ph.D. in Spanish and Portuguese Languages and Literatures from Tulane University, New Orleans, LA. er research discusses the role of chemically induced altered states of consciousness in Latin American fiction and reflects on the tensions between pharmacology and coloniality displayed in contemporary literature. She also earned a Master of Arts degree in Social Communication, specializing in Image Pragmatics (Film Studies), from the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG) in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Communication/Journalism from the same institution. Dr. Xavier França has taught Spanish language and literature at Tulane University and Washington and Lee University. She has also taught courses on the introduction to academic research and narratives in UFMG’s Department of Social Communication, as well as in the Faculty of Languages, Literature, and Linguistics, and has served as a news reporter for Sempre Editora (O Tempo and Pampulha newspapers) in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. Moreover, Dr. Xavier França has conducted fieldwork in Spain, Mexico, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, and Cuba, and has presented papers at comparative literature, cultural studies, and modern languages conferences in Brazil, the United States, Spain, Canada, Colombia, and Greece. 

Program Dates: June 2 to August 18, 2025

Program Cost: approx. $2,754 + Airfare 

Application Deadline: January 15, 2025 

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The NCCU Huayu BEST program is a Chinese language scholarship sponsored by Taiwan’s Ministry of Education and hosted by National Chengchi University in Taipei, Taiwan. The program aims to promote Mandarin Chinese language proficiency and cultural exchange by offering scholarships to international students for immersive language study.  

The program includes:  

• Language courses: Participants enroll in Chinese classes at NCCU’s Chinese Language Center (CLC) and will earn a total of 6 Chinese language credits. These will be transfer credits and 10 hour internship.  
• Cultural Workshops: The program offers various optional cultural workshops, such as Chinese calligraphy, painting, knotting, and traditional handicrafts.  

Included in the program Cost are the following: 

• Registration Fee, 3-month Tuition, Textbooks, Housing, Living Expenses.   
• Cadets will also receive a monthly stipend of $2,340 for three months.  

All cadets in good standing are eligible to participate.  

More information about the program here.  

The Virginia Program at Oxford is a six-week summer program in British history and literature run jointly by VMI and five other schools. Cadets from any major and any class are welcome to apply. You will earn 6 hours of credit and take courses on a pass/fail basis. The cost is approximately $8,500, but financial aid is available from several sources, including the VPO itself. The cost includes a room of your own, all meals, and trips to London and Stratford-on-Avon.

Program Dates: June 30 – Aug. 9, 2025

Eligibility: Open to any major

Academics: 6 credits studying the literature and history of Great Britain around Shakespeare’s time

For more information, visit the program website, or contact Dr. Duncan Richter (richterdj@vmi.edu).