Learn About Your Destination

The more knowledgeable you are about your study abroad location and program, the more you'll learn. You can prepare yourself in a number of ways:

Learn from NU students

Returnees are great sources of information! You can access returnee contact information through a link at the bottom of each program profile page.

Attend study abroad, campus and community events

See our calendar for upcoming Study Abroad Office events. The Study Abroad Office occasionally provides information sessions about countries and regions.

Download portions of the "Mind the Gap" information session about the U.K.

Take a pre-departure course

Consider deepening your study abroad experiences by taking a Spring Quarter course designed for outbound students: Attending to Culture (Anthropology 235).

Read travel and study abroad literature.

Read travel and study abroad literature

The Study Abroad office suggests the following readings.

Books about study abroad:
  • The Unofficial Guide to Study Abroad, by Ann M. Moore
  • The Student's Guide to the Best Study Abroad Programs, by Greg Tannen and Charley Winkler
Travel guides:
  • Lonely Planet guides
  • Harvard's "Let's Go" guides
  • Berkeley guides
  • Rough guides
Travel literature:
Most of these books focus on an author's experiences in a specific country. Even if you are not going to these countries, the universal experience of cross-cultural interaction and learning may provide valuable insights. Most of these books are available in the Study Abroad office.
  • In a Sunburned Country, by Bill Bryson (Australia/U.S.)
  • The Road from Coorain and True North, by Jill Ker Conway (Australia)
  • Stones for Ibarra, by Harriet Doerr (Mexico/U.S.-fiction)
  • Catfish & Mandala: A Two-Wheeled Voyage Through the Landscape and Memory of Vietnam, by Andrew X. Pham (Vietnam/U.S.)
  • Iron & Silk, by Mark Salzman (China/U.S.)
  • 48 Views of Mt. Fuji, by Cathy Davidson (Japan/U.S.)
  • A Year in Provence, by Peter Mayle (France/U.S.)
  • Under the Tuscan Sun, by Frances Mayes
  • Postcards from France, by Megan McNeill Libby (France/U.S.; written by an NU 2000 Alum)
  • Pilgrimage to India: A Woman Revisits her Homeland, by Pramila Jayapal (India/U.S.)
  • Lost in Translation: A Life in a New Language, by Eva Hoffman (Poland/U.S.)
  • Tonderai: Studying Abroad in Zimbabwe, by Perrin Liana Elkind (Zimbabwe; written by an alum from the School for International Training program in Zimbabwe)
  • The Elsewhere Community, by Hugh Kenner (Literary theory on the meaning of travel)
Cross-cultural learning:
Another great resource for finding books about intercultural learning is Intercultural Press.
  • Culture Shock! All You Need to Know about Studying Overseas-A Student's Guide, by Guek-Cheng Pang and Robert Barlas
  • Survival Kit for Overseas Living, by L. Robert Kohls
  • American Cultural Patterns: A Cross-Cultural Perspective, by Edward C. Stewart and Milton J. Bennett
  • Host Family Survival Kit, by Nancy King and Ken Huff
  • Women's Guide to Overseas Living, by Nancy J. Piet-Pelon and Barbara Hornby
  • Students Abroad: Strangers at Home, by Norman L. Kauffman, Judith N. Martin, and Henry D. Weaver with Judy Weaver
  • Savoir-vivre avec les français: Que faire? Que dire?, by Odile Grand-Clement in the Hachette Outils series
  • Studying Abroad/Learning Abroad: An Abridged Edition of The Whole World Guide to Culture Learning, by J. Daniel Hess