Summary
Through EAP, you will develop an international perspective in psychology
and gain exposure to other countries’ approaches to the discipline.
You will also have access to unique courses in subfields ot typically
offered at most UC campuses (e.g., humanistic psychology, industrial-organizational
psychology, and applied psychology). All of this will increase your
understanding of human behavior and mental processes. In an increasingly
interdependent world, global awareness and cross-cultural competency
are essential.
Join the many UC psychology students who will study abroad this year through EAP!
Program Options
Featured Programs
Chile: Chile Universities
Spain: Complutense University of Madrid; University of Barcelona
Turkey: Bilkent University
United Kingdom: University of Leeds; University of Manchester
Find the right program for you:
- Use the EAP Program Search Engine to find programs offering psychology courses.
- Browse the MyEAP Course Catalog for psychology courses previously taken by EAP students. Additional courses may be available and not all courses may still be offered.
- For additional course information, check the Academic Focus section found on all the program summary pages for each country.
Information for Your Major
Check your campus link below to see if your department has provided specific information about
study abroad:
Education abroad provides the opportunity to add range and depth to understanding people, their habitats, and their social systems. Early in my academic career, an Advanced Study Institute at Cambridge had a profound impact on my view of the world and my approach to psychology and research. It rapidly led to many international contacts that have enriched my life and work over the ensuing decades. Your knowledge base for psychology and social behavior is greatly enhanced by study abroad; seize this opportunity.
—Professor Raymond W. Novaco
Department of Psychology and Social Behavior
UC Irvine
Student Comments
"Psychology majors should explore the world beyond the United States. EAP allows you to deepen your knowledge about other countries and why people think and behave the way they do. You will learn about different behaviors, ideologies, history, and social norms."
—Yazmin Perez Lopez, Chile
"EAP was an awesome experience for me in terms of learning more about psychology and the world. In Hong Kong, there are many courses that are similar to those at UC, such as developmental or cognitive psychology; however, there are also some twists to the norms, such as advertising or engineering psychology."
—Cathy Tran, Hong Kong
"A research methods course I took allowed me to work with fMRI data and analyze it using the Brain Voyager program. This gave me the opportunity to experience firsthand the process researchers follow when interpreting data gathered from subjects. Studying abroad is a life-changing experience and was one of the best ways to learn about myself as well as others around me."
—Allen Kim, Netherlands
"Going to another country and interacting with people on the level that EAP offers truly enhances your understanding of how different people think, function, and relate to the world. My favorite course abroad was Traffic Psychology, which is not offered at my home UC campus. It was also interesting to see how other cultures study and practice psychotherapy."
—Maroua Jawadi, Turkey
"Studying abroad challenged me to use what I had learned in my psych classes and put them into practice when dealing with people, making new aquaintances, and understanding a new culture. EAP helped me acquire a new sense of curiosity and see myself not just as an American citizen, but also as an active world citizen who has a responsibility to making the world a better place by eliminating existing stereotypes and challenging perspectives."
—Adriana Vargas, Spain
Internships & Research
While on EAP, you can extend your education beyond the classroom through an internship or research project focused on your specific interests. Below are some examples. Check the main Internships, Research, & Independent Study page for EAP's policies governing academic credit for such activities.
Sample Internships
Internship opportunities vary term to term and placements CANNOT be guaranteed or arranged prior to arrival at your program site. The following are past examples only and do not indicate future availability.
- Fundación San Nectario, an institution serving autistic Chilean children ages two to seventeen. Duties included shadowing a staff psychologist, observing assessment tests for diagnosing autism, educating parents about autism, and working with children in activities to improve their social skills. (Chile)
- Biblioteca INFOCAP, an afterschool facility that provides a fun and social environment for low-income children to develop reading, math, English, and art skills. Duties included helping the children read, study, and play games, leading excursions, and general mentoring. The academic component focused on the psychological impact of poverty on children. (Chile)
- A women’s correctional facility in Barcelona. Working alongside the in-house psychologist, duties included profiling and conducting structured interviews with newly admitted inmates, leading counseling sessions with small groups of inmates, planning excursions, and presenting reviews of inmates to the court. (Spain)
Sample Research or Independent Study Projects
- Psychological factors associated with the contraction of HIV/AIDS and their role in the progression of physiological symptoms. Research topics included the impact of mental state on the severity of symptoms and whether constructive therapy that eases psychological stress also slows progression of the illness. Project included patient interviews and research in a clinic. (Ghana)
- Moral and motivational dimensions in sport psychology. Research topics included how team sports (especially soccer) affect the personality and behavior of young female athletes in comparison to individual sports. (Italy)
- Early socialization contexts. From a cultural perspective, and based on the component model of parenting, research focused on analyzing early parenting styles and systems (e.g., primary care, body contact, face-to-face exchange, etc.) and relating them to overlying developmental goals held by the parents. (Mexico)
- Methodological issues of speech production research. Topics included theories of speech production, selection of stimuli and experimental paradigms, behavioral and electrophysiological measuring methods, and statistical testing. (Netherlands)
- Meal-size determinants and learned satiety in humans. Research focused on whether repeated consumption of foods with flavors associated with high-energy density leads to them being consumed in progressively smaller portions while intake of flavors associated with delivery of low-energy increases. (United Kingdom)
