Politics and International Affairs is a global study, which is why our program places a heavy emphasis on studying away and securing internships all over the world. Our faculty leads these experiences, providing continuity with your campus-based curriculum.
Global Experience
First Year Chinese Studies Experience
Furman’s Asian Studies Department is delighted to offer the First Year Chinese Studies Experience (FCSE). FSCE offers twelve selected students a three-week fully funded study tour of Taiwan in May after their freshman year. FCSE student participants will take two semesters of Chinese your first year at Furman.
Only twelve students will be able to join the program, so apply early. The deadline to apply is June 28th.
Visit the Asian Studies webpage for more information.
Link to the FCSE May Study Program Application.
The 2025 Study Tour will be co-directed by Dr. Kate Kaup (Professor of Asian Studies and Politics and International Affairs) and Dr. Dongming Zhang (Associate Professor of Asian Studies). You will take a Chinese language course in the fall and spring, so you’ll be ready to practice your Chinese when we travel to Taiwan for three weeks in May.
Call Dr. Kate Kaup at 864.294.3150 or email kate.kaup@furman.edu for more information.
Call D. Dongming Zhang at 864.294.2951 or email dongming.zhang@furman.edu for more information.
Study Away
All politics and international affairs majors are required to participate in either a study away program or an internship. Past programs have taken our students to Washington, D.C., Scandinavia, Latin America, the British Isles, China, Brussels, and Ireland.
Browse upcoming programs, like the Washington, D.C., program that allows you to work in a federal agency, intern on Capitol Hill, or work with advocacy organizations or the media all while earning course credit.
May Experience
Each year, our Politics and International Affairs department offers intensive three-week courses that allow our students to explore a topic from multiple angles. Past May Experience programs have focused on mediation and conflict resolution, trial advocacy, soccer in society, China’s search for sustainability, and the political thinking of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. In 2013, some of our students experienced life on a farm in Iowa, learning how food is produced and discussing current controversies in agricultural policy, while others traveled throughout Ireland and Northern Ireland studying the politics, policies, and culture of these two countries.