Looking for an affordable and safe study abroad experience that will benefit your academic journey? With Carpe Mundi, you can achieve that and more. We understand that you, your teachers, counselors, or mentors might have concerns about falling behind in school or wonder how studying abroad will enhance your academic growth. Research consistently shows that students who study abroad often experience GPA boosts and improved graduation rates.
Through Carpe Mundi, you'll earn college credit via the University of Montana (UofM). Previous Carpe Mundi participants have successfully transferred these credits back to their Community Colleges, continued their studies at Portland State University (PSU), or transferred to other universities within and outside Oregon.
UofM operates on a semester system, which means that Carpe Mundi students can now earn a full term’s worth of semester credits, which equates to 18 quarter credits for the winter and spring terms.
So far, three courses have been approved by the University of Montana:
CTE 191: Intro to Leadership Development (3 credits)
This course is designed to introduce students to leadership development principles, theories, and practices. Through a combination of theoretical frameworks, self-reflection, and practical applications to lived experiences, students will gain insights into effective leadership strategies, communication skills, and ethical decision-making. The course facilitates critical self-assessments of students’ leadership styles and examines successful leadership qualities in various personal and professional contexts.
COLS 191: Self & Culture in Experiential Cohorts (3 credits)
This course uses a student’s real-world experiences to understand fundamental principles of communication, relationship-building, cultural development, and other group dynamics within an experiential cohort-based program. Students will engage in self-reflection and explore group dynamics in various contexts, gaining essential skills for personal and professional communication while examining the particular dynamics of a cohort-based experience in various cultural settings. Through readings, reflections, and applications to real-world examples, students will examine the roles that culture, identity, and communication play a role in cohort formation within personal, academic, and/or professional settings.
CTE 298: International Internship (up to 6 credits)
This international internship course is designed to provide students with hands-on experience in various industries (including journalism, graphic design, creative writing, marketing, finance, etc.). Interns will work closely with mentors and professionals within their chosen field and engage in various projects to enhance their skills and understanding of their assigned area of work experience and career development.
Courses pending approval from the University of Montana for Spring 2025:
Climate Change & Its Impacts (3 credits)
This course provides students with tools for understanding the local impacts of global climate change. Through assigned readings followed by travel, service-learning, and community engagement, students will examine how the effects of global climate change have impacted—and will continue to impact—a particular local ecosystem and community. The course will ask students to explore the science that explains the effects of climate change in a particular area, local ecological, economic, and social impacts, and potential community solutions.
Intro to Environmental Sustainability (3 credits)
This course asks students to explore the concept of sustainability—an endeavor to meet the needs of society today without endangering the ability of future generations to meet theirs—as it pertains to the ecosystems and communities they encounter during their study-away program. Through readings and applications to real community issues and initiatives, students will better understand the “triple bottom line” (environmental, social, and economic health) and complexities of pursuing sustainability in different contexts.
Intro to Intercultural Communication (3 credits)
This course provides students with a theoretical and practical foundation for understanding cultural differences and engaging in effective intercultural dialogue. Designed for students experiencing immersion in new/unfamiliar cultural contexts, the course asks students to examine different cultural groundings (including their own) to better understand how culture influences communication and how to achieve specific outcomes through intentional communication strategies. Through both readings and real-world applications, students will gain a deeper understanding of their personal cultural influences while improving their overall intercultural sensitivity and literacy.
Environment & Society (3 credits)
This course compels students to examine environmental issues as social issues. Focusing on the complex relationship between human societies and the biophysical environment, students will explore the major social institutions, human dynamics, and ethical frameworks that have shaped the natural world through agriculture, rural and urban development, natural resource extraction and preservation, and population expansion. Students will examine local environmental issues encountered during their program as symptomatic of systemic global issues, assessing the societal conditions that lead to environmental problems and preventing their solutions.
Eco-Tourism in Practice (3 credits)
This course will introduce students to primary principles in eco-tourism development. Students will learn about ethical considerations and best practices in eco-tourism development. They can examine real-world applications of eco-tourism initiatives in visited regions. Students will use a holistic perspective to identify a project’s impacts, including mutual benefits to host and visitor, direct conservation benefits, direct funding and empowerment for local communities, and ensuring awareness and respect for the environment and culture.
Environment, Community, and Public Health (3 credits)
This course provides students with a framework for understanding public health systems and practices in the communities they visit during their program. The course offers an overview of environmental health and management topics, including pollution, sanitation, wastewater, and epidemiology. Students will then examine how history, politics, economics, culture, and social inequalities have influenced the development of specific health management systems and issues in a local context, noting both successes and areas for improvement when it comes to public health systems, policies, and/or infrastructure.
The best part of Carpe Mundi? Our programs are rooted in experiential education. Instead of earning credits while sitting in a classroom, you'll be out in the world, gaining hands-on experience through volunteering and living with host families. It’s an opportunity to earn college credit while engaging in something completely unique!
What sets Carpe Mundi apart is the year-long mentorship you’ll receive, both before and after your travels. We’re here to support your academic journey in any way you need—whether that’s one-on-one tutoring, empowering you to advocate for yourself in academic settings, helping you select classes, or teaching you strategies for academic success.
Past participants have reported feeling more confident in their decision-making abilities, more open to learning and growth, and better equipped to access the resources needed to succeed in higher education. Carpe Mundi won’t just be an “extra” or a “distraction” from your education; it will make your educational experience complete.
If you have more questions about the credit system or how this program fits with your career goals, feel free to reach out. We're happy to discuss further!