Penn Abroad Programs are administered by the Office of International Programs.
Penn Summer Abroad Programs are administered by the College of General Studies.
Course Approval and Credit
If you take a history course abroad in any Penn-approved program, the Penn Department of History will usually approve it and assign it a number in the HIST 180-series (excepting Ancient History courses; see below for details). You do not generally need to seek individual pre-approval for these courses, though if you have a syllabus in advance you may do so by the procedure detailed below.
If you take a course at your host university that is primarily historical in content, but is taught in another department, you may request credit from the department, but there is no guarantee.
In either case, in order for your credit to be processed, upon your return to Penn, fill out the appropriate form for your college and submit it along with a course syllabus to the Study Abroad and Transfer Credit Advisor, Professor Phoebe Kropp, pkropp@history.upenn.edu, College Hall 313.
The Department of History cannot guarantee approval of history courses from non-Penn-approved programs. In order to be considered, a FULL SYLLABUS must be submitted and approved prior to your study abroad.
Courses whose primary subject is Ancient History, such as Ancient Rome or Greece, need to be submitted to the Classical Studies department for approval, even if they are in a history department at the abroad institution. This does not prevent these courses from being counted towards the major.
Study Abroad Credits may be used for Distributional Requirements only (Class of 2009 and earlier); they may not fulfill the General Requirement.
If you are a history major, your faculty advisor will also need to approve courses for use in your concentration. Study abroad courses may not be approved for the core requirements for a history major with one exception: 1 pre-1800 history course will be accepted.
HIST 180-series
- HIST 181: European pre-1800
- HIST 182: European post-1800
- HIST 183: American pre-1800
- HIST 184: American post-1800
- HIST 185: World pre-1800
- HIST 186: World post-1800
Please note that these numbers do not reflect course level, but rather their content. History majors should consult with their faculty advisors to determine the appropriate level and which requirement a given course may fulfill in their major program. Your faculty advisor should note this information on your worksheet when allocating the course to the proper requirement.
