Every spring, students at Washington and Lee have the opportunity to immerse themselves in a single class for four weeks. Many apply to take their spring term course somewhere abroad to study a new topic while simultaneously exploring a new country.
This year there are 14 Spring Term Abroad, or STA, courses being offered, such as three business classes across Europe, language courses in Germany, Japan, Costa Rica and Spain, a new journalism course in Barbados and many more.
Libby DeVooght, ’26, will be taking the classics course in Rome this year. “I’m a classics minor, so it will be so exciting to see what I’m reading about in-person. I’ll get to see all of this architecture and artwork in their original locations, and I can’t wait for this experience,” she said.
While many students will also get this special opportunity in their respective courses, one group of students will not. One theater course was scheduled to go to London, but it was canceled after students had already been accepted into the course.
“There were some unforeseen circumstances that happened with the course. We do everything in our power to make sure these courses run, but with all the moving pieces, sometimes things don’t work out,” said Jillian Murphy, the study abroad coordinator and assistant director of the Center for International Education.
Those planning on attending this experience were surprised by the change, including Mariah Scott, ’25. She said she got an email from the study abroad office that the trip had been canceled just three weeks after she was accepted into the course.
“I would have liked more correspondence from the teacher himself about this,” Scott said. “I loved my past Spring Term Abroad courses and my past experiences were extremely fun, but I think they need a better process when things like this happen.”
The office is doing what they can to still offer an abroad opportunity to the affected students, Murphy said.
“We try to share information about some of the other study abroad opportunities since we have internship grants and semester or year-long study abroad that’s not competitive,” said Murphy.
Those who will be traveling off-campus during the spring will get invaluable experiences through their courses, Murphy said.
“I think it’s so important to learn how other countries work and meet people who are different from you.” Murphy said. “It changes how you think. You develop personally and become more independent by being put into a new environment.”
In 2026, the Study Abroad office plans to offer the most amount of STA courses since the program began. While not every class is confirmed as there is a rigorous, two-year approval process, there should be somewhere around 25 available courses, Murphy said.
“It’s still early to know our exact number of courses for sure, but I’m very excited for next year. I’m a little nervous, because of the amount of work that goes into it on the part of the faculty program directors, approval committees and numerous other offices on campus. Next year we will have a great list of course offerings,” Murphy said.
