Global Travel Program

Mark your calendars! We are excited to offer four amazing global travel programs in the 2025-2026 school year!

Any student interested in participating in a Global Travel Program must complete this application by October 5. Trip leaders and our global travel committee will review applications and select students motivated to engage in place-based learning and ready for the challenges associated with each program. These programs are intentional, experiential, small-group education opportunities. While we’d love all students to participate in our Global Travel Programs during their time at BUA, students are not guaranteed admittance to a Global Travel Program in a particular year.

Please note that the stated trip costs per participant below are approximate and may vary slightly depending on final enrollment numbers.

Limited financial aid is available for families who qualify, and priority is given to upperclassmen and those who have not previously received financial assistance for global travel. Students should apply to any and all programs that interest them. If your family qualifies for financial aid, Nastaran Hakimi will reach out to discuss details, or you can feel free to contact her directly with questions at nrhakimi@bu.edu.

Applications are now open, with a deadline of October 5, 2025. Email Elisha Meyer, Director of Global Programs, with any questions at emmeyer@bu.edu.

Apply for 2025-2026 Global Travel Programs

Andalucía: Crossroads of Civilization

Andalucía, Spain | March 7-15, 2026 | Cost: $4,800

This trip will explore the geographic, linguistic, political, religious, mathematic, and cultural cross-pollination of Andalucía. From Roman bridges and Islamic gardens to medieval synagogues and soaring cathedrals, our itinerary invites us to consider how layered identities are formed through centuries of exchange, creativity, and resilience. Immersive visits to key architectural and historic sites – including La Mezquita de Córdoba, the Alhambra, and the Roman ruins of Italica – will reveal how cultural borrowing, religious coexistence, and the evolution of shared spaces have shaped the pluralistic societies of Andalucía.

We will engage with Andalucía’s rich intellectual, scientific, and artistic heritage and experience its vibrant culture firsthand through a flamenco lesson and a paella cooking class. Students will learn about tessellations and the geometry of Islamic forms by observing and sketching arabesques, and will then have the opportunity to create their own designs in a taracea (inlaid wood), workshop. Participants will have the chance to practice – or pick up – some Spanish through interactions with locals and through daily opt-in Spanish conversation tables.

This program is open to students in all grades, with preference to 11th and 12th graders. The trip itinerary entails moderate walking in mainly urban environments.

Trip Leader: Ms. Elisha Meyer

Jazz, Art, and Gumbo: BUA in NOLA

New Orleans, USA | March 9-13, 2026 | Cost: $3,500

Few American cities have had the impact on music that New Orleans has. From the roots of Jazz, Zydeco, the Blues, New Orleans and its musicians have seen and played it all, and are eager to share their secrets. New Orleans continues to be a haven for artists of all kinds, offering a rich and complex history from which to draw inspiration. Our trip to New Orleans will focus on several aspects of the city’s culture and history, including enjoying Jazz performances and workshops, getting to meet and know local artists in a variety of media, exploring the complicated and painful legacy of slavery and racism, and delving into Creole culinary classics, among other activities and excursions.

This program is open to students in all grades. The trip itinerary entails moderate walking in urban environments.

Trip Leader: Dr. Brett Abigaña

California Dreaming: Environment and Expression

California, USA | March 9-14, 2026 | Cost: $4,000

“California is a place that invents itself,” writes Richard Rodriguez, “over and over again, out of its own ruins.” This week-long trip invites you to explore how places tell stories—and how California’s beauty, abundance, and contradictions have elevated it to the level of myth in both the American and global imagination. In the Bay Area and along the coast, we will meet artists, food justice activists, tech leaders, and conservationists—people working at the intersections of creativity, capitalism, sustainability, and ecological crisis. We’ll explore San Francisco’s iconic neighborhoods, from the Castro to the Mission, and visit storied sites such as the Presidio, the Palace of Fine Arts, and City Lights Bookstore. Along the coast, we’ll hike in the Redwoods, kayak the Elkhorn Slough, and swim in the Pacific. Each day, you’ll pause to reflect in writing on what you’ve seen and felt—considering not only California’s myths and realities, but also your own experiences and imagination. You don’t need to be “a writer” to join us; you only need a willingness to slow down, notice, and express your discoveries on the page.

This program is open to students in all grades. The trip itinerary entails moderate walking and hiking in urban areas as well as more rugged terrain. A swim test will be administered to all participants in advance of travel.

Trip Leader: Ms. Ariana Kelly

Powering Possibility: Climate and Sustainability

Iceland | June 13-21, 2026 | Cost: $4,500

The aim of this program is to have students examine the relationship between climate, energy, and sustainability in West and South Iceland, where the unique natural resources have shaped how scientists, practitioners, and communities approach environmental management and climate change. Students will learn about climate science, geology, and renewable energy by hiking across glaciers, exploring active volcanic systems, visiting geothermal power plants and greenhouses, and meeting local scientists. They will also explore how science and culture intersect by visiting communities that have been affected by volcanoes and speaking with climate-focused authors like Andri Snær Magnason. Daily outdoor field excursions and conversations with locals will allow students to reflect on scientific literacy, long-term sustainability, and community resilience.

This program is open to students in all grades. The trip itinerary entails moderate hiking in rugged terrain. A swim test will be administered to all participants in advance of travel.

Trip Leader: Dr. Lizzy Karnaukh