Make the most of your degree by participating in opportunities that expand your growing academic knowledge beyond the classroom.
Develop professional skills and experiences
Test possible career paths
Build your professional network and resume
Participate in local or international programs
Study Abroad
What better way to learn about a language and culture than to immerse yourself in the locales in which they are practiced and lived? UBC offers on- and off-campus opportunities to help you find and finance your Spanish study abroad program.
Study Abroad: French
Exchange programs allow you to learn from another perspective and take courses that may not be available at UBC. All courses successfully completed abroad (with the exception of activity courses) that appear on your transcript will transfer to UBC and can be applied towards your UBC program. Exchange students pay the same or comparable tuition as your regular UBC tuition. UBC has established partnerships with various institutions in France, Belgium, Switzerland, and Québec.
For details about exchange programs, and for more information about other international programs available at UBC, see the Go Global website.
Campus France Canada is a governmental agency that helps students to find appropriate matches between their academic objectives and the great diversity of higher education opportunities in France. It provides online access to a database of all programs, prerequisites and requirements in all fields of study. It also facilitates the visa application process and provides practical information about housing, financial aid, work permit and all you need to know about living and getting around in France. For everything you need to know about French higher education, visit Campus France Canada website.
Discover another region of Canada while learning French!
Explore is a five-week intensive language-learning course. You can take the course in the spring or summer, whichever you prefer. You can also take a job for the rest of the summer, if you wish.
Participants in Explore receive a $2,000 bursary (taxable income) that covers tuition fees for the course, instructional materials, meals, and accommodation. The educational institution you will be attending receives the bursary directly.
Explore offers courses adapted to your level (beginner, intermediate, or advanced), as well as many activities that allow you to meet with others from across the country who wish to improve their French. Some schools may give credits or equivalences for Explore, so check with the institution to which you wish to transfer your credits or where you wish to obtain equivalences.
More information on the Explore website.
A number of official-language programs funded by the Government of Canada and administered by the Ministry of Education are available to residents of British Columbia. Among them, the Official Languages Study Fellowship is a one-time fellowship that encourages students to enter a full-time post-secondary program offered in French at a French language or bilingual institution, in Canada, for a period of one year of study. The maximum value of the fellowship is $2,500 (this amount is subject to change). For more details on BC Official Languages Programs, visit the Ministry of Education website.
Are you interested in sharing your knowledge, culture, and language with young people in France while improving your fluency in French? Acquiring hands-on experience of teaching and learning skills that will be useful to your future career?
The Foreign Language Assistant Program offers you the opportunity to work in France for 7 months, teaching English to French students of all ages.
The job of an assistant consists in working with small groups of students, for about 12 hours a week, and in helping them to develop confidence in speaking and understanding English. You will organise conversation-based activities, take part in school-exchange projects, provide personal tutoring, etc.
To apply, candidates must be:
- Aged between 20 and 30 at the beginning of the contract
- Enrolled in university and have completed two years of undergraduate studies
- Proficient in French
- A Canadian citizen and residing in Canada
Visit the Ambassade de France au Canada website.
A cotutelle is a PhD program offered jointly by two higher education institutions: one in Canada, the other one in France. It allows the students to get a double/joint PhD degree delivered and recognized by both the institutions. The students enrolled in a Cotutelle PhD program get an invaluable international research experience. Their research works are conducted both in Canada and France. Joint PhD programs are an extraordinary asset for the students and for the cooperation between Canadian and French institutions.
For information about UBC cotutelle policy, see the Faculty of Graduate Studies website.
Visit the French Embassy website for a complete presentation of the procedures for enrolling in a cotutelle.
CampusBourses is a search engine that delivers instant information on funding opportunities for studying in France. From the licence (bachelor) to the postdoc levels, CampusBourses contains data on grant and scholarship programs of national and local governments, corporations, foundations, and institutions of higher education.
The French Embassy website also provides information about scholarships and grants available for Canadian graduate students who wish to study in France.
Study Abroad: Spanish
Exchange programs allow you to learn from another perspective and take courses that may not be available at UBC. All courses successfully completed abroad (with the exception of activity courses) that appear on your transcript will transfer to UBC and can be applied towards your UBC program. Exchange students pay the same or comparable tuition as your regular UBC tuition. UBC has established partnerships with various institutions in Spanish speaking countries.
For details about exchange programs, and for more information about other international programs available at UBC, see the Go global website.
Study Abroad: Italian
Exchange programs allow you to learn from another perspective and take courses that may not be available at UBC. All courses successfully completed abroad (with the exception of activity courses) that appear on your transcript will transfer to UBC and can be applied towards your UBC program.
Go Global offers you a chance to study on exchange at:
- Milan’s Bocconi University (for Commerce and Economics Major students only; languages of instruction: Italian and English);
- Rome’s LUISS University (for students from Law, Economics, Political Science and Commerce; languages of instruction: Italian and English);
- Bologna’s Università di Bologna in the heart of the medieval city (open to most fields of study; language of instruction: Italian … but they are very understanding)
For details about exchange programs, and for more information about other international programs available at UBC, see the Go global website.
Every year the Ministry announces an International competition by which a certain number of scholarships are offered to students intending to go to Italy for research reasons (the primary goal) or to study Italian (for two or three months in the summer in Universities like Siena or Perugia). Candidates apply with their home country’s Italian Embassy (usually in April), and the Embassy determines the length of subsidized stay in Italy for each student. Airfare to Italy is not covered.
Study Abroad: Portuguese
Exchange programs allow you to learn from another perspective and take courses that may not be available at UBC. All courses successfully completed abroad (with the exception of activity courses) that appear on your transcript will transfer to UBC and can be applied towards your UBC program. Exchange students pay the same or comparable tuition as your regular UBC tuition. UBC has established partnerships with various institutions in Brazil.
For details about exchange programs, and for more information about other international programs available at UBC, see the Go global website.
French at Work
French at Work (FREN 346) is a community-based experiential learning course that enables students to work with partner organizations within the francophone community, giving them the linguistic skills to interact in a French-speaking workplace—from learning the appropriate etiquette to interact with colleagues and higher ranking employees in a respectful manner, to applying for bilingual job positions, writing a CV and cover letter, and participating in job interviews and job fairs in French.
I now have the confidence to apply for jobs that require knowledge of the French language.
Spanish for Community
Strengthen your linguistic skills, spice up your portfolio, and make a positive impact on the Hispanic community locally and abroad through community projects related to social justice, diversity and inclusion, human and earth rights, public health and education, and art and culture. Spanish for Community is a community-based experiential and service learning initiative at FHIS.
It’s amazing to see students discover the power of a second language and what they can do to impact the world with it.
La Cultura Italiana a Vancouver
Participate in community-engaged learning projects with the Italian program, where students provide a “service” to partner organizations in exchange for an “experience” that gives you a chance to develop cultural knowledge and Italian communicative skills in a fun and practical way.
Doing this project in collaboration with Il Centro helped make what we learn in class feel more connected to the wider Italian community, which I think is important when learning a new language.
Arts Co-op
Graduate with more than a degree and explore your career options with Arts Co-op.
As an Arts Co-op student, you’ll gain 12 months of paid work experience and a network of professional contacts through a variety of opportunities in the public, private and non-profit sectors. During the course of your degree, you’ll alternate between study terms and three paid, full-time work terms.
Arts Co-op partners with a diverse range of employers to provide transformative workplace learning experiences for your personal, academic, and professional growth while helping you prepare for your future career.
Master your job search
Enhance your job search skills through extensive and specialized pre-employment training, including resume and cover letter writing, interview preparation, personalized career coaching and ongoing workplace support.
Expand your skill set
Diversify your degree and stand out to employers by gaining transferable skills and experiences in a broad range of roles.Some professional skills that you can develop include:
- Critical thinking and creative problem solving
- Research, analysis and project management
- Communications and writing
- Digital media and technology
- Leadership and teamwork
Apply
Intake for the program occurs every September and is open to students in second or third year. Visit artscoop.ubc.ca in August for application deadlines and information session dates.