World Travelers
Chances are good that during their undergraduate careers, students in the College of Letters & Science will spend some time — a semester, maybe a summer term — studying in a foreign country. That’s because UW–Madison remains one of the top schools in the country in terms of student participation in study abroad programs. According to UW–Madison’s International Division, nearly 3,000 students participated in one of 300 different international programs available in countries around the world during the 2023-24 academic year.
Some students even managed to fit in more than one study abroad experience. Jess Randall, a two-year L&S Dean’s Ambassador majoring in biology and global health, traveled to Belize during the summer of her freshman year as part of a first-year interest group and conducted research on the impact of microplastics in coral reef environments. Later in her academic career, Randall spent a semester studying abroad in Rome, taking classes about how politics, society and the culture of food are intertwined.
“I think that’s the most amazing part of study abroad,” Randall says. “No matter what you are going to do or what your goals in life are, if you embrace that opportunity to go to another place, whatever you do there and whatever you learn there will either indirectly or directly impact your future and the way you view the world.”
The L&S majors with the highest study abroad participation during the 2023–24 academic year were, in order: political science, psychology, economics, journalism, Spanish and computer sciences. The top locations for UW students studying abroad were Spain, Italy, England, Denmark, France, Ireland, Australia, Costa Rica, Germany and Japan.
Just because some Paranthropus robustus individuals were the unfortunate victims of predators, it would be completely unfair to conclude that whole species was somehow bumbling.
That's the percentage of UW–Madison undergraduates who major in more than one area. The College of Letters & Science is home to four of the five most popular fields in which to double-major, including computer sciences, data science, economics and psychology.
Under Construction
The L&S construction zones will be wrapping up work soon. First up is Morgridge Hall, the new home of the School of Computer, Data & Information Sciences (CDIS), named for UW–Madison alums and longtime philanthropists John (’55) and Tashia (’55) Morgridge. The building’s exterior structure is now fully complete and scheduled to open to students and faculty this fall. Not far behind is Irving & Dorothy Levy Hall, the future hub of the humanities. Fueled in part by the generous support of brothers Marv (’68, JD’71) and Jeff (’72) Levy, the building is slated to open in the summer of 2026 and will be home to eight L&S departments.
Art Party
The party is just getting started for the Department of Art History, which is celebrating 100 years since its founding. It kicked off with a series of three panel discussions that brought distinguished alumni back to campus to talk about the values of digital and public humanities, transformative curatorial practice and campus art museums as learning labs. “We’ve been inviting alumni back to help us think forward about how we can continue to serve students and the public,” says Anna Andrzejewski, a professor of American art and architecture. It will culminate with the official centennial celebration on Sept. 25–26.
Learn more at arthistory.wisc.edu/arthistorycentennial.
