COM400 International Internship in Communications – Strasbourg (Fall, Spring)

Open only to Newhouse majors and minors participating in a Communications based internship

This course is designed to guide students’ professional development during experience in the French workforce. Participation in the course will equip students with the practical skills needed to thrive in a globalized world of work—as well as the theoretical background and critical thinking abilities necessary to reflect on their position in that interconnected system.

This course must be taken for a letter grade.
Students may initially be registered for BPS400 and may update their registration once abroad.

Beginning Fall 2026, course registration will be replaced with COM475.

PSC300.4 The US Supreme Court & the World (Fall)

Taught in English.

Examine American jurisprudence, comparing it with the decisions of European and international courts. Proceeding by theme, students analyze courts’ approaches to issues such as free speech, terrorism, war crimes, environmental rights, child custody, abortion, human rights, and the balance of powers. Supplementing these thematic analyses, the course explores how international law shapes the US Supreme Court’s jurisprudence, and vice versa.

Similarly embedded in the course is an examination of theories of constitutional interpretation as applied by the Supreme Court and other courts. Finally, the course concludes with classroom discussions with the professor and practitioners about potential careers in international public and private law.

LIT400.1 Dread and Dark Humor (Spring)

Taught in English

Explore how 17th-century Europe transformed crisis into creativity through groundbreaking literature, art, and theater. From Shakespeare’s drama to Sor Juana’s poetry, you’ll analyze how anxiety and upheaval sparked bold new ideas—using humor, music, and storytelling to reshape human experience. With hands-on visual analysis and site visits in Strasbourg, this course brings early modern brilliance to life while sharpening your skills in interpreting complex texts and images.

HUM300.1 How to Save Humanity (Fall, Spring)

Think critically and creatively about how to foster human thriving, both individually and collectively, and the ethical as well as ecological underpinnings of sustainable wellbeing. Examine issues that negatively impact human happiness such as personal suffering, conflict, and climate change.

In what circumstances, ultimately, do humans flourish? This course takes on these urgent ethical and political challenges that define our collective future.

COM300.2 Comparative Tech Policy (Spring)

Taught in English

This course examines the shifting terrain of tech and AI regulation across Europe and the United States, tracing its roots from telecom oversight to today’s digital governance battles.

Students explore landmark policies like the GDPR, Digital Services Act, and Germany’s NetzDG, while analyzing Dublin’s rise as a tech hub and Brexit’s ripple effects. Juxtaposed with Europe’s regulatory state, the course investigates the U.S. ‘broligarchy’—the strategic alliance between tech giants and government—and its implications for freedom, sovereignty, and democracy. With site visits to the Council of Europe, European Parliament, and France’s Foreign Ministry, students gain firsthand insight into the politics shaping our digital future

Cross-listed with PSC 300.2

PSC300.2 Comparative Tech Policy (Spring)

Taught in English

This course examines the shifting terrain of tech and AI regulation across Europe and the United States, tracing its roots from telecom oversight to today’s digital governance battles.

Cross-listed with COM 300.2

PSC300.3 Museum Wars and Sacred Sites (Spring)

Taught in English

Explore how cultural heritage is governed across global and local levels, from UNESCO to community-led initiatives. This course delves into the politics of heritage policy—who decides what counts, whose voices are heard, and how power shapes preservation. Students will tackle urgent issues like museum decolonization, illicit trafficking, and heritage’s role in sustainable development, grounded in real-world case studies from Strasbourg. By the end, you’ll be equipped to critically assess heritage governance and rethink its future in a changing world.

FRE400.2 To the Barricades! The People & Movements that Made France (Fall, Spring)

New for Spring 2026!

Taught in French.

Explore the history of contemporary France and current French society from the point of view of the fighters and movements that have made this history: women and men of the people, rebels, immigrants, natives of the colonies, soldiers, resistance fighters, deputies, ministers and presidents. From the monarchy to the Republic, from the French Revolution to the French and European revolutions of the nineteenth century, from the construction of a colonial empire to its emancipation, from the First World War to the Second, from the liberation of France and Europe to the emergence of new challenges, the aim of this course is to understand and know France… its symbols, its values, its principles. A great deal of space will be given to primary sources, multiple documents and their analysis: paintings, caricatures, posters, texts, speeches, images and archive videos.

Includes required overnight trip to Paris.

Prerequisite: FRE 202 (or four semesters of college-level French)

PSC400.1 International Communications in the European Media (Fall, Spring)

Analyze trends in media and communication practices across Europe and how they intersect with European political institutions. Topics include mass media, development of media systems, and the effects of the media on the public. Look at the interaction of the European media industry with various sectors, including political parties, lobbyists, markets, NGOs, etc. A special focus will be on the relationship between media governance and European Institutions (including the Council of Europe, the European Court of Human Rights and the EU Parliament). Includes a study visit to the headquarters of an international organization in Strasbourg and selected guest speakers from the world of print and digital information.

Cross-listed: Also offered as COM442

BPS400 The Global Workplace: Intercultural Communication and Change (Fall, Spring)

The internship course is designed to guide students’ professional development as they navigate quickly changing career patterns. Participation will equip students with the practical skills needed to thrive in a globalized world of work — as well as the theoretical background and critical thinking abilities necessary to reflect on their position in that interconnected system.

Seminar-style discussions and reflective assignments will help students consider:

Why is it important to understand globalization as part of any contemporary workforce, no matter its location or employee make-up?
What long-term impacts has Covid-19 had on workplaces? What are some of the benefits – and drawbacks – of remote working, given my preferred workstyle?
How is the rapid development of artificial intelligence impacting professional practice and ethics in my chosen sector?
What are some pressing global challenges that my chosen sector needs to grapple with – and how could I help address them?
How can I best articulate my professional experiences and goals, in ways that showcase my intercultural competencies?

Class activities will focus on applied skill building and reflective discussions with other students taking part in an international internship. Students will have the opportunity to network with a variety of global professionals with established careers, design an intervention meant to improve their chosen workplace or sector, and receive individualized feedback about their professional performance.

This course is required of all students participating in a Community Internship, in addition to internship hours (45 hours at internship site per credit). Placements cannot be guaranteed and may not be within your field of study. Interested students should submit the Internship Request form(s) and resume as part of the application process by the deadline and speak with their college advisor to find out whether there are any limitations or restrictions on how internship credit counts in their degree.