About Our Office

The mission of Lewis & Clark is to know the traditions of the liberal arts, to test their boundaries through ongoing exploration, and to hand on to successive generations the tools and discoveries of this quest. To this end, the Overseas & Off-Campus programs are provided as an extension of our on-campus academic offerings.

By these means the institution pursues the aims of all liberal learning: to seek knowledge for its own sake and to prepare for civic leadership. Our programs provide students the opportunity to experience what it means to be involved in first hand knowledge of particular issues of each host environment.

Lewis & Clark mounts these programs as both separately valid and mutually supportive enterprises. In all its endeavors it seeks to be a community of scholars who are alive to inquiry, open to diversity, and disciplined to work in an interdependent world.

Lewis & Clark is an internationally-oriented campus that proudly values overseas study. Our programs enjoy the enthusiastic support of the school’s administration, faculty, coaches, and staff. Nearly 60 percent of Lewis & Clark undergraduates study overseas or off‐campus, choosing from more than 30 programs each year — most offered outside of Western Europe. Programs are a semester or academic year in length; the college does not offer short-term programs. The College’s commitment to international education is deeply rooted and widespread. In fact, many students report that they chose to attend Lewis & Clark expressly because of its robust international programming. 

Overseas program types range from intensive language programs, to general culture programs, to specific departmental programs (for example, in biology, chemistry, psychology, or music). Students have many opportunities to pursue research opportunities abroad, mentored by program Faculty Leaders. Lewis & Clark faculty help to develop and lead many Overseas programs, which creates a powerful relationship between on and off-campus academic and research interests. 

Since the overseas study program began in 1962, more than 11,000 students and some 275 faculty members have participated in over 800 programs in 68 countries on six continents. The College also attracts students from all over the world. Most of Lewis & Clark’s students come from more than 500 miles away, with about 10 percent coming from another country. In recent years, the College has had students representing more than 50 countries on campus. The student‐run International Affairs Symposium, acclaimed by the >Wall Street Journal and >New >York Times, brings the global experience alive on campus and within the larger community.

The US State Department continues to list Lewis & Clark’s study abroad program in its Top 10 for undergraduates. Lewis & Clark is in the nation’s Top 10 for Fulbright honors and is perennially a top Peace Corps sending institution - a reflection of our strong international curriculum and commitment to Overseas programs.