Student experience abroad

Studying abroad for HRM

Be a part of one of the most exciting, educational, and personally rewarding experiences imaginable! The School of Hotel and Restaurant Management at Northern Arizona University offers an array of study abroad trips–a chance to earn college credit while living and traveling overseas. Learn more about our programs offered below.  Two of our most popular trips are the Discovering Gastronomy trip and the Summer Study in Europe trip.

Previous programs

Spring Break 2022: NAU in Mexico: Study at Sea

Course: HA 499
Credits: 3.00
Travel dates: March 13 – 20, 2022
Faculty leader: Fred DeMicco, Hotel & Restaurant Management

Summer 2022: NAU in Italy: Discovering Gastronomy – Tuscany

Course: HA 499, HA 399, or HA 380 (counts towards HRM elective)
Credits: 3.00
Travel dates: May 16 – June 1, 2022
Faculty leader: Fred DeMicco & Mark Molinaro, Hotel & Restaurant Management

Discovering Gastronomy

A Study of French Terroir and Tradition

A three-week, three-credit course in France beginning in late May through mid-June.

Gastronomy is the study of food and culture. This intimate immersion program is carefully designed to unveil the culture, cuisine, history, tradition, and terroir of France. We will be visiting 1 to 3 star Guide Michelin restaurants and various traditional French food and beverage producers.  A sample of the places we will be visiting include:

In addition to kitchens, hotels and wineries, students will be visiting historic towns and cultural landmarks. The main objective of this course is to provide students with a meaningful understanding of how the French people weave their daily food/beverage connections into their everyday life. The lessons from this program will give students the framework to better understand how to make connections with our culture and apply them to their future leadership roles.

Itinerary

The Discovering Gastronomy program will take students through a comprehensive journey through the gastronomic centers of France from late May through mid-June each year.

The program will highlight restaurants, hotels, producers, and French specialty products including: cheese, bread honey, nougat, wine and mustard.

Our time will be spent in these main regions (tentative):

• Nice/Monaco or Bordeaux: 4-5 days
• Provence/Valence or La Rochelle: 2-3 days
• Lyon or Nantes: 2-3 days
• Dijon or Saint Malo: 2-3 days
• Lausanne/Bress or Clecy: 2-3 days
• Reins/Paris or Arromanches/Paris: 4-5 days

At the end of April we host a Workshop experience that will include:

• Dining etiquette
• Basic French words and phrases
• Intro to French culture
• Trip planning and preparation
• Review online course component
• Introduce blog feature of course

There will also be a reunion/re-entry dinner towards the beginning of the next academic school year to reflect and share experiences and memories.

Accommodation and transportation

During this program, students and staff will be staying in Ibis hotels at various destinations. We will be renting vehicles for in-country transportation through our route up to Dijon, as public transportation will not accomplish our goals for this portion of the journey. Once we reach Dijon, we will be taking a train to Paris and using public transportation systems to reach our remaining destinations.

Our faculty members

This program will be led by Chef Mark Molinaro, who has over 20 years of cooking/teaching experience under classically trained French chefs.

Summer study with a European flair

A five-week, 6 credit summer experience.

Be a part of one of the most exciting, educational, and personally rewarding experiences imaginable.

The School of Hotel and Restaurant Management at Northern Arizona University offers a Summer Study in Europe program every other year – a chance to earn college credit while living and traveling in Europe.

Study at NAU Partner Schools in the Netherlands and Switzerland. Learn about Europe–the people, the customs, the nature of the European hospitality industry–while traveling throughout the continent.

Applications will be available during the year of the trip through the Center for International Education.

View trip information

For additional study abroad options, visit the Center for International Education’s page.