Witnessing beauty that captures the heart, standing on foreign ground rather than only reading about it, coming to understand the world and one’s place in it — Catholic University offers its students such experiences through 25 study-abroad programs located in a dozen countries in Europe, South America and Australia.

Approximately 80 CUA students per year spend a semester abroad in one of these programs. About a quarter of them even get to witness first-hand how other countries are governed by working as interns for members of the parliaments of the United Kingdom, Ireland or the European Union (see the article on parliamentary internships).

At right are a few photos taken by CUA study-abroad students.

Top: CUA student Amanda Shaw, who studied at England’s University of Oxford in 2006, took this photo of Christ Church Cathedral, one of the university’s chapels.

Middle: CUA’s study-abroad program in Rome often includes an educational visit to the ruins of Pompeii.

Bottom: Student Jennifer Arrigotti, who studied in Rome in 2006, took this photo of the pope in St. Peter’s Square.