SHUFORD SEMESTER AWAY IN LONDON!

January 5th – April 26th, 2025

More information about the Shuford Semester Away can be found on the Study Abroad website.

Program Overview & Highlights

The Shuford Program in Entrepreneurship partners with Honors Carolina for an immersive entrepreneurship experience in London. Students will explore startup communities and ecosystems in London, focusing on Leading, Emerging, and Developing communities. The Shuford & Honors Semester on Entrepreneurship allows students to live and work in an iconic city while completing the Entrepreneurship minor. This program combines virtual communities of UNC students taking classes while sharing their experiences in entrepreneurial internships in a variety of industries.

Students in this program study at UNC’s Winston House on historic Bedford Square in one of the most exciting cities in the world. Participants in the Honors Semester in London live among Londoners in a central London neighborhood, attend seminars within the shadow of the British Museum, conduct research at the British Library, learn from professors who make London their home, and take advantage daily of the artistic, musical, theatrical, and cultural riches of this unique metropolis.

Students will also participate in an internship for 20 hours per week, which will provide valuable educational experiences in a cross-cultural context. Internship placements combined with academic coursework will allow students to appreciate connections between theory and practice, and to gain exposure to potential career choices. A suitable placement for each student will be based on the student’s goals, interests, previous coursework, and skills. Positions are available in NGOs, health professions, art and design, education, theater, business, social enterprise, entrepreneurship, marketing and PR, museums, social services, and more.

All participants remain enrolled at UNC-CH, earning Honors Carolina course credit for a full semester’s work. Courses in the program count toward fulfillment of general as well as major or minor requirements.

Highlights

18 weeks in one of Europe’s most most historical cities
Complete a global internship
Earn UNC credit while abroad
Free time to explore the local area with your classmates

Program Components

Students will earn at least 15 credit hours through 5 required courses during Shuford Semester Away in London and complete an internship that satisfies Shuford Program requirements:

HNRS 378: London Experience (1 UNC graded credit)
- The London Experience is a guided journey through London and UK cultural and historic sites. All students are required to take this course during their semester to ensure they are getting an immersive and enriched cultural experience while abroad.
ECON 325H: Entrepreneurship: Principles, Concepts, Frameworks, and Fluency (3 UNC graded credits)
- Prerequisites: ECON 125
- This class provides a foundation in key principles, concepts, and fluency in entrepreneurship, specifically in the areas of design thinking, understanding consumers and customers, company strategy, and entrepreneurial finance and capital formation. Additionally, the class introduces important skills and tools important in startups and growth companies such as branding, storytelling and video making. This course is taught as a two-week intensive course of study offered at the beginning of the seminar, will provide a granular approach to the most important tasks required to create a new enterprise. The course will meet for more than four hours a day at American Underground in Durham.
ECON 327H: London Loves (3 UNC graded credits)
- Prerequisites: ECON 325
- This class provides a unique and exciting look at entrepreneurship and innovation in London and a number of the industries that help make London such a special City. London has become one of the centers of Finance, Flowers, Fashion, Retail, Food, Drinks, Art, Sport, Creativity, Tourism, Venture Capital, Web 3.0, Media, and Baking! The class will take a deep dive into a number of these industries through the lens of site visits, guests, Cases, readings, videos, and experiences. We will call Winston House home, but we will be all over London visiting venues, stadiums, accelerators, creative spaces, offices, and a private garden. The class will celebrate London’s innovation, creativity, and entrepreneurship, as well as Britannia’s personality. We call it London Loves.
ECON 393H: Practicum in Entrepreneurship (6 UNC graded credits)
- Prerequisites: ECON 125, ECON 325
- This capstone course is a hands-on learning lab to prepare you for entrepreneurial life. This class introduces you to speakers, readings, podcasts, exercises, assignments and practical lessons about entrepreneurship. It provides you with critical analysis of your performance as seen through the lens of other Founders, Entrepreneurs, and Senior Executives. You develop both practical skills of financial and operational management and soft skills for personal and professional development needed to be competitive in entrepreneurial activity.
- ECON 393 also fulfills the HI-INTERN (IDEAs in Action) general education requirement.
Internship with Local Partner in London

Students will also enroll in ONE (1) elective course. Course descriptions can be found here:

GLBL 401H: Right Wing Populism in Global Perspective
DRAM 120H: Contemporary London Theatre and its Origins
POLI 232H: Contemporary British Politics
MEJO 447H: Media in the UK
HNRS 370: The London Art World
ENGL 253H: Imagining Literary London

Eligibility

This program is open to all UNC undergraduates (second-year status or greater) with a 3.0 GPA who have completed ECON 125 program. Students who successfully compelte this program will be admitted to the Shuford Program in Entrepreneurship Minor.

Cost

More information on cost coming soon!

Financial Aid & Shuford Scholarships

How does funding for Shuford Semeseter Away in London work? The Office of Scholarships and Student Aid can provide an estimated financial aid package to help you prepare financially for your program. We encourage you to contact OSSA as soon as possible with any questions about funding. Scholarships are also available directly through the Study Abroad Office.

F.A.Q.s

When does the application open and close for the Shuford Away program?
The application opens early in the Fall with a closing date of September 10. Check the website for more details: https://honorscarolina.unc.edu/global-honors/entrepreneurship/
Are there any other Shuford Away programs besides London?
At this time, the only Shuford Away cohort is in London.
Can I apply to the program before I’ve finished ECON 125?
You can apply to the Shuford Semester Away program if you have completed or are currently enrolled in ECON 125. You must have completed it with a grade of C or better.
Does completing the Shuford Semester Away semester mean that I have completed the minor or are there additional courses I must take?
The Shuford Away program completes the core classes of the minor but you would still need to complete either ECON 101 or ECON 111 before graduation.
Is the Shuford Semeseter Away Internship paid?
That depends on the internship you select. Some students have paid internships, others do not.
Does acceptance into the Shuford Semester Away program mean acceptance to the entrepreneurship minor, or do I have to submit separate applications for both?
Acceptance AND completion of Shuford Semester Away also gives acceptance into the larger Shuford Program.