IFSA-Butler at Murdoch University

  Australia

• Perth: 
Perth

Term: Academic Year, Fall, Spring 
Dates: February - November

Description: Located fifteen kilometers southwest of the city of Perth and eight kilometers for the port city of Fremantle, Murdoch University is named after Sir Walter Murdoch, a distinguished essayist and biographer. Estabilished in 1973, Murdoch is a modern, progressive, multicultural institution committed to flexible, multidisiplinary study. Students enjoy its friendly, unique and personal environment.

Murdoch's seven schools of study include Biological and Environmental Sciences; Economics, Commerce and Law; Education; Humanities; Mathematical and Physical Sciences; Social Sciences and Veterinary Studies.

On campus students will find a health center, two banks, a bookshop, computer laboratories, and numerous cafeterias and international snack shops. There is also a lovely Chinese garden complete with flora, fauna and chinese architecture. The Recreation and Sports Center includes tennis, squash, netball, basketball and badminton courts, as well as a fitness center.

Murdoch University is part of IFSA-Butler's Ultimate Australia program. Ultimate Australia allows students to experience the "real Australia" by studying in less touristy cities while enjoying an urban orientation in Sydney, followed by a visit to the Outback before the start of the academic semester.

Highlights: Australia is a land of compelling extremes. The oldest datable land forms on earth are found in Australia, but it was the last continent to be discovered by Western explorers. It is the longest continuously inhabited continent on earth but has a written history of only 213 years. It is the smallest continent on the planet but it is also the largest island. Settled as a convict prison, today the country of Australia is one of the freest democratic societies in the world. As large as the continental United States in land area, it is home to barely 18 million people, the same population as the state of California. In a land of vast unsettled spaces, over 80 percent of the population lives in one of the five major cities.

Originally the European settlers were almost exclusively English and Irish. Today the country has sizable populations of Italians, Greeks, Malays, Indonesians and Chinese to enrich the cultural mix of this once isolated island. It is this diversity and this incredible backdrop that make Australia truly an education by itself. Combine this with the academic excellence of its universities, and you have a study abroad destination like no other.

The academic year in Australia is reversed due to the seasonal inversion in the southern hemisphere. The academic year roughly follows the calendar year, beginning in late February and ending in late November. The application deadlines for IFSA-Butler programs in Australia are November 15 for the spring semester and academic year and March 15 for the fall semester. Remember that if you leave in February for your 'spring' semester, you will be arriving in Australia at the end of their summer and will stay until the middle of their winter season.

Degree Level: Bachelors Degree (Undergraduate)

Cost in US$: Inquire for more info.

Experience Required: no