From Mountains to Seas

NEPAL, THAILAND, VIETNAM
EXPERIENCE DESIGN & MANAGEMENT (ExDM)

Join a four-week study abroad in Nepal, Thailand, and Vietnam exploring how guides and instructors shape educational travel experiences. From an extended trek through the Himalayan mountains to cultural, outdoor, and guided experiences throughout Southeast Asia, students will explore principles of positive psychology and examine the behaviors that foster awe, savoring, and other positive outcomes through the lens of experience value. Students will serve as both participants and research assistants, observing and evaluating how guides structure experiences across challenging, aesthetic, and cultural settings. Using experience value and the theory of structured experience to guide our work, we will identify characteristics of effective guiding and examine how they elevate awe, savoring, and overall experience value. Our goal is to develop research that can be presented and published in academic settings.

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Courses

Students will enroll in 6 credit hours during spring term 2027:

EXDM 311—Advances in Positive Psychology in Experience Design (3 credit hours)
EXDM 490R—Special Topics in Experience Design and Management (3 credit hours)

Students may not take any other courses on this program, including BYU Online courses, without approval by the program director and ISP.

Cost

$11,200–11,600

Includes Latter-day Saint undergraduate full tuition (increased cost for graduate and non–Latter-day Saint students), airfare, airport transfers, group travel within Nepal and Asia, housing, most breakfasts, some lunches and dinners, group experience activities, and international health insurance.

Does not include other meals or personal expenses.

Funding Sources

Regular BYU tuition scholarships, Pell Grants, and Federal Insured Student Loans may be applied to study abroad programs.

Students who submit the financial aid section of the ISP application and who have a current FAFSA form on file at the Financial Aid Office (A-41 ASB) will be considered for a Study Abroad scholarship.

Academic departments and colleges may assist with scholarships and grants.

Private grants and scholarships outside of BYU may also assist (see kennedy.byu.edu/scholarships).

Scholarships are not applied until the last payment is due.

Preparation

During the semester before departure, students are required to participate in an international cross-cultural preparation course (IAS 201R, 0.5 credit hour). This class will be held Thursdays from 4 to 6 PM during second block of winter semester 2026. Part-time BYU students and non-BYU students will need to pay an additional tuition fee for enrolling in this prep class.

Students must arrive in Nepal with the group and may not leave the group until the program is complete. The Himalayan trek is demanding and is at high altitude. Students need to commit to consistent training during winter semester. Altitude medication will be necessary for each participant to manage the effects of high-altitude trekking.

International study programs are physically, emotionally, and mentally demanding, so you must be in good health to participate. These programs often take place in locations that do not have the same level of safety and services in terms of transportation, living conditions, residential accommodations, food, public behavior, and policing that you may be used to on campus. If you have further questions or concerns on this, please see our travel policy.

Housing

Students will stay in hostels, tea houses, guest houses, and hotels with other students in the program. The program will arrange all housing.

Travel

Flights to and from the program, and all inter-program flights, which are covered by the program cost will be arranged by the program directors through a BYU Travel agent. Students may not purchase their own flights.

BYU Travel
280 HRCB
(801) 422-6293
travel@byu.edu

Application Process

Students must be 18 years of age or older to participate.

Complete the online application here. A nonrefundable $35 application fee is required; applicants will be interviewed once the application is complete.

Students will be notified via e-mail of their acceptance into the program. The first payment is due upon acceptance; please refer to the Payment Information page.

Priority Deadline: 1 November 2026
Application Deadline: 1 December 2026

Program Adjustments

International Study Programs (ISP) reserves the right to cancel this program, revise its offerings, or make any adjustments to the preliminary cost.

If it becomes necessary for ISP to cancel a program, all program payments made to BYU ISP will be refunded to the student’s BYU Financial account.

ISP is the only office authorized to cancel any of its programs.

Faculty

Patti Freeman
W451 TNRB
(801) 422-1286
patti_freeman@byu.edu

Brian Hill
W453 TNRB
(801) 422-1287
brian_hill@byu.edu

Contact Us

International Study Programs
101 HRCB
(801) 422-3686
isp@byu.edu

ISP Student Handbook

To see the student handbook, click here.

Payment Schedule

To see the payment schedule, click here.

From Mountains to Seas

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More Information

Courses

Cost

Funding Sources

Preparation

Housing

Travel

Application Process

Program Adjustments

Faculty

Contact Us

ISP Student Handbook

Payment Schedule