As national boundaries have lost their traditional significance over the past thirty years through increased travel, global telecommunications, and international trade and investment, it has become important for individuals to possess firsthand experience with other cultures. Traditionally, American undergraduates accomplish this by studying abroad. In this paper, the authors describe their research, which explores whether students enrolled in courses abroad during five-week University of Delaware January-term programs acquire more "global awareness" than those who studied at home and enrolled in similar course in the same January term. They developed a survey instrument designed to measure student perceptions and recollections about their attitudes toward four categories they identify as the essential elements of "cultural awareness": (1) intercultural awareness; (2) personal growth and development; (3) awareness of global interdependence; and (4) functional knowledge of world geography and language. The four broad categories used to develop the survey items form a useful framework with which to analyze the results. The authors conclude that short-term programs, even as short as one month, are worthwhile educational endeavors that have significant self-perceived impacts on students' intellectual and personal lives. The data demonstrate that the students who spent the month abroad were more confident in their levels of intercultural awareness and functional knowledge than their peers who remained on campus. (Contains 2 tables.)