International Year program (1-Quarter) - Bachelor of Arts in Theatre Arts

at Study Group - Western Washington University USA

The International Year program is specially designed to prepare international students with the solid foundation needed to succeed in an undergraduate degree at Western Washington University.

You will learn in a supportive environment to develop your academic and English language skills, while adjusting to living and learning in the USA. After successfully completing the program with the required grades, you can continue your undergraduate degree with the confidence to engage and succeed.

Anthropology/Social Studies
The Anthropology Department offers this combined major in partnership with Western's Woodring College of Education. Anthropology is particularly valuable for teachers, because it provides a broad understanding of human behavior, cultural diversity, and learning as a process of social interaction. Teachers today work with students of various cultural backgrounds and awareness of specific cultural learning influences, attitudes, motivations, and patterns of interaction is an integral part of working effectively and respectfully in diverse communities.

Through the required basic courses in Anthropology, majors will acquire an understanding of cultural context, the evolution of contemporary institutions, and both similarities and differences that are both the heritage and potential of humanity. With faculty advisement, Anthropology/Social Studies students will identify topics for advanced coursework, including:

• Diverse cultures and ethnic communities in the Pacific Northwest
• The relationship of cultural and political realities to civic engagement
• Linkages between cultural expectations and learning processes

The study of Chinese Language and Culture focuses on communicative skills and cultural awareness, which are essential for success in career pursuits such as business, education, public service, and technology related to China, Chinese people, and Chinese language.

Western's Chinese Language and Culture program provides students with the opportunity to become competent communicators in Chinese language and culture, shared by 1.3 billion people, approximately one-fourth of the world’s population.

The Chinese Language and Culture major leads to a BA degree without teacher certification. In order to receive a recommendation for state of Washington certification, students must complete the teacher certification program which is offered by the Department of Secondary Education. A passing score on the World Languages WEST-E test, and proficiency in the designated world language assessed by ACTFL oral and written tests at the Advanced-Low level, are required by the state.

The International Year program is specially designed to prepare international students with the solid foundation needed to succeed in an undergraduate degree at Western Washington University.

You will learn in a supportive environment to develop your academic and English language skills, while adjusting to living and learning in the USA. After successfully completing the program with the required grades, you can continue your undergraduate degree with the confidence to engage and succeed.

Chinese Language and Culture with Teaching Endorsement Option
This major is designed to develop advanced proficiency in both Chinese language and culture with the goal of placing students in a competitive position in this increasingly globalized world. The rigorous curriculum of this major focuses on training students in the communicative skills and in cultural awareness that are essential for success in their career pursuits in business, education, public service, and technology related to China, Chinese people and Chinese language. This program also prepares students to become successful language teachers at the secondary education level.

Most of the major issues facing the people of the world today—hunger, overpopulation, the continuing threat of war, prejudice, pollution, drug addiction—are people problems; people have created them, and it will be people who must and will find solutions to them. Psychology, as the scientific study of mind and behavior, will help provide the answers to many of these pressing problems.

Psychology’s attempt to understand the human condition takes many approaches: some psychologists study brain chemistry and its relation to behavior, some study the behavior of individuals in groups, and others participate in providing counseling or psychotherapy to people who are mentally ill or who have difficulty coping with the demands of life.

A specialization in Sociology-Elementary major provides an excellent base of knowledge for individuals interested in becoming elementary level educators. This program satisfies the academic major requirement for teacher certification with an endorsement in elementary education and must be accompanied by the professional preparation program in elementary education.

Sociology is an area of study that is unfamiliar to many incoming students because it is seldom taught in high school. It is a vibrant discipline that allows students to develop both personally and professionally. As a sociology major you will have the opportunity to learn how humans behave and interact in groups—whether small groups like families or large groups like religious organizations. You will also learn how one’s position in the larger society (youth or elderly, man or woman, poor or rich) shapes life chances and experiences from the cradle to the grave.

The Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (WGSS) program pursues critical inquiry through queer and feminist scholarship, teaching, and activism. They draw on intersectional and interdisciplinary approaches to study how sex, gender, and sexuality are shaped by race, indigeneity, ethnicity, class, age, ability, nationality, and religion. They interrogate the conditions that render specific populations vulnerable to violence in a range of local and transnational contexts. They study and cultivate strategies of resistance and address issues such as war and militarism, political and social policy, the environment, education, healthcare, economics, the media, art, literature, and popular culture.

The WGSS major provides students with the skills to critically and actively engage with the world around them. Our plan of study equips students in various ways: to understand, apply, analyze, and critique key concepts and theoretical positions in feminist, gender, sexuality, and queer studies.

The International Year program is specially designed to prepare international students with the solid foundation needed to succeed in an undergraduate degree at Western Washington University.

You will learn in a supportive environment to develop your academic and English language skills, while adjusting to living and learning in the USA. After successfully completing the program with the required grades, you can continue your undergraduate degree with the confidence to engage and succeed.

Industrial Design
Industrial Design is a professional service of creating and developing concepts and specifications that optimize the function, value, and appearance of products and systems for the mutual benefit of both the user and the manufacturer. Launch your dream career and learn to design, model, manufacture, and package products used in everyday life. From utensils to furniture and appliances, discover how to create beautiful and practical products. View Western students’ work and projects in the Industrial Design Gallery.

Western’s award-winning Industrial Design program prepares you to work as a practicing industrial designer in corporate, consulting, or entrepreneurial positions. Beyond basic skills courses, you will learn a design process that encourages craftsmanship, original ideas, personal expression and aesthetics. Western’s industrial design degree teaches problem solving methodologies, marketing principles and usability research along with three dimensional model-making techniques. Additional subjects include manufacturing processes, ergonomics, materials and design principles. The depth of training will provide you with the skills necessary to carry projects from conception to working prototypes.

The International Year program is specially designed to prepare international students with the solid foundation needed to succeed in an undergraduate degree at Western Washington University.

You will learn in a supportive environment to develop your academic and English language skills, while adjusting to living and learning in the USA. After successfully completing the program with the required grades, you can continue your undergraduate degree with the confidence to engage and succeed.

Environmental Science
Environmental Science draws on basic knowledge of the physical, chemical, biological, and quantitative aspects of natural systems. The knowledge of how natural systems work is applied to solving problems largely created by human activities. Often these problems are represented by disturbances in the functioning of natural systems as humans alter their own life-support systems — the air, the water and soil. The scale of disturbance ranges between molecular and cellular to individuals, populations, ecosystems, and regional and global levels.

Are you excited by how natural systems work? Do you want to solve the problems of the natural environment caused by human activities? Do you love to work outdoors? Do you love the sciences and scientific inquiry? Then Environmental Science is for you.

The International Year program is specially designed to prepare international students with the solid foundation needed to succeed in an undergraduate degree at Western Washington University.

You will learn in a supportive environment to develop your academic and English language skills, while adjusting to living and learning in the USA. After successfully completing the program with the required grades, you can continue your undergraduate degree with the confidence to engage and succeed.

Applied Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of pattern, structure, and change. Although it is one of the most ancient disciplines, new mathematics is being created every day. It can be found in everything from Internet security and green energy technology to Wall Street investment strategies.

Classes in Western's Department of Mathematics emphasize analytical thinking and problem-solving skills that will serve you well not just in mathematics, but in many other careers, including law, business, and a range of technical fields. Mathematics students benefit from small class sizes, which allow a high level of interaction with faculty.

Biology is the study of living things and encompasses areas ranging from molecular biology to ecosystem ecology. Mathematics is the study of pattern, structure, and change. Biology/Mathematics is a combined major offered by the departments of Biology and Mathematics that enables students to develop a strong background in biology along with a broadly applicable understanding of quantitative and computational approaches to problem-solving, giving graduates from this program a unique and highly sought set of skills.

Biology is an increasingly quantitative discipline, requiring mathematical models to understand complex biological phenomena, and computationally-intensive algorithms to analyze the massive datasets generated by genomics. More than ever, employers in fields such as bioengineering, theoretical biology, ecology, and molecular biology are seeking to hire people equipped to handle the quantitative rigors of modern biology.