International Year program (1-Quarter) - Bachelor of Music in Music Performance

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.

Journalism - News/Editorial
Journalists are responsible for gathering information, analyzing and editing it for a mass audience, and dispensing it using some form of media platform. Increasingly the methods of distribution have become more complex, but the basic mission of a journalist remains the same: to serve the public by finding, defining, writing, and editing information.

The Journalism – News Editorial program is one of three tracks within Western’s Journalism Department. Students are given the daily opportunity to practice what they learn through hands-on student publications and professional internships. The Journalism Department exposes students to current affairs and problems, from issues of campus governance to international news and concerns.

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.

American Cultural Studies
American Cultural Studies is an interdisciplinary field of critical inquiry that investigates power dynamics, inequality, and agency, at the intersection of race, gender, status, religion, class, and ability.

Our courses place particular emphasis on minoritizing and other exclusionary practices shaping limits to national belonging, and how those experiences are lived. We pay attention to the roles of institutions, policies, discourse, and other socio-cultural processes. We educate students in historical and social inquiry, textual analysis and interpretation, and critical theory and practice. We expose students to theoretical foundations in Settler Colonialism, Queer and other Feminisms, Critical Race Theory, Borders, and Transnationalism.

The American Cultural Studies (ACS) major combines the social sciences with humanities to provide students with a rich undergraduate background that is the foundation for careers and advanced study in law, domestic social services, public service, government service, education, and graduate work in American studies, ethnic studies, and the social sciences.

Graduates of the program are especially prepared to go on for further study. Over half of all ACS graduates go on to professional and graduate schools upon the culmination of their undergraduate degree.

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.

Sociology
Sociologists examine subjects encompassing a vast array of human behavior: crime and punishment, the formation and dissolution of families, bureaucracy in organizations, conflicts between classes, and global inequalities. Sociology focuses on the way individuals’ lives are embedded within multiple social contexts that facilitate and constrain the range of possible actions. These contexts include generation, occupation, gender, religion, sexual orientation, family, health, nation, race, and ethnicity among many others. Students study and examine these phenomena with a variety of scientific tools, including collecting and analyzing statistical data and conducting surveys, focus groups, and in-depth interviews.

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.

Human Services
The Human Services curriculum aligns with national standards in human services education as outlined by the Council for Standards in Human Services Education (www.cshse.org). The Human Services major prepares students to work in a variety of settings as case managers, advocates, grant writers, youth workers, volunteer coordinators, or advocacy specialists.

The program has a social justice orientation, engaging students in critical analysis and reflection as they examine social issues at the individual, group, organization, community, and global level. The program emphasizes community engagement and requires 240 hours of field experience that allows students to integrate theory, knowledge, and skills through work in human services organizations.

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 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.

Political Science
The Political Science curriculum prepares students for careers in public service-related occupations in government, the non-profit sector, and business. Many students majoring in Political Science go on to law school, graduate school, and into related professions.

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.

History/Social Studies
The History/Social Studies major is designed to prepare students to teach history and social studies in secondary schools. In their history courses, History/Social Studies majors learn how to locate and access a wide range of sources, to analyze historical evidence, including textual and visual sources, to evaluate historical interpretations, and to develop and support their own interpretations. The quantity of writing and discussion required in history courses also helps students to develop effective communication skills. The required courses in economics, geography, and political science are intended to prepare students to teach these subjects in middle and high schools.

Western's program in Psychology: Human Development is designed to provide students in the Elementary Education program with an in-depth understanding of theory, research, and application in developmental psychology, and a sound background in general psychology.

Woodring College of Education fosters community relationships and a culture of learning that advance knowledge, honor diversities, and promote social justice. We are dedicated to preparing thoughtful, knowledgeable, and effective educators for a diverse society. 

Prospective elementary education students are invited to meet with an advisor for more information about the program. Please contact us to set-up an appointment.

English is one of the central liberal arts degrees. A background in English provides graduates with a sound basis for pursuing a variety of careers, including law, business, education, publishing and government, as well as graduate work in film studies and media, creative writing, language, literary and cultural studies, and critical writing. English engages students in diverse literary heritages as well as fosters the development of sophisticated abilities in critical analysis, creative inquiry, reflective reading, and effective communication and expression.

The Creative Writing program focuses on writing courses: creative writing in fiction, drama, poetry, or nonfiction prose and includes coursework in literature to supplement the creative writing courses.

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.

Journalism - News/Editorial
Journalists are responsible for gathering information, analyzing and editing it for a mass audience, and dispensing it using some form of media platform. Increasingly the methods of distribution have become more complex, but the basic mission of a journalist remains the same: to serve the public by finding, defining, writing, and editing information.

The Journalism – News Editorial program is one of three tracks within Western’s Journalism Department. Students are given the daily opportunity to practice what they learn through hands-on student publications and professional internships. The Journalism Department exposes students to current affairs and problems, from issues of campus governance to international news and concerns.