International Year program (2-Quarter) - Bachelor of Arts in Latin American Studies

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.

Geology
Geology is a diverse discipline, incorporating aspects of physics, chemistry, biology and natural history in the attempt to solve earth-related problems. Geoscientists provide basic information to society for solving problems and establishing policy for resource management, environmental protection, public health, safety, and welfare. By applying knowledge of forces that shape the Earth, Geoscientists seek to reconstruct the past and anticipate the future.

Communication Sciences and Disorders includes two disciplines, Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, which have developed out of a concern for people with communication disorders. Many people easily talk with family, friends, and colleagues every day. Although we often take language, speech, and hearing for granted, these processes are extraordinarily complex. Furthermore, anyone at any age can be affected by illness or injury that will impair the ability to talk or hear. In fact, one out of every six Americans has a communication disorder. Each one can be helped in some way by a speech-language pathologist, audiologist, or speech, language, and hearing scientist.

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.

Energy Policy and Management
The goal of the program is to give students knowledge and analytic skills in the policy and management aspects of today’s diverse energy business, along with broad exposure to the science, environmental, business and policy aspects of the energy system that drive the formation and analysis of energy-related policies.

The B.A. in Energy Policy and Management is an interdisciplinary program that gives students knowledge and skills concerning energy policy and the energy business through courses in economics, environmental studies, environmental science, and various business disciplines, while also providing a solid background in basic energy science concepts.

While building a strong blend of analytic and communication skills, students will gain energy-related expertise that industry experts have identified as essential to the workforce needs in the growing clean energy economy. Graduates will be well prepared to enter the workforce, equipped with the knowledge, skills and applied expertise demanded by entrepreneurship or employment in the energy field.

The program will also integrate core strengths of WWU, including collaboration, practical innovation, community engagement, a global perspective and a sustainability focus. The participating departments are recognized for their outstanding educational programs and demonstrated excellence. This program will foster interdisciplinary thinking, learning and problem solving.

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 Studies/Journalism
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.

Environmental Journalism offers the opportunity to explore the intersection between the natural world and politics, science, economics and culture. It combines rigorous research with creative storytelling.

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.

Early Childhood Education
This program is for students who are not seeking certification to work in the public schools. Graduates can work in childcare centers, preschools, Head Start programs, and in after-school programs for school-age children.

Early childhood education is a branch of education that relates to the teaching of children (formally and informally) from birth to eight years old. Knowledge of developmental changes during early childhood and the subjects being taught in an early childhood classroom are important for early childhood educators. Teacher certification is common, but not part of every program. There are further specializations in the field for working with students who are at-risk for developmental delay and disability.

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.

Kinesiology — Pre-Healthcare Professions Specialization
This major provides a concentrated study of human movement from mechanical, physiological and pathological perspectives. The program is appropriate for students who plan to work in the fitness/exercise industry or any other field such as coaching or rehabilitation, where human movement and exercise prescription are the focus. Additionally, this degree can serve as the gateway degree to the allied health professions (i.e., physical therapy, occupational therapy, physician assistant) or preparation for post-baccalaureate study in other areas such as exercise physiology, health/ fitness, biomechanics, nutrition, and human growth and motor development. Supporting courses from biology, chemistry, computer science, communication studies, health education and physics are included to provide more in-depth analysis of principles associated with human structure and function.

The financial economics degree provides an understanding of core economic concepts and the functioning of the economy and financial markets. An emphasis is placed on developing critical thinking skills to apply economic and financial analysis in problem solving resulting in rigorous training in economic and financial theory and applications.

Why Financial Economics?
Finance and economics complement one another in a number of ways and studying these two fields in combination can be especially beneficial to students who would like to work in corporate finance, financial analysis, insurance and real estate, or in government positions.

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 four major specializations include Family and the Life Course, Criminology and Criminal Justice, Population Studies, and Social Organization/ Social Inequality. Students pursuing the Bachelor of Science (BS) in Sociology are required to complete a math-intensive course of study. They develop an aptitude for critical thinking and improve their writing abilities. Students will obtain substantial experience with statistical computing, including programming and data analysis.

The East Asian Studies program offers an interdisciplinary study of the area, with a primary focus on the countries of China and Japan. Under special advisement, Korea and Mongolia are also subjects for study.

The program is designed to attain three major objectives. First, it offers students an opportunity to acquire accurate, detailed, and comprehensive knowledge of a region that is becoming increasingly important in world affairs. Second, it prepares students who are attracted by job opportunities related to East Asia in business, government, or teaching. Third, it provides solid undergraduate training for students who plan to enter East Asian programs in their graduate studies.

Behavioral neuroscience explores the role of the nervous system in normal and abnormal behavior, thought, and emotion. This major emphasizes an understanding of nervous system structure and function from the molecular/cellular level to the systems level. For example, behavioral neuroscientists study the neurobiological basis of normal learning and memory, psychiatric illnesses such as depression, schizophrenia, and drug abuse and neurological illnesses such as Parkinson’s, Huntington’s, and Alzheimer’s Disease.

Western's Behavioral Neuroscience program, offered through the Department of Psychology, provides students with the specialized preparation, research opportunities, and technological sophistication critical for success in entry-level research and healthcare positions and postgraduate training in neuroscience, medicine, dentistry, and related disciplines.