International Year program (2-Quarter) - Bachelor of Arts in Multidisciplinary 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.

Interdisciplinary Concentration: Law, Diversity & Justice Emphasis
The self-designed concentration process allows students to work with a faculty committee to articulate a sound rationale for their area of study and to develop a plan including courses, independent study projects, senior projects and, where applicable, internships and apprenticeships. Students are assisted in completing the concentration by faculty and other advisors and by the FAIR 303a, Concentration Seminar course. The Concentration Proposal rationale statement and accompanying Concentration course list form the plan of study for the Interdisciplinary Concentration major, after approval by the student’s Concentration Committee and filed in the Fairhaven College Records Office. As part of this plan of study, a minimum of three quarters of coursework, completing a minimum of 36 credits is required after the concentration filing quarter.

At the conclusion of the degree program, a senior project and a concentration summary and evaluation help each graduate to evaluate their own work and to look toward the future.

Concentrations have been developed in a wide range of areas not available through traditional majors. The Fairhaven College office can provide further information pertaining to the concentration, its possibilities and prospects, may be found in the Student Guide to Fairhaven College.

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.

Linguistics
Linguistics, the science of language, is an interdisciplinary field that relates to the diversity of the cultures and languages of the world. It is an integral part of most serious pursuits dealing with aspects of language study and analysis. As the boundaries of the world change, an understanding of individual languages and cultures becomes increasingly important. Communication in this complex society requires knowledge of the workings of languages, as well as their interrelationship with their respective cultures.

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.

Biology- Secondary Teaching Emphasis
Biology is the study of living organisms. As scientists, biologists have three goals: (1) understanding the structure and function of organisms, (2) generating and disseminating reliable data pertaining to biological systems, and (3) developing a deep understanding of the natural world that can inform solutions for the serious environmental, medical, and social concerns facing humanity.

Our goal as educators is to maintain intensive academic programs designed to stimulate curiosity, creativity and life-long critical thinking in students who pursue a liberal arts education in Biology.  All of the B.S. programs in Biology are designed for students who plan to pursue post-graduate study or professional careers in biology or teaching. We have designed these programs to enable students to develop an integrated conceptual foundation in biology, as well as critical thinking skills, quantitative problem-solving abilities, leadership and team-building skills, and scientific research skills.

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.

Physics/Mathematics — Secondary
Physics is a branch of science that explores the basic principles that govern the physical world, including matter and energy, as well as their properties and interactions. Physics is often called the fundamental science because principles of physics are essential for the understanding of nearly all branches of the natural sciences.

“Mathematics reveals hidden patterns that help us understand the world around us. Now much more than Arithmetic and Geometry, Mathematics today is a diverse discipline that deals with data, measurements, and observations from science; with inference, deduction, and proof; and with mathematical models of natural phenomena, of human behavior, and of social systems.” From: Everybody Counts: A Report to the Nation on the Future of Mathematics Education (c) 1989 National Academy of Sciences.

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.

Chemistry/Mathematics — Secondary
The program of study for the chemistry/mathematics majors provides many benefits to students, such as close student-faculty contact and relatively small classes. The students have direct access to modern laboratory equipment and instrumentation, and there are opportunities for research work under the direction of a faculty advisor.

As a practical matter, Mathematics is a science of pattern and order. Its domain is not molecules or cells, but numbers, chance, form, algorithms, and change. As a science of abstract objects, Mathematics relies on logic rather than on observation as its standard of truth, yet employs observation, simulation, and even experimentation as means of discovering truth.” From: Everybody Counts: A Report to the Nation on the Future of Mathematics Education (c) 1989 National Academy of Sciences.

Teaching mathematics and chemistry is a challenge, a responsibility, and an opportunity. Learning to teach mathematics and chemistry occurs through a variety of means: the study of a wide variety of mathematics and chemistry, pedagogical preparation within a mathematical and science context, formal clinical preparation in education, an extended internship, and continual experiences as a student, learner, and problem solver in mathematics and chemistry.

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.

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 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.

Special Education — P-12 plus Content Endorsement (Dual Endorsement)
Special Educators need to have extensive knowledge in four areas: they need to know about students and how they learn; they need to know about effective instruction; they need to know about the content of the lessons they will teach; and, they need to know about the context (social, legal, and political) in which they will work. Therefore, training to become a Special Educator will include work in each of these areas. The program includes coursework and extensive supervised practicum experiences in the public schools. The program is rigorous and the expectations are high. However, the rewards are also high. This program will prepare you to be an excellent teacher in whatever position you eventually choose. Our graduates are actively recruited by school districts to work in a variety of rewarding special education and general education settings.

There are two definitions of Special Education. One is the education of students with disabilities. The other is the application of exceptional teaching. We in the Special Education Program at Western Washington University believe very strongly in the second definition. We think that it is our mission to prepare exceptional teachers and, while students who have disabilities often require the services of such teachers, we also believe that there are many other students who can benefit from high quality instruction. We also think that there is much satisfaction to be gained from the acquisition of the highest levels of teaching skill and that the teachers trained in our program benefit professionally and personally from the acquisition of these skills. That is why the word “Special” in our title is a source of pride to us and to our graduates.

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 — Elementary
Sociologists examine topics 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 is distinctive in its focus 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, and many others.

This major 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 students develop an aptitude for critical thinking, improve their writing ability, and gain competence with statistical computing that will enhance their future career options. Sociology students also have the opportunity to participate in faculty-led study abroad programs.

A specialization in Sociology-Elementary major provides an excellent base of knowledge for individuals interested in becoming elementary level educators.