Special Programs

Center for Teaching and Learning

Office Contact: (509) 527-5037

The Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) provides resources to faculty for enhancing teaching and learning at Whitman College. Recognizing that excellent teaching maximizes student learning, and further, that there are diverse manifestations of excellent teaching, the center organizes programs and offers consultations to enhance pedagogy, classroom dynamics, modes of learning, and learning outcomes. All programs are completely voluntary, and include faculty luncheon-discussions about pedagogy, lectures and workshops given by nationally known experts, private consultations about teaching, classroom observations, and seminars for new faculty. The center is located in Penrose Library and houses a special collection of books and journals devoted to teaching and learning. A website for the center (www.whitman.edu/offices_departments/ctl) lists programs, an electronic newsletter on teaching and learning, and links to sites for enhancing teaching. The CTL Steering Committee provides programs and sets policy.

Off-Campus Studies

Study Abroad Programs

Advisers: Susan Holme Brick and Barbara Hoffman

An understanding of a culture or region of the world other than one’s own is an important part of a liberal arts education and a key to developing leaders in an increasingly interdependent global society. The study abroad program at Whitman College is designed to provide a range of opportunities for qualified students to study in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, and Oceania.

Information about opportunities for study in foreign countries, including application procedures, eligibility requirements, deadlines, and fees, is available from the Off-Campus Studies Office, Memorial Building 204. Students should consult with Susan Holme Brick, Director of Off-Campus Studies, Barbara Hoffman, Assistant Director of Off-Campus Studies, or the appropriate faculty adviser listed below to determine the suitability of participation in a particular academic program overseas. Students who wish to apply any credit from overseas study to their Whitman degree need to complete a Whitman Off-Campus Study Application and receive approval for their proposed course of study from the Off-Campus Studies Committee. Prior approval from Whitman is required to transfer credit from summer studies in a foreign country as well. Deadlines for the submission of Off-Campus Study applications are February 5 (for fall and full-year programs), three weeks before the program’s application deadline (for summer programs), and September 13 (for spring programs) unless stated otherwise below.

Students who intend to pursue overseas study are advised that careful planning is often needed in order to include off-campus studies as an integrated part of their four-year career at Whitman. For some destinations students will need to have completed at least four or five semesters of foreign language work at the college level to qualify. The college requires that students who have not yet completed the intermediate level of the local language enroll in the language during their period abroad. Additionally, Whitman College grants no academic credit for work experience or internships per se, though it may grant credit for academic coursework linked to internships.

The following study abroad programs are affiliated with Whitman College and are referred to as our Partner Programs. For further details about program options, please refer to the Off-Campus Studies website at www.whitman.edu/content/ocs. Academic work undertaken on Partner Programs will be recorded on the student’s Whitman transcript including the grades reported by the program. However, grades from courses taken abroad will not be used in the calculation of Whitman semester and cumulative grade-point averages. Students may apply need-based financial aid and merit scholarships that they receive through Whitman College to the fees of Partner Programs, as calculated by the Office of Financial Aid Services.

Associated Kyoto Program

Adviser: Akira Takemoto

Whitman College, along with 15 other liberal arts colleges, sponsors the Associated Kyoto Program, a rigorous two-semester program located on the Doshisha University campus in Kyoto, Japan. The program offers intensive Japanese language classes and a wide range of elective courses in Japanese studies taught in English. Prerequisites include one year of Japanese language study and at least one area course, preferably premodern Japanese art, history, or literature. The application deadline for 2013-14 is January 2013.

British American Drama Academy

Whitman students may apply to attend this semester-long acting conservatory program taught by British actors and directors in London offered through Sarah Lawrence College. Admission requirements include an audition.

College Year in Athens

A broad range of courses in art history, archaeology, classics, and contemporary eastern Mediterranean studies is available through this program in Athens, Greece. Students may enroll for one semester or an academic year.

Council on International Educational Exchange (CIEE)

Through Whitman’s partnership with CIEE, qualified Whitman students may study in Amman, Jordan; Dakar, Senegal; Alicante, Spain; Taipei, Taiwan; or Khon Kaen, Thailand. CIEE requires two semesters of French for the Senegal program and previous study of Spanish at the college level for two of the Alicante, Spain, tracks. Whitman requires that students attending the Taipei, Taiwan, program complete at least two semesters of college-level Mandarin prior to enrolling in the program.

Institute for Study Abroad-Butler University

Whitman Partner Programs include four programs sponsored by IFSA-Butler: Argentine Universities Program in Buenos Aires; Mendoza, Argentina Program; Autonomous University of Yucatan in Merida, Mexico; and National University of Ireland at Galway, Ireland. All four programs offer direct enrollment options for students to study alongside local students in Latin America or Ireland. Applicants to the Mendoza and Merida programs must have completed four semesters of college-level Spanish. Applicants to the Buenos Aires program must have completed at least five semesters of college-level Spanish.

Institute for the International Education of Students (IES)

As an affiliate member of IES, Whitman College students may participate in the following IES Partner Programs: Melbourne, Australia; Vienna, Austria; Beijing, China; London, England (selected universities); Berlin and Freiburg, Germany; Nantes and Paris, France; and Rome, Italy. IES students study either at the IES Center with local scholars and/or enroll directly at local universities, depending on the city.

Intercollegiate Center for Classical Studies in Rome

Adviser: Elizabeth Vandiver

This program, administered through Duke University, is designed for students in classics and other fields with a classical component, such as art history and history. Students planning to participate in this program should have at least one year’s prior study in Latin or ancient Greek. Previous coursework in Roman history also is recommended.

Kansai Gaidai University

Kansai Gaidai is an international-oriented university in Hirakata, Japan, with an Asian Studies Program specifically designed for students who wish to study Japanese language and take Japanese area studies courses in English. To be eligible for this program, Whitman requires that students have completed two semesters of college-level Japanese. A limit of three Whitman students may enroll in this program each semester.

Middlebury in Spain

Through Middlebury College, qualified Whitman students may study in one of three locations in Spain — the Middlebury College’s School in Spain (Sede Prim) in Madrid; Universidad Carlos III in Getafe; or Universidad de Cordoba in Cordoba. The two university options give students the opportunity to study alongside their Spanish peers, while the School in Madrid is designed exclusively for U.S. study abroad students. Five semesters of college Spanish or the equivalent is required.

The School for Field Studies (SFS)

Adviser: Delbert Hutchison

Whitman College is a partner member of The School for Field Studies, which offers single semester field-based study abroad programs in four locations worldwide. The academic program at each SFS center focuses on case studies related to a local environmental issue — Marine Resource Studies in the Turks and Caicos Islands; Rainforest Studies in Australia; Sustainable Development Studies in Costa Rica; and Wildlife Management Studies in Kenya and Tanzania. Course prerequisites for the SFS programs include biology or ecology and Spanish (for Costa Rica).

School for International Training (SIT)

Whitman College Partner Programs include four SIT programs in Ecuador and India. These programs offer hands-on field studies centered on a specific theme as well as a capstone independent study project. They are as follows: Ecuador Comparative Ecology and Conservation, Ecuador Culture and Development, India National Identity and the Arts program (based in Delhi), and India Sustainable Development and Social Change program (based in Jaipur). The Ecuador programs require proficiency in Spanish.

St. Andrews University

Through Whitman’s affiliation, qualified students may enroll directly for a single semester or an academic year at St. Andrews University, a Scottish university founded in 1411 and located on the eastern coast of Scotland. Whitman students may enroll in a broad range of subjects at St. Andrews.

Studio Art Centers International

The SACI program in Florence, Italy, is specifically designed for studio art students who wish to study painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, and other arts in one of the world’s foremost centers for art and architecture.

Syracuse in Italy

Through Whitman’s partnership with Syracuse University, qualified students may study art history, Italian language, history, politics, studio art, and other fields of Italian studies in the city of Florence, known for its outstanding Renaissance art and architecture.

University of Costa Rica

Through agreement with the University of Kansas, Whitman students may enroll directly at the University of Costa Rica, a comprehensive university in San Jose, Costa Rica. Five semesters of college Spanish or the equivalent is required.

University of East Anglia

The University of East Anglia, in Norwich, England, is a comprehensive university of 13,000 students known for its interdisciplinary schools of study. Whitman students may enroll in a broad range of subjects at University of East Anglia.

University of Otago

The University of Otago provides students the opportunity to enroll in a broad range of humanities, social science, and science courses with New Zealand undergraduates. Its location on the South Island of New Zealand makes study at the university particularly well suited for students of geology and biology.

Whitman Summer Studies in China

This six-week summer program, administered by Whitman College in cooperation with Yunnan University in Kunming, China, is designed to give students an opportunity to strengthen their conversational Chinese language skills and learn about contemporary Chinese society firsthand. Participants enroll in a four-credit, intensive Chinese language course at the university and a two-credit Seminar in Chinese Studies course taught by the Whitman faculty director of the program (see Asian Studies 200). Prerequisites include at least two semesters of college Chinese language. Scholarships are available to qualified students from the David Deal China Exchange Endowment. The program is offered every other year and will be offered again summer 2013.

U.S. Partner Programs

Advisers: Helen Kim and Susan Holme Brick

Whitman College encourages qualified students interested in urban issues or government policy and those who want to engage in a preprofessional internship to consider participation in one of two U.S.-based Partner Programs described below. Students interested in these programs must complete a Whitman Off-Campus Study Application and receive approval for their proposed course of study from the Off-Campus Studies Committee prior to enrollment in the program. Academic work undertaken on U.S.-based Partner Programs will be recorded on the student’s Whitman transcript including the grades reported by the program. However, grades from these off-campus programs will not be used in the calculation of semester and cumulative grade-point averages. Students may apply need-based financial aid and merit scholarships that they receive through Whitman College to the fees of these U.S.-based Partner Programs. Applications and additional information about the programs can be obtained from Off-Campus Studies (Mem 204).

For the Washington and Philadelphia programs, the application deadline for spring 2013 participation is October 16, 2012, and for fall 2013 participation the deadline is April 2, 2013. Finally, Whitman College grants no academic credit for work experience or internships per se, though it may grant credit for academic coursework linked to internships.

The Washington Semester Program is under the aegis of The American University in Washington, D.C., and offers study in a variety of policy areas including American Politics, Islam and World Affairs, International Environment and Development, Foreign Policy, Transforming Communities, and Peace and Conflict Resolution. Each of these programs consists of a seminar, an internship course, and a research project or elective course.

The Philadelphia Center, managed by Hope College, includes a seminar course examining urban life, a course involving a 32-hour-per-week internship, and an elective course.

Reciprocal Program

Adviser: Stacey Giusti

The Reciprocal Program is a cooperative program between Whitman College and Walla Walla University permitting students from both institutions to enroll in one course per term at the other institution without paying any of the general fees such as tuition, student association fees, registration fees, or health insurance fees. Charges associated with specific courses (i.e., applied music, physical education, science labs, etc.) must be paid by the guest student at the institution in which such course is taken.

A Whitman student seeking to enroll in a course not offered at Whitman College, or in which the registration has been made impossible through circumstances which could not be prevented, should contact the Registrar’s Office to request to participate in this program. The Registrar’s Office will communicate with Walla Walla University to request permission for enrollment.

It is the responsibility of the student to follow the appropriate procedure to transfer credit from Walla Walla University to Whitman College once the reciprocal course has been completed.

Environmental Studies: Whitman College Semester in the West

Adviser: Phil Brick

Whitman College Semester in the West is an interdisciplinary field program in environmental studies, focusing on public lands conservation in the interior American West. Our objective is to come to know the West in its many dimensions, including its diverse ecosystems, its social and political communities, and the many ways these ecosystems and communities find their expression in regional environmental writing and public policy. During the course of the semester, we typically have the opportunity to visit with 60 to 70 leading figures in conservation, ecology, environmental writing, and social justice. Our goal is to explore the complexity of environmental issues in the West, while at the same time locating pathways toward meaningful individual and collective action to conserve and enhance the West’s natural and human communities. Each session our studies are focused around key themes that circumscribe environmental issues in the West, including water, public lands, climate change, restoration, social justice, energy, the urban/rural divide, and conservation.

Semester in the West is a program for Whitman College students only; sophomore status or higher is required to participate. The program will be offered Fall 2012, and is schedule to next be offered Fall 2014.

Environmental Studies: Whitman in the Wallowas

Adviser: Phil Brick

This summer program is centered on the natural and human ecologies of Wallowa County, Oregon. Students engage in fieldwork integrating the three areas of liberal learning: the sciences, humanities, and the social sciences. Led by Whitman faculty, the course of study is developed in collaboration with local faculty from the Wallowa Mountain Institute. Whitman in the Wallowas is a program for Whitman College students only; sophomore status or higher is required to participate. The program is next offered Summer 2012.

Whitman in China Teaching Program

Adviser: Susan Holme Brick

The Whitman in China Teaching Program provides an opportunity for six Whitman College alumni to spend a year at Yunnan University in Kunming, Shantou University in Shantou, or Northwestern Polytechnical University in Xi’an, People’s Republic of China, teaching English or serving as an English language intern at the university level. Those selected will be paid a modest salary for their services and given free housing by the Chinese universities. A travel stipend roughly equivalent to round-trip air fare between Seattle and the host city in China is provided by the program. No Whitman College credit is granted for participation in this program. A minimum of one year of study of Mandarin Chinese and some teaching experience prior to participation is strongly recommended.