Special Programs
Center for Teaching and Learning
Office Contact: (509) 527-5399
The Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) provides resources to faculty for enhancing teaching and learning at Whitman College. Recognizing that excellent teaching focuses on student learning, and further, that there are diverse ways to pursue excellent teaching, the Center organizes programs to promote reflection on teaching practices and foster innovation among the faculty. Programs include sessions facilitated by Whitman faculty devoted to specific topics related to best practices in teaching, informal roundtable discussions, lectures and workshops given by nationally known experts, and a series of programs specific to the needs of faculty new to Whitman. Grants to promote development of approaches to teaching are also offered each year. A special collection of books and journals devoted to teaching and learning is located in Penrose library, and an electronic publication, The Teaching Professor is available to all Whitman faculty and staff. A website for the Center (www.whitman.edu/content/ctl) lists programs and links to sites for enhancing teaching. Programs are planned and overseen by the CTL Steering Committee, comprised of faculty from all of the academic divisions, the Associate Dean of the Faculty, and several staff members with expertise in student learning.
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 for the program listed on the OCS website 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 Off-Campus Studies. 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 as follows unless stated otherwise with the program listing:
- February 6 for Fall Semester and Academic Year Programs
- September 12 for Spring Semester programs
- Three weeks before the program’s application deadline for Summer study abroad programs
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. To assist students with planning for off-campus studies Off-Campus Studies Advising Sheets by Major are available on the Off-Campus Studies homepage at: www.whitman.edu/content/ocs/2013/advising.
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. 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.
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.
2013-14 Partner Programs
| AFRICA | ||
| SIT: Ghana Social Transformation and Cultural Expression | Ghana | |
| SFS: Kenya and Tanzania Wildlife Management Studies | Kenya & Tanzania | |
| SIT: Madagascar Biodiversity and Natural Resource Mgmt | Madagascar | |
| SIT: Morocco Migration and Transnational Identity | Morocco | |
| CIEE: Senegal Language and Culture | Senegal | |
| SIT: South Africa Community Health and Social Policy | South Africa | |
| ASIA | ||
| IES: Beijing Contemporary Issues in China | China | |
| IES: Beijing Language Intensive | China | |
| CIEE: Shanghai – China in a Global Context | China | |
| IES: Delhi Semester program | India | |
| SIT: India Sustainable Development and Social Change | India | |
| SIT: Indonesia Arts, Religion, and Social Change | Indonesia | |
| Associated Kyoto Program (AKP) * | Japan | |
| Kansai Gaidai University | Japan | |
| CIEE: Seoul Arts and Sciences | Korea | |
| SIT: Nepal Development and Social Change | Nepal | |
| CIEE: Taipei Intensive Chinese Language and Culture | Taiwan | |
| CIEE: Khon Kaen Development and Globalization | Thailand | |
| SIT: Vietnam Culture, Social Change, and Development | Vietnam | |
| EUROPE | ||
| IES: Vienna European Society and Culture | Austria | |
| IES: Vienna Semester Music program | Austria | |
| CIEE: Prague Central European Studies | Czech Republic | |
| CIEE: Prague Film Studies | Czech Republic | |
| Danish Institute for Study Abroad (DIS) | Denmark | |
| BADA: London Theatre program | England | |
| BADA: London Modern European Theatre program | England | |
| IES: Study London program | England | |
| IES: London Health Practice & Policy | England | |
| IES: London Theatre Studies | England | |
| IES: Queen Mary, University of London | England | |
| IES: SOAS, University of London | England | |
| IES: Slade, University College London | England | |
| IES: University College London (UCL) | England | |
| University of East Anglia | England | |
| IFSA Butler: Oxford University * | England | |
| IES: Nantes Semester program | France | |
| IES: Paris French Studies | France | |
| Middlebury: Studies in Paris | France | |
| IES: Berlin Language and Area Studies | Germany | |
| IES: Berlin Metropolitan Studies | Germany | |
| IES: European Union Studies | Germany | |
| IES: Freiburg Language and Area Studies | Germany | |
| IES: Freiburg Environmental Studies & Sustainability | Germany | |
| College Year in Athens (CYA) | Greece | |
| Budapest Semesters in Mathematics (BSM) | Hungary | |
| IFSA-Butler: National University of Ireland Galway (NUI) | Ireland | |
| Studio Art Centers International (SACI) | Italy | |
| Syracuse University (SU Abroad) Florence | Italy | |
| IES: Milan - Italy Today | Italy | |
| IES: Milan Music: Tradition & Innovation | Italy | |
| Intercollegiate Center for Classical Studies (ICCS) in Rome | Italy | |
| IES: Rome Semester program | Italy | |
| IFSA Butler: Glasgow School of Art | Scotland | |
| University of St Andrews | Scotland | |
| SIT: Serbia Peace and Conflict Studies in the Balkans | Serbia, Bosnia & Kosovo | |
| CIEE: Alicante Language and Culture | Spain | |
| CIEE: Alicante Language in Context | Spain | |
| CIEE: Alicante Liberal Arts | Spain | |
| Middlebury: Universidad de Cordoba | Spain | |
| Middlebury: Getafe Universidad Carlos III de Madrid | Spain | |
| IES: Granada Semester program | Spain | |
| Middlebury: Madrid Sede Prim | Spain | |
| LATIN AMERICA/CARIBBEAN | ||
| IFSA-Butler: Argentine Universities Program | Argentina | |
| IFSA-Butler: Mendoza Universities Program | Argentina | |
| SIT: Amazon Resource Management and Human Ecology | Brazil | |
| SIT: Chile Public Health, Traditional Medicine, and Community Empowerment | Chile | |
| IFSA-Butler: Chilean Universities Program | Chile | |
| SFS: Costa Rica Sustainable Development Studies | Costa Rica | |
| CIEE: Monteverde Tropical Ecology and Conservation | Costa Rica | |
| SIT: Ecuador Comparative Ecology and Conservation | Ecuador | |
| SIT: Ecuador Culture and Development | Ecuador | |
| IFSA-Butler: Merida Universidad Autonoma de Yucatan | Mexico | |
| SIT: Nicaragua Revolution, Transformation, and Civil Society | Nicaragua | |
| SFS: Panama Tropical Island Biodiversity and Conservation | Panama | |
| SFS: Turks and Caicos Marine Resource Management | Turks and Caicos | |
| MIDDLE EAST | ||
| Hebrew University (Rothberg International School) | Israel | |
| CIEE: Amman Language and Culture | Jordan | |
| OCEANIA | ||
| SIT: Australia Sustainability and Environmental Action | Australia | |
| SFS: Australia Tropical Rainforest Studies | Australia | |
| IES: University of Melbourne | Australia | |
| Frontiers Abroad: Geology of New Zealand | New Zealand | |
| UNITED STATES | ||
| The Eugene O’Neill National Theatre Institute | Connecticut | |
| SEA Semester | Massachusetts | |
| The Philadelphia Center (TPC) | Pennsylvania | |
| AU Washington Semester Program | Washington DC | |
* These programs have deadlines earlier than the standard Whitman application deadline. Consult with Whitman OCS staff for details.
Whitman College reserves the right to withdraw programs from this list for security and other reasons.
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 2015.
U.S. Partner Programs
Advisers: Susan Holme Brick, Barbara Hoffman, and Helen Kim
Whitman College encourages qualified students interested in preprofessional internships, urban issues, government policy, acting training, and oceanography to consider participation in one of the four U.S.-based Partner Programs described above. 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. Whitman College grants no academic credit for work experience or internships per se, though it may grant credit for academic coursework linked to internships.
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).
The U.S. Partner Program deadlines are the same as the study abroad program deadlines listed above, with the following exceptions:
- October 16 for Spring Semester: The Philadelphia Center and the Washington Semester Programs
- April 8 for Fall Semester: The Philadelphia Center and the Washington Semester Programs
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 in an era of climate change. 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 is offered every other fall semester on even years. Next offered Fall 2014. The application process begins Fall 2013.
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.
Whitman in China Teaching Program
Adviser: Susan Holme Brick
The Whitman in China Teaching Program provides an opportunity for six Whitman College graduates 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. A minimum of one year of study of Mandarin Chinese and some teaching experience prior to participation is strongly recommended. Participants will be required to complete a TESL Certification course prior to departure for China. No Whitman College credit is granted for participation in this program.
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