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Off-Campus Programs
Why is the experience of an off-campus program so valuable?
Why do we strongly recommend that students include an off-campus program experience as a part of their undergraduate program? Off-Campus Programs at Westmont have grown out of the same educational philosophy as our on-campus curriculum. All of Westmont’s programs are committed to developing in our students the competencies, the skills, the sympathies, the motivations, and the knowledge base that will make them effective as Christians in their chosen vocation. Westmont’s Off-Campus Programs are much more than mere duplication of learning on campus, however. While our educational program attempts to offer students the balance of challenge and support necessary for growth, off-campus programs intensify the challenge for our students by placing them in unfamiliar surroundings. All of the programs listed below can serve to enlarge us as Christian learners and to enlarge our vision of God’s work in the world. Westmont provides a variety of approved programs that offer different levels of support for students. They range from programs taught by Westmont faculty for Westmont students to programs in which Westmont students participate as individuals and are taught by program faculty. Students must consult with their academic advisor and with the Off-Campus Programs Office to explore which type of program would best suit their individual needs. For additional information and applications for the programs listed below, please visit our website at www.westmont.edu/ocp. A minimum 2.3 GPA is required unless otherwise noted. At least one-half of the upper-division major requirements must be completed on the Westmont campus or on a Westmont staffed off-campus program. Programs Led By Westmont Faculty: England Semester Europe Semester As of 2006, a new 12-unit umbrella course will be offered in place of the previous Europe Semester curriculum (IS 116/117 Arts & Ideas of the Western Tradition I, II and an upper-division religious studies course). Transfer students, please refer to the 2003-2004 catalog. IS 121, 122, 123 and 124 European Culture and Society, Past and Present (4,4,4) — studies various aspects of European history, thought, arts, society, culture, science, economy and politics while resident in Europe. Special effort is made to understand Europe’s heritage and contemporary society in relation to larger world contexts. Emphasizes thoughtful consideration of Christian and cultural concerns through preparatory readings, lectures, extensive discussion, and essay writing. The courses offered will fulfill three of the following four Common Inquiries requirements: Thinking Globally San Francisco Urban Program Students may attend the Urban Program in either the fall or spring semester. The program combines living and working in a unique urban setting, offering an opportunity for the study of cultural, ethnic, political, and business-oriented aspects of modern society. While enjoying the relative security and intimacy of a self-determined community, students reside in the heart of the city. The core of the program is a pre-professional internship that involves a minimum of 24 hours each week. Tutorials and independent study in a variety of areas are available in addition to the core curriculum: Participants must take the following courses: IS 190 Urban Practicum (8) Electives: IS 194 Tutorial (1-4) Westmont in Mexico (WIM) Westmont in Mexico, a program offered every other fall semester in even years only, is led by Westmont faculty and located in the beautiful, colonial city of Querétaro. On this program, students gain skills for effective cross-cultural living, experience incarnational ministry, and improve their Spanish language abilities. WIM offers students the unique opportunity to immerse themselves in Mexican culture through home stays, coursework, and field trips within the context of a supportive Christian community. Another distinctive feature is its integrated pre-departure, in-country, and re-entry training. Course Offerings Courses in WIM are taught by Mexican university professors and the Westmont faculty director. While in Mexico you may earn up to 16 semester units. The courses are: Spanish Language*: beginning, intermediate, and advanced levels (GE, Modern Language) In addition to these courses, WIM has a pre-departure orientation seminar during the spring semester. Prerequisite: equivalent of one semester of college Spanish. Inoculum This 12-day backpack trip to the northeastern wilderness area of Yosemite National Park is a special extension of the orientation program. Readings, discussions, and papers focus the course content on the uniqueness of Westmont liberal arts education. It takes place before orientation. Participants must take the following course: APP 90 The Inoculum: Wilderness/Orientation (2) Off-Campus Mayterm Westmont Mayterm and Summer Programs are short-term study excursions that often include both on-campus study and travel. Programs offering general education courses as well as programs offering major-specific curricula are available. A number of options are available in any given year; in the past, such programs have included trips to Europe, England, Egypt, Israel, Sri Lanka, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Japan, Oregon, Mexico, Belize, Costa Rica, Honduras, Ireland, Syria, Jordan and Turkey. San Francisco Urban Mayterm This Mayterm takes place every year in Westmont’s newly purchased Victorian mansion on the edge of Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. Students can earn eight units while exploring the streets of San Francisco and attending ethnic celebrations, music, theatre, sporting, and cultural events across the city and around the Bay Area. Christian College Consortium Programs: Consortium Visitor Program The Christian College Consortium promotes the development and articulation of the unique contributions that Christian higher education can make to contemporary society. The Visitor Program allows students to take advantage of different course offerings and to experience the culture of different regions of the country at the following Christian Colleges while maintaining regular standing at their home campuses. The other members of the Consortium are: Asbury College, KY; Malone College, OH; Bethel College, MN; Messiah College, PA; George Fox University, OR; Taylor University, IN; Gordon College, MA; Trinity International University, IL; Greenville College, IL; Seattle Pacific University, WA; Houghton College, NY; Wheaton College, IL. Gordon-at-Oxford Juniors and seniors spend a year at Oxford, England, in a program which emphasizes independent study, tutorials with Oxford dons and a seminar on British culture. Candidates are selected on the basis of GPA, superior writing skills and ability to work independently. Gordon-in-Boston Living in an established urban neighborhood, students study about and experience the routines of regular life in Boston. The experience and course of study provide theological and social/political reflection on the city and the urban Church, and internship opportunities. Gordon-in-Orvieto The Gordon semester in Orvieto, Italy, is an arts-oriented program with credit in Italian language, an interdisciplinary course in the cultural history of the Italian Renaissance and two courses in studio arts or art theory and history. Students and faculty are lodged in a convent in Orvieto, an ancient hill town located between Rome and Florence. Houghton-in-Tanzania Houghton-in-Tanzania is a spring only program of Houghton College set in East Africa offering junior and senior students experience in and exposure to Africa on a broad front including history, anthropology, environment, languages, politics, and religion. Extended trips away from the campus site in Iringa, Tanzania, include visits to nearby game reserves and Wahehe and Maasai tribal villages. Spring Semester in Thailand The goal of Spring Semester in Thailand is a 16-week total cultural immersion experience. As a means for achieving this goal, students study Thai language, live with Thai families, and are placed in a study/service internship. Students will come to understand that Thai society from a multidisciplinary perspective including history, sociology, anthropology, languages, politics, economics, education, family and religion. Through their study/service internship experience, students will draw from their personal value commitments as they serve others in religious, governmental, and educational institutions. Students will also live with Thai families, take field trips, and live for a month in a Karen tribal village in the foothills of the Himalayas. Lithuania Christian College In a country where people, once isolated behind the Soviet Iron Curtain, are striving to repair and recreate society — a country bursting with the energy of independence, freedom and possibility — Study Abroad Lithuania gives you the chance to forge new relationships, explore different ways of doing things, and experience a shift of perspective while earning college credit, traveling, and gaining that elusive thing people call “life experience.” Development Studies in Honduras The Development Studies Program is a program of Calvin College based in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Students study development by living with Honduran families, traveling to urban squatter’s camps, remote rural villages, and tropical rain forests, and talking with national leaders about Honduras’ problems and its future. It is an opportunity to experience hands-on the issues surrounding poverty, development, and living in the Third World. Creation Care Studies Program, Belize This semester-long program is a Christian undergraduate environmental studies program in Belize. In this program students explore the interconnected dimensions of natural ecology, human consumption, population, Christian discipleship, culture, economics and the implications of these and other related issues on their disciplines, avocations, occupations, world views, and lifestyles. The CCSP seeks to equip students to fulfill the Biblical mandate to care for all God’s creation, both human and non-human, through the sustainable stewardship of the earth’s systems.
Introduction to Sustainable Community Development (4) God and Nature (4) Electives (1-4) Practicum/Internship (1-4) Creation Care Studies Program, South Pacific This semester-long program explores Biblical Stewardship, first hand, as students study environmental issues in Belize or Samoa/New Zealand. Designed for non-science majors, the program includes opportunities for study, reflection, research, and travel. During the program you will experience community in motion as you travel with a group of students for four months to the South Pacific nations of New Zealand and Samoa. Rigorous classes will give you direct field experiences and confront you with current world issues. CCSP readily awaits adventure seeking, Biblically minded students, who want to take on the challenge of learning how to care for God’s earth and all its creatures — both human and non-human. Oregon Extension Oregon Extension is a fall-only program of Houghton College located in the southern reaches of the Cascade Mountains near Ashland, Oregon. Students study, in sequence, four interdisciplinary themes: Contemporary Issues, Social Thought, Human Stories, and Living Faith. Special emphasis is given to individual professor-student interaction and attention to small group discussion and dialogue. Within each of these units, students can choose one academic discipline from among the following in which to receive 3-4 semester hours of credit: literature, psychology, sociology, philosophy, biology, theology, biblical studies, history, education, or science. Students earn an additional two hours of credit in Rhetoric and Composition. Council of Christian Colleges and American Studies Program China Studies Program Contemporary Music Center, Cape Cod, Massachusetts Latin American Studies Program Los Angeles Film Studies Center Middle East Studies Program Oxford Scholars Programme Russian Studies Program Other Programs: American University Washington Semester* Washington Semester is a program of American University in Washington, DC, in which students live and study at the Tenley Campus. Students have the opportunity to serve in internships in eleven different programs including national politics, foreign policy, economic policy and justice, journalism, and a number of other fields. Participants come from over 200 affiliated colleges and universities in the U.S. and from 28 international institutions. A limited number of Westmont students will be nominated for consideration for the program each semester.
Internship (4) Elective Course or Research Project (4) American University World Capitals Brussels Program Berlin Program Programs for Specific Majors: Art Majors* Art majors may attend Gordon College’s Orvieto Semester in Orvieto, Italy or the studio art programs in Cortona, Italy with the University of Georgia or in Florence with Studio Art Centers International. Biology Majors Several field study opportunities are available to biology majors, including the Creation Care Studies program. Information on summer opportunities available in any given summer is available from the Biology department. French Majors* As part of the major requirements, one semester is spent at an accredited university in a French-speaking region in Paris, Montpellier, Aix-en-Provence, or Nancy. History Majors* History majors in the international track may attend the following program in France: Institute for American Universities in Aix-en-Provence and Brethren Colleges Abroad in Nancy. Kinesiology Majors The kinesiology department offers off-campus Mayterms for their majors every other year. Political Science Majors* Majors in the international track of political science have international internship programs available to them in addition to the internships available in Washington D.C. and San Francisco. Spanish Majors* As part of the major requirements, one semester is spent at an accredited university in Spain, Ecuador, Chile, or Costa Rica. * While these programs are approved for Westmont students, this is not intended as an endorsement of their educational philosophy or mission. |