Academics WSP Degree Requirements

• Goals
• Internships
• Degree requirements for WSP students
• WSP Handbook [pdf]

First Year

World Studies Colloquium (1 credit, pass/fail, fall semester) – A forum for discussion of cross-cultural experience and international work, with participation by faculty, alumni, and current students. The sessions include an introduction to the World Studies Program (WSP) as well as to international resources at Marlboro and SIT.

Topics in Human Understanding: Writing Strange (4 credits, fall semster)
This class considers the condition of strangeness as well as different strategies available to cope with this condition. Some of the authors practice the close reading of an anthropologist, savoring the differences with thick description. Others use global paradigms (many of which come from Marx) to connect seemingly disparate situations within the needs of an expanding capitalist economy. This class will vary slightly depending on instructor.

Origins of the Contemporary World (4 credits, spring semester)
An introductory seminar designed to help students situate themselves in time and place, and to begin to think historically, culturally, angeographically. Students will select a region of the world to focus on, and provide weekly presentations tracking their region's developments, decade by decade, over the last century. The class will also consider major themes of the recent past including: colonialism, genocide, human rights, socialism, globalization, and environmental change.

Electives (three 4-credit courses, to be fulfilled before the internship) – Electives allow students flexibility in selecting courses with regional or global content of interest to them. Before setting off for the internship, WSP students must take at least three 4-credit courses, the three (1) dealing with different world areas (one may be global in scope); (2) taught by different faculty; and (3) taught in different fields of study. (Note: foreign students can take a course in American Studies towards one of these WSP electives.)

Language study (see below).

Second Year

Topics in Human Understanding and/or Origins of the Contemporary World can also be taken in the sophmore year.

Finding an Internship (1 credit, pass/fail) – A course devoted to resume and cover-letter writing, networking, interviewing, and researching organizations doing international work. Students begin writing drafts of their WSP internship proposals.

More electives (see above) and language study (see below) during this and the third year at Marlboro.

Third Year

Designing Fieldwork (3 credits, fall semester) – A course focused on fieldwork methods, designing projects for the field, writing field notes and reports, and theoretical, ethical, and practical issues surrounding all of this.

Tutorial (1 credit) – In the semester before internship, students need to work closely with faculty sponsors. This requirement can be met in one of two ways: (1) a one-credit tutorial with a faculty sponsor focusing on internship goals and projects and background readings on the internship site; (2) one credit’s worth of work on internship goals, projects, and background readings folded into an existing tutorial or course with a faculty sponsor.

The Internship (12-18 credits) – A six-to-eight month working internship in a foreign culture complemented by 12-18 credits of independent academic projects conducted via e-mail with different Marlboro faculty.

Senior Year

SIT Course (2-3 credits) – WSP students are required to take a 2 or 3-credit graduate course at SIT in such areas as sustainable development, peace and conflict studies, and intercultural communication. NOTE: Students need to plan carefully due to different academic calendars. Marlboro students are recommended to take an SIT class the fall semester of senior year. Consult with Plan sponsors and SIT’s course listings (www.sit.edu).

Senior Seminar (1 credit, pass/fail): An eight-week seminar addressing re-entry issues and the integration ofinternational field experiences into senior Plan work.

Language Studies

Students must pass an oral proficiency exam in a foreign language at the intermediate or advanced level as measured by ACTFL (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages). Students are encouraged to pursue foreign language studies while at Marlboro as well as abroad. NOTE: This requirement is automatically met by students whose first language is other than English.

Transfer Students

Transfer students have the challenging task of completing requirements while building a foundation for Plan work, all in less than four years. Students may be able to waive a WSP requirement if they have done comparable course work elsewhere. See the World Studies Director to discuss options.

Questions? Contact Cathy Osman (Director of World Studies) or Susie Belleci (Associate Director of World Studies).