THE CURRICULUM
Williams College offers a course of study leading to the degree of Bachelor of Arts. The course requirements prescribe both the number of courses to be completed and the minimum grade level to be achieved; the curriculum also requires that each student explore several fields of knowledge and concentrate in one. The full requirements for the degree include meeting the minimum academic standards stated below, residing at the College, fulfilling the distribution requirement, completing a major, and completing the physical education requirement.
The academic year is divided into two regular semesters and a Winter Study Program. The student takes four courses in each semester and during January pursues a single program of study on a pass- fail basis.
The Winter Study Program, which began in 1967, is intended to provide students and faculty with a dramatically different educational experience in the January term. The differences are in the nature of the courses, the nature of the learning experience, and the change of educational pace and format from the fall and spring semesters. These differences apply to the faculty and students in several ways: faculty can try out courses with new subjects and techniques that might, if successful, be used later in the regular terms; they can explore subjects not amenable to inclusion in regular courses; and they can investigate fields outside their usual areas of expertise. In their academic work, which is graded Honors, Pass, Perfunctory Pass, or Fail, students can explore new fields at low risk, concentrate on one subject that requires a great deal of time, develop individual research projects, or work in a different milieu (as interns, for example, or on trips outside Williamstown). In addition, Winter Study offers students an opportunity for more independence and initiative in a less formal setting, more opportunity to participate in cultural events, and an occasion to get to know one another better.
REQUIREMENTS FOR THE BACHELOR OF ARTS DEGREE
Academic Requirement
To be eligible for the Bachelor of Arts degree a student must pass 32 regularly graded semester courses and receive grades of C minus or higher in at least 19 of those semester courses, pass four Winter Study Projects, fulfill the four-part distribution requirement, complete all requirements for the major including an average of C minus or higher, and complete the physical education requirement. A student may not repeat a course for which degree credit has been awarded.
Distribution Requirement
The distribution requirement falls into four parts. Please note that courses used to fulfill these requirements must be regularly graded.
1) DIVISIONAL REQUIREMENT-designed to ensure that in their course of study at Williams, students take an appropriately diverse distribution of courses across the full range of the curriculum.
For the purposes of the requirement, courses are grouped into three divisions: Division I, Languages and the Arts; Division II, Social Studies; and Division III, Science and Mathematics. A full listing of the subjects in each division appears below.
Students must complete at least three graded semester courses in each division. Two in each division must be completed by the end of the sophomore year. No more than two of the courses used to satisfy the requirement may have the same course prefix. The courses must be taken at Williams or at programs under the direction of Williams College Faculty.
Courses that fulfill the distribution requirement in Division I are designed to help students become better able to respond to the arts sensitively and intelligently by learning the language, whether verbal, visual, or musical, of a significant field of artistic expression. Students learn how to develop the capacity for critical discussion, to increase awareness of the esthetic and moral issues raised by works of art, and to grow in self-awareness and creativity.
Courses which fulfill the Division II requirement consider the institutions and social structures that human beings have created, whether knowingly or unknowingly, and which in turn markedly affect their lives. These courses are intended to help the students recognize, analyze, and evaluate these human structures in order that they may better understand themselves and the social world in which they live.
Courses which fulfill the Division III requirement are intended to provide some of the factual and methodological knowledge needed to be an informed citizen in a world deeply influenced by scientific thought and technological accomplishment, and to cultivate skill in exact and quantitative reasoning.
Courses with the following designations receive divisional distribution credit as indicated:
DIVISION I. Languages and the Arts
DIVISION II. Social Studies
DIVISION III. Science and Mathematics
Please note: Any Environmental Studies course that is also cross-listed with another subject carries distribution credit of that subject. Other Environmental Studies courses may fulfill distribution requirements as indicated under individual course listings.
Williams-Exeter Programme at Oxford University tutorial courses (WIOX) may be used toward fulfilling the divisional distribution requirement; a student may earn a maximum of three distribution requirements, with no more than one from each division, for the year. Courses at Williams-Mystic Program and Williams in New York may also be used toward fulfilling the requirement.
1) THE EXPLORING DIVERSITY INITIATIVE REQUIREMENT-Williams College is committed to creating and maintaining a curriculum, faculty, and student body that reflects and explores a diverse, globalized world and the multi-cultural character of the United States. Courses designated "(D)" in the College Bulletin are a part of the College's Exploring Diversity Initiative (EDI); they represent our dedication to study groups, cultures, and societies as they interact with, and challenge, each other. Through such courses, Williams College students and faculty also consider the multiple approaches that engage these issues. Rather than simply focus on the study of specific peoples, cultures, or regions of the world, in the past or present, however, courses fulfilling the EDI requirement actively promote a self-conscious and critical engagement with diversity. They urge students to consider the operations of difference in the world and provide them with the tools to do so. The ultimate aim of the EDI requirement is to lay the groundwork for a life-long engagement with the diverse cultures, societies, and histories of the United States and the rest of the world.
Courses that comprise the Exploring Diversity Initiative may fall under a variety of categories, including (but not limited to) the following:
1. Comparative Study of Cultures and Societies. These courses focus on the differences and similarities between cultures and societies, and/or on the ways in which cultures, peoples, and societies have interacted and responded to one another in the past.
2. Empathetic Understanding. These courses explore diverse human feelings, thoughts, and actions by recreating the social, political, cultural, and historical context of a group in order to imagine why within that context, those beliefs, experiences, and actions of the group emerged.
3. Power and Privilege: These courses link issues of diversity to economic and political power relations, investigating how cultural interaction is influenced by various structures, institutions, or practices that enable, maintain, or mitigate inequality among different groups.
4. Critical Theorization: These courses focus on ways scholars theorize the possibilities of cross-cultural understanding and interaction; they investigate the ways that disciplines and paradigms of knowledge both constitute "difference" and are reconfigured by the study of diversity-related questions.
5. Cultural Immersion: In various ways these courses immerse students in another culture and give them the tools with which to understand that culture from the inside. They include those foreign language courses that explicitly engage in the self-conscious awareness of cultural and societal differences, traditions, and customs as an integral aspect of language study.
All students are required to complete ONE course that is part of the Exploring Diversity Initiative. Although this course, which may be counted toward the divisional distribution requirement, may be completed any semester before graduation, students are urged to complete the course by the end of their sophomore year. Courses used to fulfill this requirement may not be taken on a pass/fail basis.
By immersing students in foreign cultures, and often by furthering language acquisition, study abroad programs can offer a robust way to study cultural diversity. Students wishing to fulfill the EDI requirement via the completion of a study abroad program must submit a petition before their departure proposing EDI credit for a particular course on their program, for particular experiences (such as independent research or a homestay), or for a specific language training program they will undertake while abroad. The petition will require students to describe how they believe their proposed study abroad experience will meet one or more of the goals of the Exploring Diversity Initiative; it will be considered by the Director of the Exploring Diversity Initiative working in concert with the Committee on Academic Standing.
The one-course EDI requirement must be met by all members of the class of 2012; members of the classes of 2009, 2010, and 2011 who have already completed a course designated "People's and Cultures" do not need to complete an EDI course.
A list of courses offered in 2008-2009 that meet the requirement is on page .
3) QUANTITATIVE/FORMAL REASONING REQUIREMENT-intended to help students become adept at reasoning mathematically and abstractly. The ability to apply a formal method to reach conclusions, to use numbers comfortably, and to employ the research tools necessary to analyze data lessen barriers to carrying out professional and economic roles. Prior to their senior year, all students must satisfactorily complete a Quantitative/Formal Reasoning (QFR) course-those marked with a "(Q)." Students requiring extra assistance (as assessed during First Days) are normally placed into Mathematics 100/101/102, which is to be taken before fulfilling the QFR requirement.
The hallmarks of a QFR course are the representation of facts in a language of mathematical symbols and the use of formal rules to obtain a determinate answer. Primary evaluation in these courses is based on multistep mathematical, statistical, or logical inference (as opposed to descriptive answers). A list of courses offered in 2008-2009 that meet the requirement is on page .
4) WRITING REQUIREMENT-All students are required to take two writing-intensive courses: one by the end of sophomore year, and one by the end of the junior year. Students will benefit most from the writing-intensive courses by taking them early in their college careers, and are therefore strongly encouraged to complete the requirement by the end of the sophomore year.
The goal of the writing-intensive course requirement is to improve student writing proficiency across the disciplines. Students in these courses should expect to receive guidance on style, argumentation, and other significant aspects of writing, as well as evaluation and criticism of their writing throughout the semester. This may be achieved through a variety of approaches: brief assignments spaced over the semester, sequenced assignments leading to a longer final paper, etc. Writing-intensive courses may also include multiple drafts, conferences, peer review, or class discussions designed to improve writing skills. A course with a single long paper due at the end of the semester, but with no required or structured means of addressing writing issues, would not be considered writing intensive.
Writing-intensive courses require a minimum of 20 pages of writing and have a maximum enrollment of 19 to allow the instructor to devote appropriate attention to writing over the course of the semester.
All tutorial courses in the Williams-Exeter Programme at Oxford University (WIOX) meet the Williams College `W' designation, except for those in the studio arts, mathematics, and the sciences.
Major Requirement
The Major Requirement is designed to assure that all Williams undergraduates will have the experience of disciplined and cumulative study, carried on over an extended period of time, in some important field of intellectual inquiry. Juniors are required to declare a major and the selection is normally made at the time of registration in the spring of the sophomore year.
Majors are offered in the following fields:
American Studies History
Anthropology Japanese
Art Literary Studies
Asian Studies Mathematics
Astronomy Music
Astrophysics Philosophy
Biology Physics
Chemistry Political Economy
Chinese Political Science
Classics (Greek, Latin) Psychology
Comparative Literature Religion
Computer Science Russian
Economics Sociology
English Spanish
French Theatre
Geosciences Women's and Gender Studies
German
GENERAL STRUCTURE OF MAJORS
1) A student ordinarily must elect at least nine semester courses in his or her major field. A major may also require an additional course and/or one Winter Study Project during the junior or senior year.
A student may also fulfill the minimum requirements for a major by taking eight semester courses in the major field and two semester courses, approved by a major advisor, in associated fields. In interdepartmental majors, such as Political Economy, a larger number of courses may be required.
2) A prescribed sequence of courses, supplemented by parallel courses, and including a major seminar, is required in some major fields. Other majors ask the student to plan a sequence of elective courses, including advanced work building on elementary courses in the field, and ending in a one- or two- semester faculty-organized course or project in the senior year. All majors provide a system of counseling to help students plan programs reflecting individual interests as well as disciplined and cumulative patterns of inquiry.
Courses in many major programs require prerequisite courses in related areas. A full description of the detailed structure of each major is found under the heading of that major.
CONTRACT MAJOR
Students who wish to undertake the coherent study of an interdisciplinary subject not covered by a regularly offered major may propose to be contract majors. Procedures for arranging a contract major and for honors work in such a major are described in the section, "Courses of Instruction." Students interested in this option should begin consulting with the Dean's Office and with potential faculty advisors early in the sophomore year. A student completing a contract major may not do so in conjunction with a second major. For further details, see page .
TWO MAJORS
A student may complete two majors with the permission of both majors and the Committee on Academic Standing. Although a student may be granted permission to use a course from one major to fulfill a particular requirement in the other, the student nevertheless must take the minimum number of courses in each field without counting any course twice. A student may be a candidate for Honors in either or both of the majors, but a course for Honors in one major may not be used for an Honors course in the other.
Physical Education Requirement
The Physical Education requirement provides students the opportunity of establishing and maintaining a general level of fitness and well-being; of developing abilities in carry-over activities; of discovering and extending their own physical capabilities; and of developing skills in activities with survival implications, such as swimming.
A swim test is required of all first-year students at the start of the academic year. Students who fail to complete the test must pass a basic swim course given in the Physical Education program during the first quarter of the year.
Students must complete four quarters of physical education by the end of the sophomore year. Students must enroll in at least two different activities in fulfilling the requirement.
Participation in a fall or spring intercollegiate sport is equivalent to two activity units and participation in a winter sport is equivalent to three units. A maximum of three credits may be attained while participating in intercollegiate sports with the exception of a two sport athlete who can fulfill the physical education requirement by totaling four units in two sports. Students may receive a maximum of two activity units for participation in a club sport; the remaining two units must come from the physical education activity program.
Residence Requirement
Students who begin college at Williams must spend a minimum of six semesters in residence at Williams. Students transferring to Williams from other institutions must spend a minimum of four semesters in residence at Williams, and those entering as sophomores are expected to spend six semesters in residence. Students are considered to be in residence if they are taking a program of study under the direction of the Williams College Faculty. Students must be in residence for both semesters of the final year.
The degree requirements must be completed within eight semesters, including any semesters for which a student receives credit while not in residence at Williams. Thus, semesters spent away on exchange or other approved programs at other colleges are included in the eight semesters.
ADDITIONAL CURRICULAR OPPORTUNITIES
Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate
At the discretion of the appropriate departments or programs, students presenting satisfactory scores in Advanced Placement tests or International Baccalaureate higher level examinations may be placed in advanced courses not regularly open to them and/or may receive course credit toward the major or concentration. Therefore, if granted, this credit may be used as a prerequisite or in partial fulfillment of the major or concentration requirements. AP and IB credit, however, may not be used to reduce the normal course load of any semester, to make up a deficiency incurred at Williams, or to satisfy the Distribution Requirement.
Certificate in European Languages
Students may pursue a Certificate in four European languages offered at Williams (French, German, Russian, and Spanish). The program certifies a particular degree of proficiency, cultural literacy, and experience with the language in the context of one's college education. In order to gain the proficiency and experience certified by the program, students must have taken a) at least five semesters of college language (or the equivalent) and b) a standardized proficiency test administered by the departments. In addition, students are required to gain familiarity with the culture in question by taking at least one course each in a) the literature, music, art, or philosophy, and b) the history, economics, or politics of the cultural area. Students must take seven courses altogether, up to two of which may be taken abroad. Please refer to the respective language programs for details on the specific certificates.
Combined Program in Liberal Arts and Engineering
The 3-2 program enables qualified students to combine a liberal arts education at Williams with undergraduate professional training in engineering. In this program, a student studies at Williams for 3 years, completing 24 courses and 3 Winter Study Projects. He or she then transfers to a leading engineering school and studies for a Bachelor of Science degree, usually for 2 more years. Upon successful completion of this program, the student receives a Bachelor of Arts degree from Williams and a Bachelor of Science degree from the engineering school.
During their 3 years at Williams, 3-2 students must complete all of the normal requirements for a Williams degree, including a major and the distribution requirements. For students majoring in physics, chemistry, computer science, or mathematics, the requirements for the senior year courses and major exercise are waived for the Williams degree. Only students who have taken the prerequisite courses, who have at least a B average in scientific subjects, and who have a good record in other subjects will be recommended by their major department and approved by the Committee on Academic Standing for this program.
The 3-2 program has an extensive list of prerequisite mathematics and science courses, so it is necessary to plan course selections at Williams carefully. The booklet "Choosing First Year Courses" includes a list of Williams courses recommended to prospective engineers.
A popular alternative to the 3-2 program is to complete the Williams B.A. in the usual 4 years, majoring in one of the sciences, and then go directly to a graduate program in engineering. Please see the section of this catalog titled "Preparation for Graduate and Professional Study." Also, prospective engineers at Williams have the opportunity to take undergraduate engineering courses at other institutions through various exchange programs. For information about these opportunities, please see the section titled "Exchange Programs."
The pre-engineering advisor, Professor Jefferson Strait, will be happy to assist students interested in any of the options leading to engineering careers. Many more details about pre-engineering can be found in the Physics Department section of the College website.
Co-ordinate Programs Offering Concentrations
In addition to majoring in a field, a student may choose to concentrate elective courses on a single topic or area. Normally, a student declares a concentration at the time of registration in the spring of the sophomore year. Concentrations are offered in the following programs:
Africana Studies
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Cognitive Science
Environmental Studies
International Studies
Jewish Studies
Latina/o Studies
Leadership Studies
Legal Studies
Maritime Studies
Neuroscience
Science and Technology Studies
Descriptions of these programs appear under the appropriate heading in this publication. If the co-ordinate program courses are directly related to the major, a student may be allowed to reduce the number of courses required to complete the major.
Co-ordinate Programs
A number of programs do not formally offer concentrations, but do provide students with the opportunity to work in areas that cut across departmental and program lines. These are: Bioinformatics, Genomics, and Proteomics; History of Science; Materials Science Studies; Performance Studies; and Public Health. They are listed in this publication in alphabetical order.
These programs provide guidance only and do not appear on transcripts.
The Critical Reasoning and Analytical Skills (CRAAS) Initiative
To one degree or another, every class at Williams goes beyond its subject-be it mathematics, Machiavelli, or modernism-to teach intellectual skills that have wide application in other fields as well as outside of the academy: scientific reckoning, expository writing, rhetorical analysis, oral presentation, and so on.
Courses offered under the CRAAS initiative foreground such analytical skills. While each CRAAS class covers a different topic, all are aimed particularly at developing the processes necessary for excellence in a range of fields: techniques for analyzing ideas, data, texts or artworks; approaches to interpreting, synthesizing, and developing arguments; strategies for presenting ideas and results.
CRAAS classes typically emphasize the practices of meta-analysis-self-criticism, editing, and revision-with the goal of constant improvement. Many classes feature peer tutoring, small group work, and intensive one-on-one engagement with the professor. Students should leave a CRAAS course with a substantially heightened ability to approach problems, analyze texts, and craft arguments in whatever discipline they may go on to explore.
A few CRAAS courses are restricted to advanced students, but the majority are open to all, and some are specifically targeted for first -year students. Most have strictly limited enrollment. Because these classes cultivate the general strategies of effective scholarship, students are encouraged to consider taking a CRAAS course early in their academic careers.
A list of CRAAS courses offered in 2008-2009 is on page .
Cross-Enrollment Programs
A limited number of students may register at Bennington College or Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts for courses not offered by Williams. Interested students should contact the Registrar's Office about arrangements.
Experiential Education at Williams
Experiential education, involving "learning by doing" outside the classroom, has been a relatively understated but successful part of the Williams curriculum for a number of years. In addition to the use of traditional laboratory work in the natural sciences and studio work in art, faculty have been challenging students to become engaged more personally in the Williams curriculum through field work, whether in the form of research, sustained work on special projects or through placement with community organizations. Courses which include experiential learning provide students with opportunities to encounter firsthand the issues that they read and study about, requiring them to apply academic learning to nonacademic settings and challenging them to use their experiences in those settings to think more critically and deeply about what they are studying. Courses involving experiential education as defined above range from fully integrated off-campus programs such as the Williams-Mystic Maritime Studies Program (page ) and Williams in New York (page ) to courses involving one small field research project. The amount and nature of the experiential component(s) varies according to the instructor's judgment. See page for a list of 2008-2009 courses involving experiential education.
A range of non-credit experiential education opportunities is also available to interested students. Community service, internships, research, and the Museum Associates Program of the College Museum of Art all provide students the chance to "learn by doing" outside the classroom. Information on each of these opportunities is provided below.
Community Service:
Opportunities to apply creative energy and initiative abound in community organizations in the Williams College area. Service ranges from tutoring or building homes with Habitat for Humanity, to working with developing non-profit organizations such as Northern Berkshire Creative Arts. For more information, go to the Office for Community Engagement homepage on the College website at <www.williams.edu/resources/commservice/> or contact Stewart Burns, Director of the Center for Community Engagement (Stewart.Burns@williams.edu).
Internships and Research Opportunities:
A wide variety of summer internship opportunities are available to interested students through the Office of Career Counseling (OCC) and the Center for Environmental Studies (CES). Research opportunities are also available through individual departments. Information about OCC's Williams College Alumni Sponsored Summer Internships can be found at http://www.williams.edu/resources/occ/ or by contacting Ron Gallagher, Assistant Director of Career Counseling (Ronald.L.Gallagher@williams.edu). Information about CES's summer internship and research opportunities can be found at www.williams.edu/CES/resources/summeropps.htm or by contacting Sarah Gardner, Assistant Director of the Center for Environmental Studies, Kellogg House (Sarah.S.Gardner@williams.edu). Information about research opportunities sponsored by individual departments is available from Department Chairs.
Museum Associates:
The Museum Associates Program of the Williams College Museum of Art provides students an opportunity to broaden their knowledge of art and art history, to learn about the field of museum education, and to develop valuable communication and public speaking skills while working with the public. The only academic requirement is the completion of ArtH 101-102. Applications are accepted every spring. For more information, contact Rebecca Hayes, Director of Education at Rebecca.L.Hayes@williams.edu.
For more information about experiential education at Williams College, visit the Experiential Education website at www.williams.edu/admin/deanfac/exped/ or contact Paula Consolini, Coordinator of Experiential Education at 597-4588 (pconsoli@williams.edu)
Honors Program
Williams awards the degree with honors to those students who have demonstrated imagination, initiative, and intellectual independence within the major. The Honors Program requires two or three courses constituting a clearly interrelated pattern of study, whether in the form of a thesis, specialization within the major, or interdisciplinary study with courses from other programs or departments. At least one of the courses must be in addition to the minimum number required for the major; one may be a Winter Study Project. A student who is completing two majors may be a candidate for honors in either or both of the majors, but a course for honors in one major may not be used as an honors course in the other. Some programs also award honors for their concentrations.
Individual departments and programs describe special criteria, procedures, and patterns of study for honors in the "Courses of Instruction" section. Students should consult with their departments on their honors options prior to the senior year. Before the student has begun the last of the required course units, the department or program determines whether the student is admitted to honors candidacy. The degree is awarded with Honors or Highest Honors at the end of the senior year if, in the judgment of the department, its criteria of excellence have been met.
Independent Study
When a particularly able student wishes to study a subject not covered by the normal offerings of the College, arrangements may be made to undertake courses of independent study under faculty supervision. Such arrangements are made with the appropriate department at the time of registration.
Study Away from Williams
Many students decide to study at another college or university, in this country or abroad, during their undergraduate education. The College encourages students to think about the option of study away as they begin the process of considering major fields and course requirements during their sophomore year.
All students in good standing with no deficiencies, including financial aid recipients, may study away on approved programs during all or part of the junior year. Academic credit is earned after evidence of the satisfactory completion of the program. A student wishing to enroll in another institution or program in this country or abroad, and to transfer credits earned on this program to Williams, must consult with Dean Laura McKeon and the appropriate department chair early in the Fall Semester of the sophomore year. Students are responsible for reading the Guide to Study Abroad available in the Dean's Office. They should also consult faculty members with expertise in the area or region of interest to them. All students who are curious about the off-campus study option should browse through the reference library in the Dean's Office and Weston Hall and attend one of the general information meetings which Dean McKeon offers throughout the autumn and in February. After attending an information session, students are free to schedule an appointment with the Dean. Approval is required from the chair of the student's major department, Dean McKeon, and the Committee on Academic Standing. Students wishing to study away for any portion of the junior year must request approval in March of the sophomore year by submitting a pink petition to Dean McKeon.
When a student has decided to accept an offer of admission from a program, he or she must notify the Dean's Office. The Committee on Academic Standing will make a final decision at that time. Students must attend a pre-departure meeting and meet all the guidelines as directed in the Guide to Study Abroad. Upon return to Williams, students must complete a program evaluation in order to receive credit.
The Tutorial Program offers Williams students a distinctive opportunity to take a heightened form of responsibility for their own intellectual development. No student is required to take a tutorial course, but any student with the appropriate qualifications and interests is invited to do so.
Tutorials at the 100/200 level are designed primarily for first-year students and sophomores; they are usually given enrollment preference for such courses, though interested juniors and seniors are often welcome. Tutorials at the 300/400 level are designed primarily for juniors and seniors (and, often, for majors in the discipline); first-year students and sophomores are welcome to apply, but are urged to consult the instructor before registering.
Tutorials place much greater weight than do regular courses-or even small seminars-on student participation. They aim to teach students how to develop and present arguments; listen carefully, and then refine their positions in the context of a challenging discussion; and respond quickly and cogently to critiques of their work. Tutorials place particular emphasis on developing analytical skills, writing abilities, and the talents of engaging in rigorous conversation and oral debate.
The ways in which particular tutorials are conducted vary across the disciplines, but here is a description of how most tutorials at Williams are organized. Tutorials are usually limited to ten students. At the start of term, the instructor divides the students into pairs. Each pair meets weekly with the instructor for roughly one hour. Many tutorial courses begin and end the term with a group seminar, and in a few departments, instructors hold weekly group meetings of all tutorial members to provide background information designed to facilitate the students' independent work. But the heart of every tutorial course is the weekly meeting of the two students with the instructor.
At these weekly meetings, one student delivers a prepared essay or presentation (e.g., an analysis of a text or work of art, a discussion of a problem set, a report on laboratory exercises, etc.) pertaining to the assignment for that week, while the other student-and then the instructor-offer a critique. In the following week, students switch roles. Typically, students write five or six essays (usually in the range of 4-7 pages) during the term, and offer five or six critiques of their partners' work.
Since the program's inception in 1988, students have ranked tutorials among the most demanding-and rewarding-courses they have taken at Williams. While not designed to be more difficult than other courses, tutorials are nonetheless challenging, with frequent writing assignments and the expectation that students will be well prepared to participate actively and effectively in weekly discussions. At the same time, students have consistently placed tutorials among the most enriching and consequential courses they have taken. They have appreciated the close attention to their writing and argumentation skills; the opportunity to be held accountable, in a detailed way, for the extended implications of their ideas; the chance to develop their oral abilities as they engage in debate; and the close intellectual bonds tutorials build between teachers and students, and students with each other. Many students have formed important advising and mentoring relationships with their tutorial teachers.
Registration information: Students register for tutorials as they would for any other course (but should first check the description for prerequisites and to see if permission of the instructor is required). Because of limited enrollments and the special arrangements involved in organizing tutorials, students are encouraged to determine, as early as possible, their interest in and commitment to the course. Students may not drop or add a tutorial after the first week of class. Tutorials may not be taken on a pass/fail basis.
More information: Please see page of this catalog for a list of tutorials offered in 2008-2009. Students may obtain detailed information about particular tutorials from the course descriptions and the instructors. (All tutorials have a "T" after the course number.) For general information, advice, or suggestions about the program, please contact Professor Stephen Fix, Tutorial Program Director for 2008-2009, in Stetson.
Williams-Exeter Programme at Oxford University
Williams offers a year-long programme of studies at Oxford University in cooperation with Exeter College, Oxford. Based at Ephraim Williams House, Williams' study center at Oxford, the Programme is designed to offer the fullest possible integration of the students into the intellectual and social life of one of the world's great universities. It makes full use of the Oxford tutorial system and the Oxford three-term calendar is followed.
In addition to extensive opportunities to pursue British and Commonwealth studies, the Programme also offers instruction in other fields for which Oxford is particularly noted or which are represented only marginally or infrequently in the Williams curriculum. Interested students should consult the Dean's Office and the "Courses of Instruction" section of this catalog.
Williams-Mystic Maritime Studies Program
The William-Mystic Seaport Maritime Studies Program offers students a unique opportunity to explore the ocean, to travel the Atlantic, Pacific and Gulf Coasts, and to undertake original research of their own design in the humanities and sciences. A term at Williams-Mystic satisfies both a semester's credit and one winter study requirement, as well as intensive writing course credit. Four Williams courses are offered as an integrated, multidisciplinary curriculum in the semester-long program at Mystic Seaport, in Mystic, Connecticut: Maritime History, Literature of the Sea, Marine Policy, and either Marine Ecology or Oceanography (see the American Maritime Studies section in this catalog). Williams College faculty members serve as the Director and Marine Scientist. Travel includes an offshore voyage on the open ocean sailing aboard a tall ship, a seminar along the Pacific Coast, and a Louisiana seminar, all of which are cross-disciplinary and inter-disciplinary exercises. Students live in historic, cooperative, coed houses at Mystic Seaport, the world's largest maritime museum, and have full access to world-class maritime collections, a maritime library, well- equipped laboratory, and diverse coastal habitats (where field research can be undertaken in a wide variety of environments, ranging from tidepools and salt marshes to sandy beaches and estuaries). Students also participate in maritime skills under professional instruction, with choices such as celestial navigation, maritime art, music of the sea, boat building, or small boat handling and sailing. Williams-Mystic seeks candidates who are willing to try new things and work in a compelling academic environment. No sailing experience necessary, and all majors welcome-a typical semester at Williams-Mystic is represented by 12 to 14 different majors spanning the sciences and humanities. Sophomores, juniors, and seniors can attend. Interested students should contact Williams-Mystic at admissions@williamsmystic.org, call (860-572-5359), visit the website (www.williams.edu/williamsmystic), or obtain a Williams-Mystic catalog from the Dean's office. Applications are on the web and at the Dean's office. Financial aid and scholarships are available.
Williams in New York
Williams in New York is a one-semester study away program with a focus on experiential education. It is distinctive, rigorous, and highly experiential, integrating traditional scholarship with on- going fieldwork in related areas. Students attend classes and also spend 15 hours each week in a workplace environment, gaining hands-on experience that provides them with new insights and ideas which relate to their coursework. In turn, they bring this new-found knowledge into the workplace and are able to analyze their experiences against an academic background. The fieldwork placements are arranged in consultation with a Williams faculty member who serves as program director. Students are placed in city organizations or agencies, where they work closely with non- faculty supervisors throughout the semester. Classes are taught by the program director and other professors from Williams or New York area colleges and universities. The program is headquartered at the Williams Club in midtown Manhattan in close proximity to the New York Public Library, the City University of New York Graduate Center, Grand Central Station, and other New York landmarks.