Hey kiddos! As you’re all finishing your applications to Wesleyan and other colleges, we’ll be busy studying for finals! Yes, when classes are over tomorrow afternoon/evening, reading week officially commences! Six days of hanging out with friends, writing papers, studying for finals, and attending fun social events to de-stress and close out the semester! In previous years, reading week has certainly been a blast for me. I don’t think I’ve socialized with so many people in the library in an attempt to put off my work! On Tuesday night, we’re having the ever-so-popular, bi-yearly “breakfast at midnight” at Usdan, the new university center! So excited! Other highlights of the week include
- the “primal scream” Monday at midnight (to release all tension and frustration built on over the semester, Wes students will emerge from their dorms/libraries/rooms/etc. at the stroke of midnight, screaming at the top of their lungs outside for a full minute - it’s really interesting to be around so many people who are ready for finals!)
- music concerts
- dance performances
- comedy troupe shows
- and much, much more!
It’s that time of the year!!!
CHEERS!
H. Rizk ‘08
Senior Interviewer
Whether or not you choose to take a writing course at Wes (It’s your choice: no core curriculum! Woo!), writing is at the heart of almost every class here. For some students, the lack of a freshman writing seminar is liberating; however, many others worry that their skills are not up to Wesleyan’s high standards. If you are a member of the latter group, Wesleyan offers resources to that can help:
- The Writing Workshop: This is the epicenter writing resources at Wesleyan. Stop by the office and meet with a writing tutor or peruse sample essays and writing resources. Workshop tutors also hold satellite drop-in sessions throughout campus. Check out the schedule here.
- Writing Course Tutors: Attached to a specific course, these tutors are excellent resources for course and dicipline-specific writing help. Every course tutor is well versed in the specific subject of the course and/or the department. Course tutors are often associated with FYI courses.
- Writing Mentors: Unlike workshop and course tutors, writing mentors work repeatedly with the same students to help them improve their writing skills. Students and their mentors are encouraged to meet as often as possible to work on any writing assignment. This is an excellent way for less experienced writers to work one-on-one with someone who knows the student’s writing intimately and can facilitate growth.
Additionally, the English department offers “The English Essay,” a course on developing your non-fiction essay writing skills. This course is especially helpful for non-native speakers.
For more information, check out the Writing Program’s website.
And for those of you who dream of being published in The Atlantic Monthly or other media outlets, head over to WesMaps and check out the amazing creative writing courses (numbered between 130 and 170) we’re offering this year.
Justin Holzwarth ‘08
Senior Interviewer
One of the great things about liberal arts colleges is the opportunity to study a whole variety of things. At Wesleyan, this doesn’t stop at our open curriculum or annual course catalog of over 1000 classes. There is a strong commitment here to interdisciplinary learning; that is, the combination of several seemingly separate fields of study that coalesce on a particular topic of study (Peter Hill has already talked about one– the College of Letters– which is a more broadly-focused interdisciplinary program unique to Wesleyan). Some examples include:
- African-American Studies: …”Majors are required to take courses from a variety of disciplinary areas, including literature, the social sciences, and the arts. Each major also concentrates in a specific discipline or in a particular thematic area…”
- American Studies: “…The complexity of culture and of its historical development is such that its analysis requires the intellectual tools of more than one discipline and the interdisciplinary theoretical perspectives emerging in American Studies and other interdisciplinary fields…”
- Medieval Studies: “…the program may also provide a framework for students wishing to cross the somewhat arbitrary temporal, topical, and geographical boundaries of medieval studies in order to consider such problems as relationship between classical and medieval literature or art or the broader history of the preindustrial European studies…”
- Science in Society: “…an interdisciplinary undergraduate major program that encourages integrated study of the sciences and medicine as institutions, practices, material cultures, intellectual achievements, and constituents of culture and politics…”
- Feminist, Gender and Sexuality Studies: “…encourages students to explore and critique past and present cultural structures of power, focusing in particular on the social construction of gender as a category of analysis within the broader matrix of race, class, ethnicity, and sexual identity…”
These are just a handful of the interdisciplinary majors available to you at Wes. And if you don’t find one that suits your fancy, you can arrange to design your own!
Jessie Spector ‘08
Senior Interviewer
The College of Letters (COL) is one of Wesleyan’s many exciting interdisciplinary programs, and one of the main reasons I, for one, chose to come study at Wes. Despite the grandiose name, the COL is organized like most other departments, with many classes open to non-majors, a great series of first-year courses, and an amazing faculty. The COL’s areas of focus are literature, philosophy, and history, with a strong emphasis on foreign language and creative thought. With its interdisciplinary approach, the COL offers a wide range of courses, including “Francophone Uses of America in Literature and Film,” “Dante and Medieval Culture,” and “Theories and Fiction of Androgyny” to name a few from this spring’s course catalog. The COL was also the home of Wesleyan’s most infamous course (no longer offered), “Pornography: Writing of Prostitutes.”
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Whether you’re in the fifth grade or twelfth, you’re probably anxious about your first year of college. Don’t try to play it cool; everyone has his worries, and a lot of them are about academics. One of the questions that prospective students ask most often is, “what special courses does Wesleyan offer the first year students?” Well, as first years you will have the opportunity to pre-register for a couple of classes. On WesMaps, our online course catalogue, there is a long list of courses that the registrar has deemed appropriate for first year students.
Some of these are First Year Initiative (FYI) courses. The FYI is a special breed of Wes-course and is one that we take great pride in. To put it simply, these courses are Wesleyan’s answer to the freshman seminar. We cap the courses at 20 first year students (and only first year students), so you’ll be able to have an intimate class right off the bat. Furthermore, departments assign their cream-of-the-crop faculty to teach these courses, which tend to be outside the standard curriculum. Wesleyan is a core curriculum-free zone, so there isn’t any sort of freshmen writing seminar. Therefore, one of the main goals of FYI courses is to make sure that every student has a proper introduction to writing at the college level. Many FYI courses have their own writing tutors who are there to read students’ work (before it’s handed in) and help them through writing their first college essay. Most students sign-up for at least one FYI, but they are not required. I actually took four, because I found the topics so intriguing.
My favorite was “Culture and Cuisine,” taught by Professor of Government John Finn. It was a sociological look at food, and Professor Finn has been to culinary school, so of course he cooked for us! “Culture and Cuisine” was very reading and writing intensive, but the topic was so interesting that it never felt tedious. And that’s just the nature of FYIs! So head over to WesMaps Search and click the box next to “First Year Initiatives.” A lot of them sound really neat! I wish seniors could take them.
Justin Holzwarth ‘08
Senior Interviewer
We’ve already talked about how Wesleyan doesn’t have a Core, but rather GenEds, expectations that are designed to allow for exploration across the curriculum. But how does our education connect us if we don’t have the same academic experiences? What makes a Wesleyan student a Wesleyan student? Effectively, what you’re asking is “What, exactly, is so special about a Wesleyan education?” – and part of that answer can be found in Wesleyan’s Essential Capabilities.
The Essential Capabilities were designed by the Wesleyan faculty (and are continually updated) to be sure that each and every Wesleyan student graduates as well-educated in as many ways as possible – not only through the GenEds for breadth of study, not only through the major for depth of study, but also through the Essential Capabilities to allow for individual and personal growth – making the student a viable and promising member of the global community. The Essential Capabilities are:
These are some of the building blocks that make a Wesleyan student a Wesleyan student. They are not simply expected – they are essential, an integral part of the curriculum. As an incoming freshman, you will do a self-critique, and rate yourself in each of these areas. It is entirely up to you what you do after that. Wesleyan students will develop in these areas over time, even if they never pay any mind to these capabilities at all – every class is designed to enhance at least one, but often many, of these capabilities, and you’ll find yourself improving in each area over time.
Your e-portfolio will keep track of the Essential Capabilities that you are enhancing in class, allowing you to see exactly where you might be lacking, leaving you to make the choice to improve that part of yourself through the courses that you select, if you chose to do so (again, WesMaps provides a search function for these). The faculty recognizes that the Essential Capabilities are embedded in every facet of life, not just in your academics, so the relationships you forge while at Wesleyan –while adding to your education in ways you cannot hope to imagine now– will ultimately add to your mastery of these capabilities, often without your realizing it!
Jacqueline Chapman ‘08
Senior Interviewer
I know this is a little far off (for you at least!), but graduation requirements are just one of the many things that you should be asking about at all of the colleges and universities that you visit. Wesleyan’s graduation requirements are straightforward – complete 32 credits (each class = 1 credit, with some exceptions, like PhysEd) and – I know this is surprising – complete a major (or two!).
Wait… that’s all? Well, yes and no. In an effort to create a standard body of knowledge that becomes synonymous with its graduates, many colleges and universities establish a Core Curriculum, which each and every student is required to fulfill. Wesleyan is not one of them – there is no one class that everyone at Wes has taken. However, there are some guidelines for your course of study while here: they are called the General Education Expectations, or GenEds. Note that GenEds are dubbed expectations not requirements – about 20% of the student body never complete their GenEds. However, GenEd completion is a requirement of being eligible for Phi Beta Kappa, University Honors, as well as for acceptance, completion and/or Honors in some departments – so pay attention!
Okay… so what are these expectations anyway? By the time you graduate from Wesleyan, the University would like to see that you have taken three courses from each of three divisions – Humanities and Arts (HA), Social and Behavioral Sciences (SBS), and Natural Sciences and Mathematics (NSM). Never fear – again, the GenEds are NOT Core! This means that YOU choose the courses that you want to use to fulfill the expectations – no one else. These courses can be Intro courses to other majors, or courses designed by departments specifically with the non-major in mind. Most Wesleyan students complete their GenEds without even thinking about them – if you study across the curriculum, following your varied interests, you’ll get them done in no time and even by accident (as I did). Here are some awesome options for this coming year, for majors and non-majors alike:
HA (Humanities and Arts)
SBS (Social and Behavioral Sciences)
NSM (Natural Sciences and Mathematics)
BIOL 118 – Reproduction in the 21st Century
CHEM 198 – Forensics: The Science Behind CSI
As Justin H. mentioned earlier, WesMaps is easy to navigate and exciting to peruse! Explore!
Jacqueline Chapman ‘08
Senior Interviewer
A lot of people have been strolling into our office and asking for an updated version of our course catalogue. Well, they haven’t been printed yet! But I can offer you something that’s arguably better: our electronic course catalogue, WesMaps.
Click on any of the majors listed on the site, and you will find links to not only the courses offered this coming year, but also to the department website, requirements for majors, and courses appropriate for first year students (hint, hint). Have a field day! No, seriously, I know a lot of Wes students who spend days browsing WesMaps, especially when it’s newly updated for the upcoming year.
Some courses that jumped out at me, as I was sifting through today:
- History 118, Baroque Rome: I didn’t know it was baro-ken. ZING!
- Theatre 384, Introduction to Puppetry: I believe this is my calling.
I should point out that WesMaps has an excellent search function that allows you to search courses by keyword, time, GenEd, and even key capabilities. Pretty snazzy, huh?
Justin Holzwarth ‘08
Senior Interviewer
