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During their Sophomore and Junior years, students have a choice of structured academic options that aids in their global education. Listed below are the options for each year.
Sophomore Year Options In a sophomore year Area Studies fieldtrip in China, students may meet with Buddhist monks during the Ghost Festival at Upper India Monastery in Hangzhou, when pilgrims burn symbolic possessions for deceased ancestors. Students may visit the ancestral homes of the First and the Fourteenth Dalai Lamas where they live in a Buddhist monastery. Students may collect spring water high in the hills of Hangzhou above the Dharma Purity Monastery where they discuss the urgent environmental crises in waterquality with the local monks and city residents. Students may be introduced to the ancient history of Chinese herbology and the philosophical principals of a medicinal diet at a traditional apothecary. Students may drink Dragon Well tea, which farmers sell at auction for a price higher than gold, while having an economics lecture about this phenomenon. Students may visit Beijing and discuss Sino-American relations with the Chinese government’s top political strategist; later that day, students may also be introduced to the representatives for the US Department of State for a briefing on bilateral relations. During the sophomore year, students may choose to study for an academic year in Bangalore, India, or Hangzhou, China, where they explore issues in global development and the impact of this development on one of the two most populous countries in the world. Though completely different in history and culture, China and India face similar challenges in modernization and transformation as they move forward in the 21st century – ethnic and religious minorities, dozens of languages or dialects within their respective borders, environmental issues, infrastructure challenges that affect access to information and other essential resources, and a sharp contrast between the modern cities of Bangalore and Hangzhou and the thousands of rural villages throughout each country. Junior Year Options In the junior year, students choose one of several methodologies from the humanities and social sciences, and use this prism to organize their junior year electronic learning portfolio, as well as to prepare a proposal for their senior year independent study. Students compare and contrast experiences in Japan, a country known for its cultural homogeneity and technological sophistication, with academic study in South Africa, a country moving towards reconciliation and embracing its cultural heterogeneity. A semester is spent in each country. In the junior year, students choose one of several methodologies from the humanities and social sciences, and use this prism to organize their junior year electronic learning portfolio, as well as to prepare a proposal for their senior year independent study. Students compare and contrast experiences in Japan, a country known for its cultural homogeneity and technological sophistication, with academic study in South Africa, a country moving towards reconciliation and embracing its cultural heterogeneity. A semester is spent in each country. Comparative Religion and Culture Alternatively, in their junior year, students may choose the Comparative Religion and Culture (CRC) Program, a one-of-a-kind experience, combining careful, theoretical study with extensive exposure to religious and cultural life in an academic year program. On CRC, students engage in intensive study of the teachings, rituals, and spiritual practices of the world’s major religions, and explore cross-cultural issues such as identity, human rights, peace and reconciliation and world citizenship.
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