Academic Advising

If you are a junior or senior who has engaged with foreign-language study while at Wesleyan, the rationale below will help you explain to prospective employers the skills you have gained through such a course of study.

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Why Foreign-Language Study is a Good Idea for Every Student

We assume if you have reasons to learn a particular language (to study, work, travel, or live abroad or for resources not fully available in English translation), you already know why it is important. Here are reasons to study any language besides English or whatever you regard as your native language:

1. Many employers, professional schools, and graduate schools see serious study of a second language (potentially, a double-major) as evidence that you can (a) put yourself more easily in others’ (colleagues’, clients’) shoes and (b) communicate more effectively even in English.

2. You will never know your own language and culture more deeply than by studying another–by looking at it from the outside. Learning to thrive with the unfamiliar is often linked to creativity in many intellectual and professional contexts.

3. Language learning teaches you to think more clearly and sharpens your brain’s ability to make sense of the world.

4. Deep study of another culture through its language brings home how much of value will never be made available in English.

5. Puzzling out another language and culture will help you understand (and empathize with) the difficulties of non-anglophone immigrants, colleagues, clients, and travelers in the U.S., even if you never leave American shores.

6. Learning another language well makes it easier to learn any language in the future. Even if you never need this, the experience–especially if you study abroad–will make you far more confident in your ability to face any intellectual or professional challenge.  

7. Foreign-language courses fit easily into study plans: offered on highly varied schedules, they provide a stimulating (and fun!) break from problem-set driven, heavy-reading or arts courses.

Wesleyan offers:

Arabic language and culture: http://www.wesleyan.edu/academics/faculty/aaissa/profile.html

American Sign Language: http://www.wesleyan.edu/lctls/courses.html

Classics (Greek and Latin): http://wesleyan.edu/classics/

East Asian Studies (Chinese, Japanese, Korean): http://wesleyan.edu/ceas/

German studies: http://wesleyan.edu/german/

Hebrew language and culture: http://www.wesleyan.edu/academics/faculty/dkatz01/profile.html

Romance Languages & Literatures (French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish): http://wesleyan.edu/romance/

Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies program: http://wesleyan.edu/russian/

Any other language: http://www.wesleyan.edu/lctls/silp.html

Juniors – Please be sure to complete your course and teaching evaluations to avoid delays in seeing your course grades. There are now two forms of the evaluations. – Dean Thornton

New Teaching Evaluations Update

Wesleyan is implementing a new teaching evaluation form this fall.  The majority of classes will use the new teaching evaluation form, with new questions.  However, a small number of classes will continue to use the old form for a few more terms, so some students will complete a different form for certain classes.  There will be one landing page for all student course evaluations, with a link to the correct form for each course.

Dear 2018’ers,

I am writing to remind you that pre-registration for the Spring 2017 starts today. There are three parts to the process:

• Planning – from today, Tuesday, 11/1/16 (at 8:30 am) until Monday, 11/14/16 (at 5 pm)
• Scheduling – Tuesday, 11/15/16
• Adjustment – from Wednesday, 11/16/16 (at 8 am) until Tuesday, 11/22/16 (at 5 pm)

RESOURCES

Use this link to WesMaps to select your desired Spring 2017 courses:

https://iasext.wesleyan.edu/regprod/!wesmaps_page.html

Help Line – x3222 from 8:30am to 4:30pm, Monday through Friday.

Additional information about pre-reg can be accessed via http://www.wesleyan.edu/registrar/registration/pre_registration.html.

Please Note:

Pre-Requisite Override Requests require a brief written justification to the instructor.

Pre-Reg plans must be approved by your faculty advisor, so please schedule a time to meet with your advisor before time runs out.

Please feel free to come to one of my drop-in sessions or schedule a meeting by contacting Mrs. Maheu in my office.

 

Dear Students in the Class of 2018,

Now that Spring is “officially” here, there are a few things to keep in mind:

• Pre-registration will begin next week (Monday, March 28^th) and end on April 11 at 5 p.m.

• Sophomores are advised to declare a major using the Electronic Portfolio prior to the start of the pre-registration period. Students who declare their majors by this date may be notified about their major advisor. Students who have submitted major deferral forms because they are still completing prerequisites or General Education Expectations courses, should inform their pre-major advisors about their continued need for support during the pre-registration period. If you have neither declared a major or submitted a major deferral form, please come to see me immediately during one of my drop-in sessions.

• Note, the scheduling period will take place on April 12, after which you may adjust your schedule until April 19

• For Spring 2016 course, note the deadline for course withdrawal is Wednesday, April 27

Thinking about doing an Honors Thesis? And Then What?

 Come to a panel Q&A with Professors

Marguerite Nguyen (H&A–ENGL)

Suzanne O’Connell (NSM–E&ES), and

Sarah Wiliarty (SBS—GOVT)

Wed., Feb. 3  — 4 p.m.

Usdan 110

 

Note:  There will be another meeting in April about the logistics of doing an honors theses.