2010-2011 - Sweet Briar College

academic programsSweet Briar Collegedirector of the Honors Program or from theOffice of the Dean. Program requirements andthis year’s course offerings are included in thiscatalog. See Honors Program in the Courses ofInstruction.Study AbroadAs a corollary to its mission to prepare womento be active, responsible members of a worldcommunity, Sweet Briar encourages qualifiedstudents to spend all or part of the junior yearin study abroad. The College sponsors anddirects the Sweet Briar Junior Year in Franceand Junior Year in Spain programs and hasspecial relationships with universities in Italy,Germany, Japan, and Scotland. Some SweetBriar financial aid may be used by studentsto pursue studies in these programs. Studentsinterested in participation in other programsmay apply for special study abroad scholarships.These scholarship opportunities are limitedand competitive. The College also approvesother programs for credit under the sponsorshipof accredited four-year domestic colleges,universities, or other educational organizations,or by direct admission to accredited foreigninstitutions, including internships abroad.General foreign study information is availablefrom the Director of International Studies, whoworks to match each student to a program thatfits her academic and career goals.In general, to qualify for approved studyabroad in the junior year, a student should havea 3.0 cumulative grade point average by theend of her sophomore year. She must also haveshown strength in her major area of study. Herproposed program should include at least onecourse in her major or in related fields.Although study abroad is in keeping withthe liberal-arts tradition, in some fields ofspecialization other options may be preferable.For this reason and in order to plan her programof study carefully in advance, a studentwishing to spend all or part of the junior yearabroad should confer with the Director ofInternational Studies, as well as an academicadvisor in her intended major at an early date,preferably in her first year, but no later thanNovember 30 of her sophomore year.Each student wishing to study abroad,whether for an entire year or for a single term,must submit a dossier of supporting materialsand forms to the Director of InternationalStudies. The dossier and forms must be completedno later than December 15 of her sophomoreyear.Students who participate in a study abroadprogram must still pass three writing intensivecourses in addition to the first-year writingrequirement as required by the GeneralEducation Program.In all cases, the approval of the College mustbe sought in advance if credit toward the SweetBriar degree is to be granted. In exceptionalcases, modifications to the guidelines describedabove may be requested from the InternationalStudies Advisory Committee.Junior Year in France[www.jyf.sbc.edu]Sweet Briar’s Junior Year in France offers aprogram of foreign study in Tours and Parisfor an academic year or a term to well preparedstudents who are especially interestedin the language, history, and culture of Franceor who desire to specialize in such subjects asart, history, international affairs, or politicalscience. Students from more than 35 collegesand universities across the nation study in thisdistinguished program each year.A candidate is expected to have at least twoyears of high-school French and two full yearsof college-level French, including an introductoryliterature course, by June of the sophomoreyear. The candidate should be studyingFrench during that year. A course in Europeanor French history is also recommended.Minimum requirements include a 3.0 gradepoint average in French and a 3.0 cumulativegrade point average. Recommendations fromthe Department of Modern Languages and28