Wesleyan University: Office of International Studies


		Preparation
		Application Procedures
		Programs
		Before You Go
		While Abroad
		Returning
		Financial Resources
		Research on International Education

Departmental Regulations for Counting Study Abroad Credits Towards The Major

Students intending to receive major credit for work done while abroad should contact their major advisor or (if the student does not yet have a major advisor) the chair of the appropriate department in order to have the course work approved.

(Note: This applies to major credit only. To receive credit for non-major courses taken abroad, a list of these courses must be submitted to International Studies as part of the student's application to study abroad, and the credit will be approved by the Director of International Studies.) Approval for study abroad courses for both major and non-major credit must be obtained by the student before leaving Wesleyan; it will not be granted retroactively.

In general, departments follow the guidelines listed below when approving courses. This list has been prepared by the Office of International Studies based on information supplied by the individual departments.

African American Studies	One credit taken away from Wesleyan may be counted toward the major. Prior approval is required by your major advisor.
American Studies	Up to 2 courses taken abroad may count toward the major. AMST 200, junior colloquium, and senior requirements (essay, thesis, or seminar) must be completed at Wesleyan. Prior approval and portfolio review are not required for American Studies electives, although consultation with major advisor is recommended. Chair of Latin American Studies must approve any LAST courses used to fulfill the Comparative Americas requirement. Major advisor may sign for Approved Programs or petition programs.
Anthropology	Up to 3 courses abroad may count toward the major. Prior approval by department chair and a course grade of B or better are required. Credit is routinely granted for field methods courses, but not for specific major requirements such as ANTH295 (Theory 1) or ANTH296 (Theory 2) without chair's approval.
Archaeological Studies	Up to 3 courses abroad may count toward the major. Prior approval, portfolio review, and grade of B or better are required. Approved by department chair.
Art: Studio Art Art History	Up to 3 courses abroad may count toward the major. Prior approval and portfolio review (including work produced and/or documentation thereof) are required. Approved by instructor in relevant medium and/or major advisor. Up to 4 courses abroad may count toward the major. Prior approval and a grade of B+ or better, with evidence of written work, are required. Approved by professor in area of study; program director if former is unavailable.
Astronomy	No limit but prior approval from the department chair is required.
Biology	Up to 2 upper-level biology courses abroad may count toward the major. These generally do not count toward the requirement that 3 advanced courses cover 3 of the 4 areas of biology curriculum. Prior approval is required. It is strongly suggested that biology/science courses be taken in English. Approval by Prof. Donady
Chemistry	No limit on major credits. Prior approval and portfolio review are required. Approval by department chair.
Classical Studies & Classics	Students attending study abroad programs approved by the Office of International Study may apply up to four courses toward completion of their major in Classics or Classical Civilization. The courses must be on subjects relevant to the Classical world and require departmental pre-approval. Majors are expected to take at least one course in the department upon their return to campus.
College of Letters	Study abroad is required in the second semester of sophomore year. Wesleyan-administered programs are preferred; study elsewhere in Europe is acceptable. With prior approval by department chair, study in non-Anglophone former European colonies is also sometimes permitted. Approval by department chair or major advisor. Courses taken abroad cannot be used to satisfy major course requirements in the College of Letters.
College of Social Studies	Study abroad is encouraged for the Fall semester of Junior year. No major credit is granted for study abroad. Prior approval is required. Approval by major advisor.
Computer Science	No limit. COMP 211 and 212 must be taken at Wesleyan. Prior approval is required. Approval by Departmental Advisory Committee.
Dance	Up to 2 courses abroad may count toward the major; they must be studio courses in a specific dance form. Standard based on contact hours: 24 hrs=0.25, 42-50 hrs=0.5, 84-100 hrs=1.0 credit. Core requirements, theory, and composition must be taken on campus. Prior approval is required. Approval by major advisor, then department chair.
Earth and Environmental Science	No more than 2 upper-level courses from study abroad may be counted towards the major as core or elective courses. Elective credit may be given for fieldwork, core or elective credit for traditional coursework. Prior approval and portfolio review are required. Approval by department chair.
East Asian Studies	Wesleyan administered programs: 4 non-language courses abroad per semester may count toward the major. Language courses may count toward satisfaction of the major language requirement. Other Programs: The same rule applies, but students must petition to receive credit. Students will normally receive only 1 credit for field study or independent study abroad. Majors are expected to take at least 1 language course in Chinese or Japanese after their return. In both cases, prior approval is required. Approval by major advisor AND department chair.
Economics	A maximum of 2 courses taken abroad may be counted as lower-(i.e., 200-)level electives toward the major; provided that any such course have at least introductory economics as a prerequisite. ECON 300, 301, and 302 must be taken at Wesleyan. Courses taken abroad may not substantially duplicate any courses taken before or afterwards at Wesleyan. Prior approval by department chair based on submission of departmental transfer credit form (available online) is required. After completing their study abroad, students may petition for one or both courses to count toward the major requirement of 3 upper-level electives by submitting completed coursework to the Chair.
English	Up to 3 credits abroad (5 from the Sussex program) may count toward the major. Only courses offered in the English departments of Wesleyan or Sussex can count toward the departmental requirements in Theory, Literary History I and II, and Literatures of Difference. Prior approval is required except for Sussex courses, which are arranged in consultation with the Sussex advisor at Wesleyan, but may be changed in consultation with Sussex faculty. Portfolio review may be required for other programs. Approval by Professor Stephanie Kuduk Weiner.
Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies	Up to 2 courses abroad may count toward the major. Major requirement courses (gateway, Feminist Theories and Senior Seminar) must be taken at Wesleyan. Prior approval by major advisor is required.
Film Studies	Up to 2 credits may count toward the major. Prior approval and portfolio review (including syllabi, course work, papers, information on screenings, instructor) are required. Approval by Professor Basinger
French Studies	Up to 4 courses may count toward the major. These courses should be approved by the student's major advisor.
German Studies	Up to 3 credits abroad may count toward the major. Regensburg students may earn 4 credits if they take three seminars and the language program. Prior approval is required. Approval by department chair.
Government	Up to 2 courses abroad may count toward the major. Majors on full-year programs may count a third course with the approval of their major advisor. No credit toward the major will be approved for internships, introductory courses, or certain SIT courses. No credit toward graduation will be approved for internships. A student seeking major credit must give the pre-approving faculty member a course title and written course description before the first day on which the course meets, either in person before departing (preferable) or by email from abroad (if the title and course description are unavailable before departure).
Hispanic Literatures	All coursework must be done in Spanish. Up to 4 courses abroad may count toward the major. Internships will not receive credit. At least 5 major credits must be taken on campus, one (230 or above) during the senior year. Prior approval is required. Approval by major advisor.
History	Up to 2 courses abroad may count toward the 8 200-level requirements; other courses may count toward the 11-credit total over 150-level. All 3 seminars must be taken at Wesleyan. Prior approval is required. Approval by major advisor; chair for non-majors with history requirements.
Iberian Studies	Up to 4 credits may count toward the major for courses on Iberian literature, art history, culture, society, linguistics or history of an Iberian language. One course on Latin America may be applied to the major, especially if it bears in some direct way on Iberia (e.g., colonial period, modern migration or other forms of social/ economic/ cultural exchange between Latin America and Iberia). With major advisor's permission, one course of Hispanophone Africa ( Equatorial Guinea, Morocco, or the Western Sahara), Lusophohe Africa (Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique or S�o Tom� e Pr�ncipe), or other former Iberian colonies (e.g., the Philippines, Goa, Macao, Timor) may apply. Tutorials, essays, theses and independent projects will not earn major credit. Prior approval is required. Approval by major advisor.
Italian Studies	4 credits from Bologna accepted; only one of these may be on a topic that is not Italian in nature (i.e., Economy of Russia taken at the UniBo). Lecce credit accepted only for students who have completed only ITST 101&102 before study abroad. For programs other than ECCO, a review of the number of credits that will be accepted into the major will be required.
Latin American Studies	No limit. Prior approval of all courses is required. Up to 2 nation-specific courses taken abroad, from different curricular divisions, may count toward the major. Students should take at least one course in their concentration. Coursework taken in Latin America must be about Latin America and in Spanish or Portuguese. Internships are not approved for major credit. Approval by major advisor; if unavailable, department chair or other LAST professor.
Mathematics	No limit. Math 225 and 261 must be taken at Wesleyan. Prior approval is required. Approval by Departmental Advisory Committee.
Medieval Studies	Up to 5 courses abroad may count toward the major. Prior approval is required.
Molecular Biology and Biochemistry	No limit; 1-2 is usual. Prior approval (including grading criteria) is required. For requirements outside major, prior approval must be obtained from the relevant department (chem, math, physics). Major advisor (and sometimes department chair) for biology; DC or designee for required courses outside biology.
Music	No limit. Prior approval by directors of undergraduate studies. Any changes in the plan should also be approved by directors of undergraduate studies. Students may be asked to submit syllabi or other course material when they return.
Neuroscience and Behavior	Up to 4 courses may count toward the foundation course requirements, and 1 may count toward upper-level requirements for the major. Prior approval is required. Approval by department chair or major advisor. If a course replaces a non-departmental requirement (e.g., Chemistry), relevant department must approve.
Philosophy	No limit; usually no more than 2 credits may count toward the major. Prior approval (based on syllabi and course descriptions) is required. Approval by department chair.
Physics	No limit. Prior approval is required. Approval by major advisor and/or department chair.
Psychology	Up to 3 psychology courses from study abroad plus 1 credit from within the United States may count toward the major. Courses must be pre-approved by the chair.
Religion	Up to 2 (rarely 3) courses abroad may count toward Historic Traditions, and sometimes toward Religion and Society. Critical Theory must be taken at Wesleyan. Prior approval is required. Approval by major advisor, then department chair.
Romance Studies	Up to 6 courses may count toward the major. These courses should be approved by the student's major advisor. Email contact with faculty advisor encouraged while abroad.
Russian Language and Literature; Russian and East European Studies	2 credits per semester abroad (and 1 for summer study) may count toward the major. Coursework must be conducted in Russian. Prior approval is required. Courses deemed less demanding than Wesleyan courses may earn 0.5 credit toward the major rather than 1 full credit. Approval by Profs. Susanne Fusso, Priscilla Meyer, or Duffield White.
SISP	No limit. Credit is usually given in area of concentration, rather than the core requirements. Prior approval is required. This department does not award major credit for independent study projects. Approval by department chair.
Sociology	Up to 3 courses abroad (more commonly, 2) may count toward the major. Sociological Theory and Sociological Analysis must be taken on campus. Prior approval in required. Approval by department chair.
Spanish	All coursework must be done in Spanish. Up to 4 courses abroad in literature, history or the Spanish language, or Spanish linguistics may count toward the major. with approval of major advisor, one course taken in Spanish in a field other than literature may apply; a second such course may apply if it bears primarily on Hispanophone writers outside Latin America. Internships, tutorials, theses, essays, and independent projects will not receive major credit. Prior approval is required. Major advisor approval required to apply 1 course in a field other than literature toward the major. Approval by major advisor.
Theater	Theater Majors are expected to take THEA 105: Basic Production Techniques and THEA 245: Acting 1 at Wesleyan. Approval for all courses taken abroad is required prior to enrollment. Approval by department chair.

Prior approval generally requires students to present course syllabus and/or description to departmental advisor or chair, as noted, before beginning program. Some departments also require description of grading system or other information.

**Students who choose or change courses upon arrival must contact the relevant department "approver" at the beginning of the term abroad to arrange credit. All such communications should be cc'ed to Carolyn Sorkin, Director of International Studies, at csorkin@wesleyan.edu or the OIS (105 Fisk Hall, 262 High Street, Middletown, CT 06459) for documentation.

Portfolio review requires students to present course syllabus, course description, and written coursework to departmental advisor or chair, as noted, upon return to Wesleyan.

Determination of major credit is the prerogative and responsibility of the major department.