International Year program (1-Quarter) - Bachelor of Arts in Economics/Environmental Studies

at Study Group - Western Washington University USA

The International Year program is specially designed to prepare international students with the solid foundation needed to succeed in an undergraduate degree at Western Washington University.

You will learn in a supportive environment to develop your academic and English language skills, while adjusting to living and learning in the USA. After successfully completing the program with the required grades, you can continue your undergraduate degree with the confidence to engage and succeed.

Sociology — Elementary
Sociologists examine topics encompassing a vast array of human behavior: crime and punishment, the formation and dissolution of families, bureaucracy in organizations, conflicts between classes, and global inequalities. Sociology is distinctive in its focus on the way individuals’ lives are embedded within multiple social contexts that facilitate and constrain the range of possible actions. These contexts include generation, occupation, gender, religion, sexual orientation, family, health, nation, race and ethnicity, and many others.

This major satisfies the academic major requirement for teacher certification with an endorsement in elementary education and must be accompanied by the professional preparation program in elementary education. 

Sociology students develop an aptitude for critical thinking, improve their writing ability, and gain competence with statistical computing that will enhance their future career options. Sociology students also have the opportunity to participate in faculty-led study abroad programs.

A specialization in Sociology-Elementary major provides an excellent base of knowledge for individuals interested in becoming elementary level educators.

The International Year program is specially designed to prepare international students with the solid foundation needed to succeed in an undergraduate degree at Western Washington University.

You will learn in a supportive environment to develop your academic and English language skills, while adjusting to living and learning in the USA. After successfully completing the program with the required grades, you can continue your undergraduate degree with the confidence to engage and succeed.

Political Science/Social Studies
Political Science is one of the oldest fields of academic inquiry. Social ideals and their realization through law were systematically studied in ancient Greece. In an increasingly interdependent world, the study of politics and government has flourished as the relations between persons, groups and nations have become more complex, and questions of freedom and authority have challenged every citizen. Modern political science is equally concerned with questions of political philosophy and with the pursuit of social scientific research. These concerns are reflected in a broad and diverse curriculum.

The Political Science faculty are committed to the belief that understanding politics and government is essential to a well-educated person, vital to democratic citizenship, indispensable to effective public service, and critical to the maintenance and ethical progress of a free society.

The International Year program is specially designed to prepare international students with the solid foundation needed to succeed in an undergraduate degree at Western Washington University.

You will learn in a supportive environment to develop your academic and English language skills, while adjusting to living and learning in the USA. After successfully completing the program with the required grades, you can continue your undergraduate degree with the confidence to engage and succeed.

Financial Economics
The financial economics degree provides an understanding of core economic concepts and the functioning of the economy and financial markets. An emphasis is placed on developing critical thinking skills to apply economic and financial analysis in problem solving resulting in rigorous training in economic and financial theory and applications.

Why Financial Economics?
Finance and economics complement one another in a number of ways and studying these two fields in combination can be especially beneficial to students who would like to work in corporate finance, financial analysis, insurance and real estate, or in government positions.

The International Year program is specially designed to prepare international students with the solid foundation needed to succeed in an undergraduate degree at Western Washington University.

You will learn in a supportive environment to develop your academic and English language skills, while adjusting to living and learning in the USA. After successfully completing the program with the required grades, you can continue your undergraduate degree with the confidence to engage and succeed.

Environmental Studies/Journalism
Journalists are responsible for gathering information, analyzing and editing it for a mass audience, and dispensing it using some form of media platform. Increasingly the methods of distribution have become more complex, but the basic mission of a journalist remains the same: to serve the public by finding, defining, writing, and editing information.

Environmental Journalism offers the opportunity to explore the intersection between the natural world and politics, science, economics and culture. It combines rigorous research with creative storytelling.

The International Year program is specially designed to prepare international students with the solid foundation needed to succeed in an undergraduate degree at Western Washington University.

You will learn in a supportive environment to develop your academic and English language skills, while adjusting to living and learning in the USA. After successfully completing the program with the required grades, you can continue your undergraduate degree with the confidence to engage and succeed.

Philosophy
Undergraduate studies in Philosophy fit well into many pre-professional programs, including law school. Emphasizing careful, deep, and critical analysis of concepts and problems, Philosophy is an excellent major for students seeking business and government careers that require a liberal arts background.

Philosophy courses at Western explore traditional areas of focus, such as ethics, epistemology, logic, metaphysics, and the history of philosophy. Through a collaborative study of these topics, the department faculty helps students develop valuable skills, such as critical thinking, critical reading, analytic writing, and effective speaking. Studies consistently show that Philosophy majors do better than anyone else when it comes to verbal reasoning and analytic skills (as revealed by scores on the Graduate Record Exam).

The International Year program is specially designed to prepare international students with the solid foundation needed to succeed in an undergraduate degree at Western Washington University.

You will learn in a supportive environment to develop your academic and English language skills, while adjusting to living and learning in the USA. After successfully completing the program with the required grades, you can continue your undergraduate degree with the confidence to engage and succeed.

Business Administration - Finance
Western's Business Administration majors explore leadership roles in business and the community, providing students with the perceptual and analytical skills necessary to make decisions and evaluate policies in business, and develop an understanding of the social, economic, and regulatory environments in business. All students earning a degree in Business Administration develop significant understanding of management information systems and computing.

The field of finance encompasses many different areas including investments, financial institutions, corporate finance, and real estate. The Finance Concentration includes coursework in each of these areas as well as courses in options and futures, multi-national finance, and insurance. Managing finances requires you to answer intricate questions like: Can we afford to give employees a raise? Is it better to rent or buy office space? How should we finance our business? Typically, a student who pursues a concentration in Finance is good with math, money, inherently a problem solver, and is well organized.

The International Year program is specially designed to prepare international students with the solid foundation needed to succeed in an undergraduate degree at Western Washington University.

You will learn in a supportive environment to develop your academic and English language skills, while adjusting to living and learning in the USA. After successfully completing the program with the required grades, you can continue your undergraduate degree with the confidence to engage and succeed.

Biology - Marine
Near the shores of the Salish Sea, Western is in an ideal location for undergraduates studying marine sciences. The Biology – Marine Emphasis major provides a thorough introduction to the basic areas of biology and supporting sciences while allowing specialization in marine biology. Students explore the structure and function of marine organisms and their relationship with the environment.

A highlight for most students in this emphasis is the opportunity to enroll in courses taught at Western’s Shannon Point Marine Center located in Anacortes, WA (about an hour from Bellingham). These all-day courses give students the opportunity to delve deeply into marine ecology and algal diversity, and include boat-based research and trips to nearby islands.

The integrated conceptual foundation in biology, the critical thinking skills, quantitative problem-solving abilities, leadership with team-building skills, and scientific research skills students obtain from lecture and laboratory courses in the B.S. Biology curriculum ultimately are critical for post-baccalaureate studies and future job performance.

The International Year program is specially designed to prepare international students with the solid foundation needed to succeed in an undergraduate degree at Western Washington University.

You will learn in a supportive environment to develop your academic and English language skills, while adjusting to living and learning in the USA. After successfully completing the program with the required grades, you can continue your undergraduate degree with the confidence to engage and succeed.

Chinese Language and Culture
The study of Chinese Language and Culture focuses on communicative skills and cultural awareness, which are essential for success in career pursuits such as business, education, public service, and technology related to China, Chinese people, and Chinese language.

Western's Chinese Language and Culture program provides students with the opportunity to become competent communicators in Chinese language and culture, shared by 1.3 billion people, approximately one-fourth of the world’s population.

The Chinese Language and Culture major leads to a BA degree without teacher certification. In order to receive a recommendation for state of Washington certification, students must complete the teacher certification program which is offered by the Department of Secondary Education. A passing score on the World Languages WEST-E test, and proficiency in the designated world language assessed by ACTFL oral and written tests at the Advanced-Low level, are required by the state.

The International Year program is specially designed to prepare international students with the solid foundation needed to succeed in an undergraduate degree at Western Washington University.

You will learn in a supportive environment to develop your academic and English language skills, while adjusting to living and learning in the USA. After successfully completing the program with the required grades, you can continue your undergraduate degree with the confidence to engage and succeed.

Physics
Physics is "the fundamental science." Astronomy, biology, chemistry, geology, and engineering all apply the principles of physics to specific problems. Almost all areas of modern technology involve the applications of physics—and undergraduate study in this field provides a solid foundation for further work and study in physics, astronomy, and engineering.

A Physics BS degree can open a variety of doors for jobs in high-tech industries, government labs, and as preparation for graduate school. Many graduates have found the skills acquired in our degree program have prepared them for further academic studies in physics, astronomy, engineering, patent law, medical physics, medicine, and education, to name a few.

The International Year program is specially designed to prepare international students with the solid foundation needed to succeed in an undergraduate degree at Western Washington University.

You will learn in a supportive environment to develop your academic and English language skills, while adjusting to living and learning in the USA. After successfully completing the program with the required grades, you can continue your undergraduate degree with the confidence to engage and succeed.

Business Administration - Marketing
Western's Business Administration majors explore leadership roles in business and the community, providing students with the perceptual and analytical skills necessary to make decisions and evaluate policies in business, and to develop understanding of the social, economic, and regulatory environments in business. All students earning a degree in Business Administration develop significant understanding of management information systems and computing.

While many people think marketing is all about sales and advertising, that perception is far from what marketing encompasses. Marketing means satisfying the wants and needs of customers by building mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and customers. By creating value for customers, marketers help increase the value of organizations. Marketing tools and strategies are used in both for-profit business and non-profit organizations.

The Marketing Concentration provides students with coursework that is intellectually stimulating and directly useful in today's marketing profession. Students study marketing as it relates to a variety of activities in new product development, pricing strategies and implementation, various communications including traditional advertising, digital media, personal selling, distribution, management of services, and brand management.