America, North
Chicago Arts Program (ACM)
Late August to mid-December or late January to mid-May
Campus Program Adviser: Gary Gisselman (Speech-Theater 118, x3320)
Enrollment: 30 students (fall), 20 students (spring)
Eligibility: Advanced sophomores, juniors and seniors
The Chicago Arts Program is a 15-week semester of urban art immersion during which students explore the arts through practical, creative and scholarly activity. While living in Chicago , in addition to attending a wide range of cultural events, students meet and work with local artists and arts professionals. Students have a Core Course and Arts Seminars. Through the Independent Study Projects and Internships, students expand and refine their artistic visions and aspirations in the context of the art forces of Chicago .
Possible internship placements include but are not limited to museums and galleries, artists' studios, theater and dance companies, recording studios and popular music venues, literary organizations and publications, film and video production companies, architecture firms, arts education and community outreach organizations and graphic and interior designers. Not limited to arts majors, the program benefits all students who have strong career interests or graduate school aspirations in the arts and humanities.
City Arts (HECUA) - Minneapolis/St. Paul
Spring semester, early February to mid-May
Campus Program Adviser: William Sonnega (Speech-Theater 218, x3177)
Prerequisites: Sophomore standing, good academic standing
City Arts focuses on the arts, popular culture and social change. Students will discover the many ways that art and culture can and do impact communities. Students explore the role of cultural work – performance, writing, visual art, community organizing – in addressing key urban social issues. Students gain valuable tools for social change and vital connections in the community. Students participate in a reading seminar, a field seminar and a two-credit internship placement and seminar. Seminar themes focus on the social, cultural and ideological contexts of art-making and community building and the politics of philanthropy and arts funding. In field seminars, students engage in dialogue with a wide variety of local artists, educators, community organizers and arts advocates. The group attends performances, films and installations as a dynamic part of the learning process.
Students will learn through readings, class discussions and dialogue with people in the field. With a small group of students from a variety of schools, students spend two days per week in seminars. The other three days are spent in an internship.
HECUA works with students to design a 20 hour per week internship that meets each student's individual learning goals and connects with program themes.
General education requirements filled by the program are ALS A, Artistic Studies; HBS, Studies in Human Behavior and Society; WRI, Writing; MCS-D, Multicultural Studies Component.
Dual Degree Program, Engineering - Washington University, St. Louis
Campus Program Adviser: David Dahl ( Science Center 124, x3123)
A cooperative program enables qualified students to earn a B.A. from St. Olaf and a B.S. in engineering from Washington University ( St. Louis ). This five-year program includes the senior year and fifth year at Washington University . All St. Olaf degree requirements must be satisfied as well as the admission requirements at Washington University . Grades earned at Washington University are not figured into the St. Olaf G.P.A.
Dual Degree Program, Engineering - University of Minnesota, Minneapolis
Campus Program Adviser: David Dahl ( Science Center 124, x3123)
This cooperative program enables qualified students to earn a B.A. from St. Olaf and a bachelor's degree in engineering from the University of Minnesota . The five-year program includes the senior year and fifth year at the university. A second program enables students to receive a B.A. at St. Olaf and enter a Master of Engineering degree program at the University of Minnesota . This program will typically involve two additional years.
Environment Sustainability: Science, Public Policy and Community Action (HECUA)
Fall Semester (September to mid-December)
Campus Program Adviser: Thomas Williamson ( Holland 401B, x3875)
Minneapolis and St. Paul are built within a rich natural landscape that is home to one of the most active networks of environmental organizations in the country. This semester program addresses key processes of ecosystem degradation and rehabilitation, the social and economic underpinnings of conflict over environmental change, and public policy and community-based strategies that strive toward sustainability. The program takes an integrated approach to environmental issues, addressing the linkages between rural and urban environmental concerns as well as the way local decisions relate to regional and global trends. Topics include sustainable agriculture, land use management, watershed protection, industrial pollution, energy projection and consumption, transportation, urbanization, and suburban sprawl. The rogram includes field experiences that focus on basic ecosystem evaluation. Short trips throughout the semester offer opportunities to integrate theory and practice.
Metro Urban Studies Term - Minneapolis/St. Paul (HECUA)
Fall semester (September to
mid-December), spring semester (February to mid-May)
Campus Program Adviser: Thomas Williamson ( Holland 401B, x3875)
Prerequisites: Sophomore standing, good academic standing
The Metro Urban Studies Term (MUST) focuses on issues of poverty and inequality and ways to address these critical issues. Students will explore key institutions that impact urban poverty and inequality, namely the economy, education and welfare. Students are empowered as they examine and utilize an array of strategies to address inequality and rebuild the region more equitably. Through seminar readings and discussion, students will analyze the role of urban sprawl, regional segregation and institutional racial, class and gender discrimination in urban equality. Students will learn from the experience of others through field seminars that engage them in dialogue with educators, urban planners, corporate executives and community organizers. The group, which consists of students from a variety of schools, spends two days together in seminars. The other three days are spent in an internship placement which is a central part of the program. HECUA works with students to design an internship that meets each student's learning goals and connects with program themes. Students will do meaningful work while learning from extraordinary mentors on site. In addition, students complete an independent study project as a way to focus on a topic of special interest.
General education requirements filled by this program are HBS, Studies in Human Behavior and Society; WRI, Writing; MCS-D, Multicultural Studies Component.
MEXICO: (See America: South and Central)
National Theater Institute - Connecticut
Semester I, semester II
Campus Program Adviser: Gary Gisselman (Speech-Theater 118, x3320)
Since its founding in 1970, the National Theater Institute has remained true to its mission – to expose young theater artists to intensive conservatory-based training and provide an orientation to the professional theater. After a semester of classes, workshops, theater trips and special events at NTI, students have a sense of the commitment necessary for a career in the theater and a deeper knowledge of their capabilities, their strengths and their weaknesses. Students live and breathe theater seven days a week, from the Monday morning warm-up to the Sunday night company meeting. Full commitment to all aspects of the program is required and, through this commitment, students discover themselves as theater artists. Two weeks of the program are spent in residence in Stratford-upon-Avon or at the Moscow Art Theater .
The National Theater Institute program complements the courses and co-curricular experiences offered by the St. Olaf Theater Department.
Newberry Library Program in the Humanities (ACM) - Chicago
Early September to December
Campus Program Adviser: Mary Trull (Rølvaag Library 526B, x3438)
Credit: Fall semester, four courses
Enrollment: 15-25 students (fall)
Eligibility: Exceptionally qualified juniors and seniors
Newberry Seminar students have an extraordinary opportunity to do advanced independent research at one of the world's great research libraries. They attend interdisciplinary seminars taught by visiting professors and work with resident scholars and library staff. During the semester-length fall seminar, students write a major research paper based on the Newberry's collections in the humanities. The Newberry seminar is for students looking for a personal and academic challenge and for those considering graduate study.
Oak Ridge Science Semester (ACM)
Link to ACM Oak Ridge Scienc e
August to December
Campus Program Adviser: David Dahl ( Science Center 124, x 3123)
Credit: Four courses, levels to be determined
Enrollment: 20 students
Eligibility: Upper class majors in biology, chemistry, physics, geology, mathematics or social science
Application deadline: Feb. 15
The Oak Ridge Science Semester is designed to enable qualified undergraduates to study and conduct research in a prestigious and challenging scientific environment. As members of a research team working at the frontiers of knowledge, participants engage in long-range investigations using the facilities of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) near Knoxville , Tenn. The majority of a student's time is spent in research with an adviser specializing in biology, engineering, mathematics or the physical or social sciences. Students also participate in an interdisciplinary seminar designed to broaden their exposure to developments in their major field and related disciplines. In addition, each student chooses an elective from a variety of advanced courses. The academic program is enriched in informal ways by guest speakers, departmental colloquia and the special interests and expertise of the ORNL staff.
Oregon Extension
Fall semester
Campus Program Adviser: Gregory Walter (Boe Chapel 108A, x3791)
The Oregon Extension is a community of scholars and students located in an old logging camp in southern Oregon , established in 1975. Every fall, this community welcomes a four-month program of learning and study. The study is accomplished in intensive small-group and individual tutorial sessions, tailored to the students' interests and needs. The curriculum is structured around four broad themes: The Contemporary World, Social Analysis and Theory, Human Stories and Living Faith. Each theme is addressed in a three-and-a-half week segment; each segment is divided in half. During the first half of a segment, students work in a group with a shared core of readings and discussions. In the second half of each segment, the students work individually with a professor in the area of their own interest, growing out of the previous readings and discussion. Each segment ends with two days of student presentations.
Semester at an Independent College of Art
Fall or Spring semester
Campus Program Adviser: Meg Ojala ( Dittmann Center 200A, x3823)
This program offers art majors, with department permission, the opportunity to attend an independent college of art to gain specialized studio experience. Positions at participating schools may not be available in each academic year, so interested students must work with the campus program adviser to determine availability. In recent years, students have attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the Minneapolis College of Art and Design.
Urban Studies (ACM)
September to mid-December;
February to mid-May
Campus Program Adviser: Steve Soderlind ( Holland 414E x3153)
Eligibility: Sophomores, juniors, seniors
Credit: Four courses, levels to be determined
Enrollment: 40-50 students (fall), 25-35 students (spring)
During this semester-long program students become residents of Chicago , a vibrant and progressive city of modern America . While immersed - cooking, cleaning, and getting around - each student works at a supervised internship, attends seminars and a core course, and undertakes an independent study. Possible internship placements include legal, criminal justice, community and social justice organizations, historical and cultural institutions, educational, public relations and media facilities, political and philanthropic institutes. Foremost, the Urban Studies Program exposes students to effective models of action in urban America .
Washington Semester
Campus Program Adviser: Dan Hofrenning (Holland Hall 103C, x3128)
St. Olaf College participates in the Washington Semester program in cooperation with The American University. Selected students spend a semester in Washington , D.C. , studying government in action. They register for a two-credit seminar, a one-credit internship and a one-credit individual research project. Four St. Olaf course credits are awarded for the 16 semester hours. Course levels are determined individually. Some of the academic tracks include a required or optional international component. Program fees listed in this catalog do not include the cost of that international component.
Note: Students participating in the spring semester program cannot take an Interim course because of schedule conflicts.
Washington Internship Institute
Late August to December, January to May Campus Program Adviser: Bruce Dalgaard ( CEL Modular Village , x3567)
The Institute for Experiential Learning (IEL), founded in 1990, provides experiential education programs and academic-based internships in Washington , DC . Designed for participants with interests in all fields of study, the program consists of two coordinated seminars and a four-day-per-week internship in the executive and legislative branches of government., embassies or various organizations related to business, law and social development. Four St. Olaf course credits are awarded for the 15 semester hours.
Note: Students participating in the spring semester program cannot take an Interim course because of schedule conflicts.
