Experiential education is learning by doing. It provides an environment in which students may put theory into practice. Many forms of experiential education are offered at Binghamton University, such as internships, volunteerism, fieldwork, projects, laboratory or clinical experience, service-learning, studio experience, simulations and student teaching.
Experience prior to graduation helps students develop skills, explore career options, develop contacts, enhance a résumé, gain experience and test interests.
A number of different areas on campus offer information about experiential education opportunities, including the Career Development Center (cdc.binghamton.edu, 607-777-2400), for credit and non-credit internships, experiential opportunities, volunteer opportunities, international experiences and summer opportunities;the Office of International Programs (oip.binghamton.edu, 607-777-2336), for study-abroad opportunities; individual departments; Campus Life Volunteer Programs Office (http://campusactivities.binghamton.edu/volunteer, 607-777-2811) for volunteer opportunities. Many schools and departments offer experiential courses and opportunities, such as credit-bearing internships. Contact your major department to see if they offer credit for internship experiences.
For more information, contact the experiential education coordinator in the Career Development Center at 607-777-2400.
The Global Studies minor (GSM) is an innovative, multi-disciplinary program in which students investigate the ways scholarship and experiential learning can be used to achieve understanding of international, regional, and global issues. The GSM complements all majors and is open to all undergraduate students who wish to increase their documented global competency by adding a formally-recognized global dimension to their program of study. Study abroad, language study and use, and Binghamton' s internationalized curriculum provide the tools to build knowledge and skills. Students may use the GSM to help steer their choice of electives; to provide a global studies foundation within their major; or to expand their future options on the basis of acquired international knowledge, intercultural proficiency, and global awareness. Specifically, GSM courses foster a self-critical perspective on the study abroad/intercultural experience; promote students' reflective-analysis so they may better understand their own cultural values and behaviors, and the various ways these may be interpreted by members of other cultures; prompt students to connect their study abroad experience to their academic area of expertise; and encourage investigation into the ways scholarship has been used to achieve understandings of international, regional and global issues.
Because it builds upon the University' s existing requirements in language and in "Global Vision", the GSM requires only 20 credits beyond the credits required to meet General Education Global Interdependencies and Foreign Language requirements.
Requirement A: LANGUAGE STUDY AND USE: The goal of this requirement is to encourage students to employ and increase the language skills gained by meeting the University' s Foreign Language General Education requirement. Students must first complete the Foreign Language requirement which varies from school to school and program to program. Once they have completed the Gen Ed FL requirement, GSM students have several ways to complete the three credit hours required by the Minor.
Requirement B: GLOBAL/INTERNATIONAL CONTENT KNOWLEDGE: GSM students must complete at least three credits at the 200 level or above in courses with substantial global and international content to broaden their range of knowledge about global issues, regional concerns, and the interdependencies of all nations.
Requirement C: STUDY-ABROAD EXPERIENCE: It involves a one-credit "Study Abroad Experience" online seminar (GLST 394) and a minimum of three study-abroad credits.
Requirement D: CAPSTONE PROJECT/SEMINAR (GLST 490 or 492): This course inspires students to engage in cross-disciplinary work to address and examine global/local issues with a holistic approach.
Requirement E: ADDITIONAL CREDITS: ANY COMBINATION OF A, B, C, AND/OR D REQUIREMENTS. The total number of credits for A-E adds up to a minimum of 20.
Students who wish to pursue a Minor in Global Studies may obtain information and the application form from the coordinator of the Global Studies Minor, Nelson A. Rockefeller Center, 212 and may get more information athttp://globalstudies.binghamton.edu.
Binghamton University’s Languages Across the Curriculum (LxC) Program provides unique opportunities for students to apply and enhance their existing language skills in courses outside of the language departments. The primary premise of the LxC program is that foreign languages should be actively used throughout the University and that their use should be linked to students’ disciplinary and professional interests.
Since 1991, LxC has supported undergraduate courses in all three divisions of Binghamton University’s Harpur College of Arts and Sciences — Humanities, Science and Mathematics, and Social Sciences; graduate and undergraduate courses in the international business and accounting programs of the School of Management; and undergraduate courses in the Thomas J. Watson School of Engineering and Applied Science. Supported languages in one or more of these courses have included Cantonese, French, Gaelic, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Turkish. Students may contact the Languages Across the Curriculum office to request a list of courses offering an LxC option. The list of LxC-supported courses is also posted on the program’s website at http://lxc.binghamton.edu.
Faculty who choose to offer LxC options to their students design their courses so that LxC assignments may replace a certain percentage of regular coursework or serve as the basis of a group presentation or paper. Language resource specialists (LRSs), who are selected for their linguistic background and disciplinary expertise, prepare LxC assignments utilizing non-English resource materials. The language resource specialists lead study groups in which they help participating students understand the foreign-language materials and relate them to the course content. The extent to which the designated language is spoken in a Languages Across the Curriculum study group is based entirely on the proficiency levels of the participating students.LxC also supports “global language” groups whereby students, using their varied target language alongside non-U.S. English sources,share texts, rooted in a common theme, from multiple linguistic and cultural perspectives. See the LxC website for more information.
LxC study groups meet one hour per week for8 weeks, outside of regular class or discussion section meetings. Except for the weekly study group meeting, the workload for students participating in LxC is normally the same as the workload for non-participating students. Students who choose to enroll in an LxC study group receive a zero-credit transcript notation indicating the language and course of their completed study-group participation. LxC study-group participation may count toward the foreign-language requirement for the global studies minor.
Binghamton University encourages students to study abroad as valuable preparation for an increasingly interdependent world. Study-abroad programs provide opportunities to live and learn in societies around the globe. Semester, academic year, summer or short study tours may be selected. Many disciplines are represented, and study in the major is normally possible and encouraged. Graduate study may be possible at some sites.
Binghamton University currently sponsors the programs listed below on an ongoing basis. For details, see oip.binghamton.edu.
Australia
Murdoch University
Austria
German Language and Culture in Graz
Belize
Tropical Marine Biology Study Tour
China
Total Art of Chinese Theater Summer Program
Chinese Business Language and Culture at Fudan University
Soochow University
Costa Rica
Tropical Ecology Study Tour
Tropical Forest Workshop
Dominican Republic
Decker School of Nursing Summer Program
Egypt
Summer Arabic Intensive Program at Delta University
England
Lancaster University
The London School of Economics and Political Science
Semester in London Program
PPL in Britain Program
University of Bath
University of East Anglia
University of Nottingham
France
French Language and Liberal Arts at the University of Paris (Sorbonne)
Germany
University of Leipzig
Ghana
Engaging Africa: Ethnographic Study in Ghana Summer Program
Morocco
Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane Semester Exchange
Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane Summer Program
The Netherlands
Utrecht University
Scotland
University of Edinburgh
Spain
Summer Language, Literature and Culture in Madrid
Turkey
Bosphorus University Semester Exchange
Bosphorus University Summer Program
Binghamton students may also study abroad on programs sponsored by other campuses of the State University of New York. Credits are normally transferable to Binghamton. Cooperative policies within SUNY allow students to maintain their residency on such programs. Students are urged to begin planning for study abroad as early as possible, ideally in the freshman year. For further information, contact the Office of International Programs (OIP), Nelson A. Rockefeller Center, G-1.
The Summer Session is composed of three terms within a 10-week period (Term I, late May-June; Term II, July-August; Term III, variable dates) during which a wide variety of both traditionally taught and distance education courses is scheduled in most upper- and lower-division areas of the University curriculum. A Summer Session websitehttp://summer.binghamton.edu/ lists the courses to be offered. A schedule of classes for Summer Session is also available on the BU BRAIN http://bubrain.binghamton.edu.Students may earn up to 16 hours of academic credit (a maximum of eight credits in Term I and maximum of eight credits in Term II, excluding physical education credits). Binghamton University students should contact the financial aid office to determine eligibility for financial aid during the Summer Session. The director of Continuing Educationand Outreach administers Summer Session. Continuing Education and Outreach is also the central advising office for all Continuing Education Students (non-matriculated undergraduates) enrolled at Binghamton University.
The Winter Session is composed of a single three-week term that runs from the beginning of January to immediately before the start of the spring semester. Winter Session hosts a select variety of traditionally taught and distance-education courses from across the upper- and lower-division areas of the University curriculum. A Winter Session websitehttp://winter.binghamton.edu/ lists the courses to be offered. A schedule of classes for Winter Session is also available on the BU BRAIN http://bubrain.binghamton.edu. Students may earn up to 4 hours of academic credit during Winter Session; financial aid is not available during Winter Session. The director of Continuing Educationand Outreachadministers Winter Session. Continuing Educationand Outreach is also the central advising office for allContinuing Education Students (non-matriculated undergraduates) enrolled at Binghamton University.
Courses
Continuing Education & Outreach (CEO) offers numerous credit courses that satisfy the undergraduate General Education requirements of Activity (Y), Wellness (S) and/or both (B). These requirements are applicable to all undergraduate students across all undergraduate schools. There are differences, however, in the application of elective credits that may be applied toward the degree among the schools. Please contact an adviser within each school to determine how these credits may apply.
Student Advising
CEO offers advising to all Binghamton University Continuing Education (non-matriculated) students. At Binghamton University, a Continuing Education student is approved to take courses, but is not admitted into a degree program or a declared major. Continuing Education students must apply and be approved after certain criteria are met, after which students are free to take any classes that are open at the time of registration. CEO advising is located in the Public Service Programs Center.
Visiting Students
See the Admission section of the University Bulletin for more information.
College Link Program
See the Admission section of the University Bulletin for more information.
Auditors
See the Admission section of the University Bulletin for more information.Older Adults as Auditors
See the Admission section of the University Bulletin for more information.
University-wide courses, offered under the UNIV rubric, are credit-bearing courses whose subject matter is not accommodated in existing University departments or schools. UNIV courses are open to all undergraduate students, regardless of school. Students may count no more than eight credits of UNIV courses toward graduation.
Each year, Binghamton University invites outstanding incoming freshmen to join the Binghamton Scholars Program, a selective all-University four-year honors program for students of exceptional merit. The program provides high-achieving students with the following:
The Binghamton Scholars curriculum includes:
For further program details, visit http://scholars.binghamton.edu.
SCHL 127
Discovering the Scholar Within
Entering Binghamton Scholars will learn and develop powerful new strategies for tackling challenges both timely and timeless, including open-ended problem solving, critical and creative thinking, self-expression, goal setting, and balancing life’s myriad of competing interests. 1 credit.
SCHL 280
Binghamton Scholars Topics
Innovative, interdisciplinary courses involving a wide range of disciplines from across the entire university community are offered as part of the Binghamton Scholars Program. Scholarly inquiries as well as independent and team-based projects are integral parts of the courses. Each course is open only to Binghamton Scholars in good academic standing.
SCHL 227
Leadership and Achieving Goals
Students are presented with the opportunity to develop both leadership and teamwork skills by solving an open–ended design problem. Creative and critical thinking skills shall be addressed. Students will be provided with a systematic method for defining the problem, creating alternatives, implementing a solution, and then evaluating the solution. The open-ended problems are chosen from an approved list of possibilities or students may pose their own with faculty approval. There are no prerequisites but students must be members of the Binghamton Scholars Program. 1 credit.
SCHL 395
Scholars III: Worlds of Experience
A topics course for students enrolled in the Binghamton University Scholars Program. Under the sponsorship and supervision of a faculty adviser, students choose an experiential learning activity from a variety of credit-bearing internships and a wide range of other applied-learning venues, including field study, some facets of study abroad, applied research, clinical experience, community service, studio experience in the arts, internships, laboratory research assistantships, and student teaching. Students complete and file an application form with the Scholars Program Office and obtain the approval of the Scholars Program Director. In order to receive credit for this course, students must submit the following materials: a resume, a list of responsibilities, a description of how the site of the activity was organized and where the student was placed, a written evaluation of the student’s experience (5-10 pages) in relation to the learning objectives in the application form, and work samples from the site whenever possible and appropriate. The faculty sponsor may ask the student to provide additional material, including a written report on the activity. Variable credit.