William and Mary unveils summer classes in D.C.

by Staff | February 5, 2008

Williamsburg, VA – The College of William and Mary announced today it will offer summer classes in its Washington Office beginning this summer. The new initiative will provide its students year round academic options in Washington, D.C. Registration begins for the Washington and Williamsburg Summer Sessions on March 10 for William and Mary students and March 17 for non-William and Mary students.

The program – known as the W&M Washington Summer Session – will allow students to take classes in hard-to-get General Education Requirement (GER) areas and will make use of the dynamic culture and history of the Washington area to inform readings and discussions.

"We're proud of William and Mary's strong presence in the nation's capital, and pleased to be able to extend our course offerings there," said William and Mary President Gene R. Nichol. "This program offers a terrific opportunity for our students -- many of whom are from the greater Washington area, or pursue summer internships there -- to take courses in the summer that carry the same quality and rigor of those offered during the academic year."

Like the W&M in Washington Program, which is offered during the school year, the Washington Summer Session courses count for all major/minor and GERs and are taught by William and Mary faculty. Unlike the W&M in Washington program, there is no internship or residential requirement for the Washington Summer Session. Tuition and fees for the Washington Summer Session courses will also be identical to those offered in the Summer Session on campus.

For the 2008 summer session, two classes will be offered. Summer Session 1 will feature two classes taught by English Department Professor Jacqui McLendon. Summer Session 2 will feature a course taught by Philosophy Department Associate Professor Tim Costelloe and a course by English Department Adjunct Assistant Professor M. Lee Alexander.

“We’re privileged to have such respected faculty members teaching their academic specialties in our initial Washington Summer Session,” noted Carl Strikwerda, William and Mary Dean of Arts and Sciences. “I am also excited at the extent to which these classes will meet the course requirements of our students, and take advantage of Washington’s dynamic culture and our nation’s greatest historical institutions.”

More details can be found on the Washington Summer Session website http://www.wm.edu/dcsummer.

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The 2008 Washington Summer Session courses will include:

Summer Session 1 -- Tuesday, May 27 - Friday, June 27

* McLendon -- English 417: The "Harlem" Renaissance in Washington (3 credits) This course will examine the partnership between African-American literary talents and musicians, performers, and visual artists in Washington, DC following World War I, such as Duke Ellington, Langston Hughes, Alain Locke, Jean Toomer, Sterling Brown, and Gwendolyn Bennett.

* McLendon -- English 210: Language of the Land: Literary Washington, D.C. (3 credits, GER 5)

This course examines the lives and writings of a variety of authors, such as Katherine Anne Porter, Mark Twain, Langston Hughes, Walt Whitman, and Allen Drury with major emphasis on the place of Washington, DC in their works.

Summer Session 2 -- Monday, June 30 - Friday, August 1

*Costelloe -- Philosophy 303: Ethics (3 credits, GER 7) This course introduces students to central themes in moral philosophy by considering major writings from thinkers in the western tradition: Aristotle, Epicurus, Epicetus, Seneca, Hobbes, Hume, Kant, J.S. Mill, and Peter Singer.

* Alexander -- American Studies: 350-01 Preserving American Culture and Letters (3 credits, GER 4A and 5) This course explores how a culture’s preservation of its literary heritage reflects its identity and values. It will examine materials such as rare books, manuscripts, photographs, and illustrations housed in the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian Institution, the National Archives and other DC-based archives to see what they reveal about our roots.