University Programs
The Writing Program
As part of the undergraduate program, a student must successfully complete three writing-emphasis courses. These courses use writing to help students acquire both subject knowledge and writing ability. In these courses, students learn and communicate their knowledge through writing.
Writing-emphasis courses are intended to train students in writing across the disciplines throughout four undergraduate years. Therefore, the best plan is to take them in varied fields and to space them out.
These courses, designated as ‘‘W Courses,’’ are offered in most departments. A complete list of W courses is available at the Writing Center’s website, www.bucknell.edu/WritingCenter.
Not every course that contains writing, even a great deal of writing, will be a W course. W courses have certain characteristics:
1. A W course provides writing instruction. In writing and revising, students receive the help and advice of an instructor and perhaps writing tutors or students in the class. The writing instruction may take the form of written or oral responses to drafts and papers, but it also can be reading composition textbooks or discussing writing.
2. The course pays attention to and encourages the different stages of writing as a process: pre-writing or brainstorming, writing drafts, revising, and editing. Writing is treated as a dynamic process of expressing one’s ideas in words and revising one’s ideas and words by reconsidering them in light of feedback from others. Writing is, therefore, not merely a written end-product, but a tool for learning and thinking.
3. The course will teach the conventions of writing needed by students. These conventions vary from discipline to discipline and class to class. Students will be introduced to basic expository skills and the conventions appropriate to writing in the discipline of their choice.
4. In a W course, students write frequently. Writing frequently does not necessarily mean many assignments. Students may write multiple drafts of a few assignments. The point is that to improve one’s writing, one must write. W courses provide the opportunity for practice and for the feedback so vital to writing well.
5. Students write to learn the subject matter of the course. Writing to learn takes many forms: notebooks, journals, answers to exam questions, laboratory reports, fieldwork reports, essays, and other formal and informal assignments. Students must understand the material in order to write about it, and that understanding emerges from trying to find words to communicate it to others.
Rules affecting the writing requirements are given in the introductory material for the College of Arts and Sciences and for the College of Engineering. This requirement is independent of the English requirement for the College of Engineering.
International Education
The Office of International Education’s primary responsibility is to help provide an international focus to the academic life of Bucknell University students. Bucknell University offers study-abroad opportunities through third-party providers, Bucknell faculty-run programs, and summer study abroad. The staff advises and assists undergraduate students in all majors who wish to incorporate an off-campus study experience into their academic work, by spending a semester, year, or summer in another country or on a specialized program in the United States.
Bucknell provides third-party study opportunities for students in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and Central and South America. Both major and non-language majors are encouraged to consider a semester or academic year abroad when their curricular plans will be enhanced by such an experience.
Bucknell University participates in formal relationships with the Advanced Studies in England in Bath; Associated Kyoto Program in Japan; Denmark’s International Study Program; the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Nottingham in England; the Faculty of Chemical Engineering at the University of Rovira i Virgili in Spain; IES (the Institute for the International Education of Students) in Austria, Australia, China, England, Germany, Ireland, Italy, and Japan; and the Swedish Program at the University of Stockholm. In addition, off-campus programs sponsored by other American colleges or institutions have been approved for Bucknell University student participation. Within the United States, students may participate in the Duke University Marine Laboratory Program in North Carolina, or semester internships programs in Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia.
When students qualify for any of these programs, they are regarded as enrolled at Bucknell University while off campus, allowing them to receive academic credit, to continue all financial aid (except work-study), and to maintain their place in their academic class. Students receive transfer credit; no grades are posted on the Bucknell University transcript. Bucknell University charges all students studying with third-party providers on-campus tuition. Bucknell University then pays the tuition component of the program costs whether the tuition is higher or lower than Bucknell University’s tuition. If the program tuition is lower, the differential amount remains at Bucknell University and is applied to the same University expenses that tuition always covers. If the program tuition is higher, Bucknell University pays the full amount to the program without charging the students for the extra cost. Students on Bucknell-approved programs pay all non-tuition costs (e.g. room and board) directly to the program. These latter costs are detailed in Estimated Cost Sheets available at the Office of International Education.
Information and applications may be obtained at the Office of International Education. Because prior planning, deadlines, and appropriate arrangements are crucial, it is necessary to consult with the office’s staff well in advance of the semester to be spent off campus. Specifically, applications must be completed in December or February by students who wish to be off campus during the fall semester, and in April or September by students who wish to be off campus during the spring semester. Check with the Office of International Education for specific dates. Off-campus study during the semester or for the full academic year is open to all eligible students. In order to gain approval, qualified students should demonstrate the academic appropriateness of their program choice.
Students proposing to pursue off-campus studies should have an excellent academic record, a history of good conduct, and a minimum grade point average of 2.80. Exceptions to the preceding may be considered when there is evidence that the student is capable of sustained academic effort of high quality in a study-abroad environment. All requests for special consideration will be reviewed by the Director of International Education.
Juniors and first-semester seniors are eligible for off-campus study. The last semester of the senior year must be spent on campus if a Bucknell University degree is desired. Only advanced language majors may be advised to go abroad as early as second semester sophomore year. Students may study off campus for two semesters and may earn maximum credit equivalent to four full courses for a semester and eight full courses for a full academic year. It should be noted that courses elected off campus must be pre-approved for transfer credit by the appropriate department chair and must be passed with a grade of “C” or higher if credit is to be awarded. Before leaving campus, students must submit to the registrar a regular schedule indicating off-campus study rather than the usual on-campus courses.
Bucknell University-run Programs
Bucknell University also offers semester-long, Bucknell University faculty-led off-campus programs, listed below:
Bucknell en España
(Bucknell en España) Spanish majors, minors and other qualified students have the opportunity to study in Spain for a semester or academic year with Bucknell en España. The program is affiliated with the Universidad de Granada and its Centro de Lenguas Modernas where students may choose from a wide variety of courses at the high-intermediate and advanced levels. Each semester a Bucknell University faculty member leads a group of students to Granada where the students live with a host family and enroll in courses from a variety of disciplines. Granada, a city of 250,000 inhabitants, is large enough to provide a stimulating social and urban environment, yet is small enough to allow students to come to know it well.
Students who have completed SPAN 208 normally enroll in the Programa de Estudios Hispánicos, which includes courses from several groupings: language, culture, literature, art history, history, geography, sociology, political science and economics. These categories include courses related to music, management, and film. Students who have completed SPAN 105 or the equivalent but are not sufficiently advanced for Estudios Hispánicos will enroll in the Programa de Lengua y Cultura Española, which offers courses in language, literature, geography, history, art history, and culture. Courses approved by the student’s academic adviser at Bucknell University or the appropriate department chair will count toward the major. Very advanced students who plan to stay for the full academic year may register for one regular university course offered by the Universidad de Granada, as may students who spend the spring semester in Granada. The first three weeks of the semester students receive intensive language instruction to help ensure their success in their university studies for the semester or year. Students on Bucknell en España will receive a half credit for the orientation course and their three remaining credits as transfer credit.
The academic calendar for Bucknell en España is similar to that of Bucknell University, with adjustments for the Spanish academic year. The first semester begins in early September and finishes by December 20. The second semester begins in early January and finishes near the end of May.
Students are placed with host families to facilitate their integration into Spanish family and social life. They normally have breakfast and one other meal with their host family.
The Bucknell en España fee is the same as tuition on campus. Room and board costs are based on the Bucknell University comprehensive fee for room and board. Payments for tuition, room and board will be billed by Bucknell University and will be due at the same time as for on-campus students.
Bucknell en France
Founded in 1987, Bucknell en France provides an opportunity for all Bucknell University students, regardless of major or background in French, to enrich their Bucknell University education by studying in France for an academic year or a semester. The program is located in Tours, a prosperous, and culturally rich city of 260,000 people situated in the very heart of France, 150 miles southwest of Paris in the Loire Valley. Bucknell en France is administered by the Bucknell University French and Francophone Studies Program in cooperation with the Université François Rabelais, a French university of 29,000 students.
Students remain officially enrolled at Bucknell University and at the same time are registered as students of the Université François Rabelais. Courses are taught in French, integrated into the Bucknell University curriculum, and students receive Bucknell University grades and credit. Courses approved by the student’s adviser count toward the major or minor. Course offerings vary slightly from semester to semester, but usually include four or five of the following subjects, from a wide variety of disciplines: art, art history, biology, economics, education, engineering, history, language, linguistics, literature, management, philosophy, political science, and translation.
While a semester’s stay in Tours is highly beneficial, students who remain for the year have significantly more time to increase their language proficiency, integrate more fully in the French culture, travel in France and Europe, and consolidate the benefits of their experience abroad. Students who have completed a regular fall semester program in Tours can take advantage of their improved language and cultural skills to participate in more advanced or specialized options.
Students who do not meet the minimum language requirement for participation in the regular Bucknell en France program can enroll in the novice option, a semester of intensive French at the Institute de Touraine, where they can earn credit for the equivalent of three Bucknell University French courses. A fourth course is offered by the Université François Rabelais.
The academic calendar of Bucknell en France is similar to Bucknell University’s with adjustments for the French academic year. The first semester begins in early September and ends in mid-December. The spring semester runs from early January until mid-May.
Students are placed with host families and so have an opportunity to experience life in French society, to make friends among the French people, and to speak French in all aspects of life. Students have a private room and typically take breakfast and the evening meal daily with their host family. They eat lunch on their own in town or in one of the student restaurants. Returning students consider their experience living with the French family to be one of the most valuable aspects of their study in Tours.
The fee for Bucknell en France is the same as tuition on campus. Room and board costs are based on the Bucknell University comprehensive fee for room and board. Payments for tuition, room and board will be billed by Bucknell University and will be due at the same time as for on-campus students.
Bucknell in Barbados
The Bucknell in Barbados, spring only, semester, allows students to live and study in a developing country, experience its culture, and interact with peers from Caribbean nations. The program takes place each spring semester at the Cave Hill Campus of the University of the West Indies (U.W.I.), about three miles from Bridgetown, the capital of Barbados. It is administered by a Bucknell University professor-in-residence who offers a core course in which all students are expected to enroll. Students remain officially enrolled at Bucknell University and are registered simultaneously at U.W.I.
Students may choose from a wide variety of courses in the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, and law, which is an undergraduate discipline at U.W.I. All U.W.I. courses chosen must be approved by the appropriate department chairperson at Bucknell University. Up to three courses completed in the BiB program may be counted toward satisfying the five-course requirement for a minor in Caribbean Studies at Bucknell University. Students studying at BiB receive one or two Bucknell credits with grades and two or three transfer credits.
Students have the option of substituting an unpaid internship for one of their three elective courses. Bucknell University students have interned with various UN agencies, the Central Bank of Barbados, the Caribbean Development Bank, the Caribbean Tourism Organization, the Barbados Institute of Management and Productivity, the Caribbean Centre for Development and Administration, and the Bellairs Research Institute of McGill University, a marine biology institute.
The academic calendar of BiB is similar to Bucknell University’s with adjustments for the U.W.I. academic year. The spring semester is scheduled to begin in early January and finish mid-May.
Bucknell University students typically live on the campus of the U.W.I.
The fee for Bucknell in Barbados is the same as tuition at Bucknell University for on-campus students, plus the average charge for a double room. Payments will be billed by Bucknell University and they will be due at the same time as those for on-campus students.
Bucknell in London
Bucknell in London, offered every fall semester to qualified juniors and seniors, is taught by two Bucknell faculty directors and one or more visiting British professors. The curricular emphasis of the program will vary according to the disciplines of the two Bucknell University professors who co-direct each fall. Past programs have included anthropology, art history, biology, classics, computer science, economics, engineering, English, history, music, physics, political science and sociology. All courses are designed to take full advantage of the program’s British location, offering numerous day and overnight field trips to sites in London and outside London. Students select four courses from among the five or six offered. All courses receive Bucknell University grades and credit. Students are housed in flats in central London. Students pay Bucknell tuition plus the average charge for a double room on campus. Applications, due in early February, are available at the Office of International Education.
Summer Opportunities
In addition to the programs mentioned above, Bucknell University students also may participate in summer programs offered by third-party providers or led by Bucknell faculty. Students applying to programs offered by third parties must apply through the Office of International Education and with the approval of their department chair. Regularly offered Bucknell-led programs include Barbados, Northern Ireland and the Virgin Islands. Occasional programs are offered in Alaska, Argentina, China, England and Nicaragua, some of which are appropriate for engineering majors. Eligibility requirements differ for each program, but students should have a GPA of 2.8 in order to apply, and may earn up to two full credits. Students are responsible for tuition and all other expenses. Contact the program director or appropriate staff member in the Office of International Education for more information.
Extended Academic Programs
The Humanistic Scholars Program
The Humanistic Scholars Program offers the opportunity for Bucknell students to do sustained work in the humanities in a campus environment that is supportive of high achievement. Small classes, close contact with faculty, and a residential component are among the many attractive features of the program. Students in any major or degree program are welcome to participate. Completion of the Humanistic Scholars Program is noted on the student’s transcript.
During their first year, students who wish to enter the Humanistic Scholars Program enroll in the Humanities Residential College, where they take two courses, one each semester, that constitute prerequisites for future work in the program. These courses are the Foundation Seminar "Myth, Reason, Faith" which deals with biblical, Greek, Roman, and medieval texts, and "Art, Nature, Knowledge" which deals with works of music, art, literature, philosophy, and science from the Renaissance to the 19th century. During their first year, Scholars participate in Common Hours where they discuss and formulate the questions for an optional comprehensive exam to be taken at the end of their first year. Passing the comprehensive exam will qualify students to continue as Humanistic Scholars.
In their sophomore year, Scholars enroll in a third course, "Nihilism, Modernism, Uncertainty." This course deals with issues in the 20th century with examples from art, music, literature, philosophy, and science. As in the first-year courses, the enrollment is kept small enough to encourage discussion and intellectual engagement. All of the courses in the Humanistic Scholars Program are team taught and include many guest lecturers from a variety of disciplines.
During the junior year, Humanistic Scholars are strongly encouraged to study abroad for at least one semester. During the senior year, they write a thesis in the department or program of their major.
Participation in the Humanistic Scholars Program is also possible for sophomores who may have missed the opportunity to enroll in their first year. The courses are identical with the above description.
Courses in the Humanistic Scholars Program fulfill certain Common Learning Agenda and other requirements, depending on the student’s degree program. Students must apply and be accepted by the normal university procedure in order to study abroad. Registration for independent study leading to a senior thesis or honors thesis requires permission from the department of the student’s major; it is the student’s responsibility to obtain permission from a faculty sponsor for the thesis. For an honors thesis, it also is necessary to have the project approved by the Honors Council.
The Justice and Social Change Program
The Bucknell Program in Justice and Social Change strives to create a four-year intellectual and social community among students and faculty interested in issues of justice, social problems and social change at the local, national, regional and global levels. The goal of the program is to provide intellectual substance to and a supportive community for the notion that we must "think globally and act locally." Students in the program enjoy an ongoing relationship with faculty who have designed the program and participate in cocurricular activities. Students from any major or program are welcome to participate. Students who are interested should contact the Academic Coordinator of the Residential Colleges.
Students ordinarily join the program after enrolling in the Social Justice College or Global College of the Residential College program for first-year students. During registration period in the fall of the first year, and as late as the beginning of the spring semester of the first year, students join by registering for the designated spring semester course. Students who were not enrolled in the Residential Colleges are eligible to join the program at this time, subject to approval by the coordinating committee that administers the program.
The two core courses for the program are POLS 276 Global Justice and Social Change and UNIV 219 Peace Studies. Students in the program enroll in one of these courses (depending on which is offered) during the second semester of the first year. During the sophomore year, it is expected that students will live together in a residence hall (a hall or house, depending on the size of the program) which is reserved to Justice and Social Change participants, linked to the first-year Social Justice and Global Colleges through a variety of programs, and staffed by a Resident Fellow who is responsible for linking the academic, living, social and programmatic environments.
During the fall semester of the sophomore year, students enroll in the other core course, either UNIV 219 or POLS 276 (depending on which course is offered). During the spring semester of the sophomore year, students enroll in one of a set of domestically oriented social justice/change courses. Courses previously approved for the program include ECON 236 Unemployment and Poverty, GEOG 223 Gender and Geography, SOCI 213 Race in Historical and Comparative Perspective, SOCI 243 Race and Ethnicity or ENGL 228 Topics in Gender Study. The coordinating committee will publish a list each year of approved courses.
During the junior year, students are encouraged to study off campus for at least one semester in a program that offers courses on the themes of justice and social change.
Students must apply and be accepted by the normal university procedure in order to study off campus. If a student is unable to study off campus for academic or personal reasons, then she/he will undertake a semester or summer internship in a social change organization, either for credit, under the rubric of the nontraditional course program, or not for credit.
During the senior year, students undertake a culminating experience which can take one of several forms: a thesis, a seminar, or a project, some of which might satisfy the Arts and Sciences College Capstone requirement. Registration for independent study leading to a senior thesis or honors thesis requires permission; it is the student’s responsibility to obtain permission for a faculty sponsor for the thesis. For an honors thesis, it is also necessary to have the project approved by the Honors Council. During the spring semester of the junior year, students in the program propose a mechanism for satisfying the culminating experience to the coordinating committee of the program. During the second semester of the senior year, students participate in a common hour, which meets a number of times during the semester, to present their ongoing work to other students in the program. Participation in this common hour is necessary to successfully complete the Justice and Social Change program. Completion of the program is noted on the Bucknell transcript.
Graduate Studies
Bucknell grants master’s degrees in animal behavior, biology, chemistry, education, engineering (chemical, civil, electrical, environmental, and mechanical), English, mathematics, and psychology. Five-year coordinated bachelor’s and master’s programs are provided in biology, chemistry, and engineering. The professional degree in education provides for focused study in seven established areas of specialization: elementary and secondary principalship, supervision of curriculum and instruction, school superintendency (letter of eligibility), elementary and secondary counseling, school psychology, college student personnel, and instructional specialist.
Students are admitted to graduate standing by the director of graduate studies, from whom the Graduate Studies Catalog and application material may be obtained. The Graduate Studies Catalog and applications for admission and graduate financal aid are also located on the web at www.bucknell.edu/GraduateStudies.
The regular undergraduate student who has arranged to complete all undergraduate degree requirements may, with prior approval, take up to two courses for graduate credit. An application for graduate credit by an undergraduate student may be obtained from the Office of Graduate Studies.
Non-degree students wishing to enroll in graduate courses must apply to the Office of Graduate Studies.
Summer Session
Bucknell University provides a six-week summer session offering regular, full-credit Bucknell courses, off-campus study courses, and programs in professional education. The summer session serves both undergraduate and graduate students who choose to take summer courses in order to enrich their educational experience or to accelerate their degree progress at Bucknell or elsewhere.
Bucknell’s summer session offers courses across the curriculum. Students who are working toward degrees or certification are advised to consult with their advisers to determine which summer courses most appropriately meet their needs. Students also are encouraged to explore new interests and to develop new skills and areas of expertise which will serve them well in any career path or interest pursuit. One of Bucknell’s goals is to provide the means for fostering the growth and development of a lifelong commitment to learning.
College of Arts and Sciences
The College of Arts and Sciences offers courses across its divisions: in the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, and mathematics. Courses are available at introductory and advanced levels. Many departments also will arrange independent study courses.
College of Engineering
The College of Engineering also offers a number of regular courses, including at least one general course in engineering science. Courses in independent projects and special problems can be arranged in all departments of the college: chemical, civil and environmental, electrical, and mechanical. Students with specific needs for work in engineering during the summer should consult with their advisers or chairs of the appropriate departments.
Independent Study
Most departments in both colleges offer independent study or special project courses which permit students, in consultation with members of the faculty, to develop a course of study tailored to their individual needs.
Arrangements for such courses should be made as early as possible in order to assure that a faculty member willing to direct the student’s study will be available during the summer.
