May Term
May Term at Illinois Wesleyan University is a distinctive experience that provides possibilities for teaching and learning that are substantially different from those available during the fall and spring semesters.
The four-week session in which students are immersed in a single class offers advantages to both students and faculty. May Term courses are designed to be so intellectually and personally stimulating that normal academic boundaries between in-class learning and out-of-class learning disappear. Faculty and students have the opportunity to focus on one single topic in three hours of daily class sessions, often followed by intense, interactive research.
Students may do intensive research in physics; study contemporary and often controversial issues with faculty from a variety of disciplines; travel to historical, commercial, or cultural sites in conjunction with a course; attend lectures, concerts, or theatrical events related to a May Term theme; the possibilities are nearly endless. Besides providing this immersion in learning, May Term courses also offer one or more of the following features:
Curricular Experimentation allows students to approach traditional subject matter in nontraditional ways or to examine concepts and issues not part of the standard curriculum. Courses may feature well-known guest instructors from other universities, from industry or government, or from the performing or visual arts.
Crossing Traditional Boundaries challenges students to consider ideas from many perspectives in courses taught by faculty from several disciplines or professions. Such offerings might include "cluster" courses that focus on a specific theme and are supplemented with evening or weekend activities.
Student/Faculty Collaboration enables students to pursue individually selected topics under the direction of a faculty member or to engage in collaborative research with professors.
Intellectual Transformation occurs in courses that are once-in-a-lifetime experiences designed to expose students to new cultures or to encourage them to develop a critical perspective on familiar ideas. Domestic and international travel courses exemplify these transformative experiences.
Service and Internships allow students to apply their knowledge in the local community or at sites as far away as Hong Kong. Career development possibilities may include performing in summer stock or working in a laboratory; community service opportunities may include participation in programs such as Habitat for Humanity.
Examples of recent courses taught on campus include:
- Anthropology: Archaeology: From Adventuring to Science
- Art: Art and the Environment
- Chemistry: Chemistry of the Kitchen
- Economics: Game Theory Goes to the Movies
- Economics: Economics of the Arts
- History : Depression America
- History: The Sixties: Sex, Drugs, and Rock and Roll?
- Music: The Gourmet Listener
- Theatre Arts: Banned in the USA! Censorship