Individualized Study
Independent majors
Wheaton students interested in creating interdisciplinary or cross-disciplinary majors may design their own independent major. Students will develop their own rationale for their proposed major in consultation with advisors from two or more departments and will select an appropriate program of courses from two or more areas of study in the established curriculum. Proposals must be approved by the faculty who will advise the program, by the dean for advising and by the provost. There is no minimum grade point average requirement. Guidelines and proposal forms are available in the advising center. Independent majors who are approved for honors in that field of concentration will be designated Wheaton Scholars.
Individual research
Individual research courses are typically undertaken as year long courses in the senior year and involve the production of a senior thesis or other advanced work to qualify the student for departmental honors. These courses are numbered 500.
Independent study
These courses are arranged individually between faculty and students, and provide the means by which students interested in pursuing a topic not covered in an existing course may do so with appropriate scholarly guidance. These courses are numbered 099, 199, 299, 399 or 499, depending on the level of the work involved, and are normally undertaken only after the first year.
Field work
A number of departments offer opportunities to integrate field work into a student's academic program. Students may complete up to four credits of field work courses (but no more than two credits within the major). Some field work courses are a part of a department's normal offerings, but other field work opportunities are arranged as independent study courses.
Internships
Students completing internships through the Filene Center for Work and Learning may wish to develop these experiences into a field work or independent study course yielding academic credit. Students interested in this possibility should speak with the director of the Filene Center, the dean of academic advising, or appropriate faculty before undertaking the internship to determine the best way to prepare for such a course. Normally the student can expect to complete additional research and reading and a paper or project to be evaluated by a faculty member. Field work may consist of work in museums, with government or social service agencies, or in business or public service offices, but it must be primarily an educational rather than a career-oriented experience if it is to become the basis for academic credit.