This summer, students can examine the world of financial fraud through forensic accounting; attend a coding boot camp; learn digital design; navigate the interplay between politics and media; encounter Boston's history by exploring its neighborhood, or take advantage of any of the many opportunities for academic credit or enrichment available through the newly expanded Boston College Summer Session.
And some of them can do it from home.
In addition to increasing its array of classroom-based courses, Boston College Summer Session now offers a number of hybrid courses (blending traditional and online learning), as well as—for the first time—six fully online, for-credit undergraduate courses, for the convenience of students, staff, or alumni who need or want to take a course while they are away from campus.
And new, two-week study away domestic programs will provide an alternative travel experience for students unable to take a semester abroad.
BC Summer Session programs include options for undergraduate, graduate, and—through Boston College Experience—high school students, all of which take place during the period that director Dee Masiello refers to as the University's "third term."
Courses are available in subject areas from accounting to theology—including some unique, fun courses exclusively offered in summer, she said. The varying methods of course delivery are designed to accommodate students' changing needs.
Summer programs include options for undergraduate, graduate, and—through Boston College Experience—high school students, all of which take place during the period that BC Summer Session Director Dee Masiello refers to as the University's "third term."
"The online courses meet the same standards for academic rigor, objectives, and outcomes as any other BC course," said Masiello. And, she said, they also "create amazing opportunities for students to interact with faculty and with one another."
Faculty for the online courses include recipients of BC's Dean of Summer Session Teaching Fellowships, which are open to fifth year doctoral students in the Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences, and offered in conjunction with the Office of the Provost and MCAS. These fellowships are awarded to students nominated by their departments and chosen by an academic selection committee. Among other activities, the recipients attend a series of seminars on teaching excellence and pedagogy, receive grounding in online instruction, and participate in an intensive dissertation writing weekend. Each fellow will teach two of the summer courses.
"The combination of attending an intensive weekend to assist them in timely completion of their dissertation and receiving a credential of competency in both onground and online teaching really gives these fellowship recipients a competitive edge, and allows them to bond across disciplinary lines," said Masiello, in addition to ensuring effective instruction for the courses.
"The online courses meet the same standards for academic rigor, objectives, and outcomes as any other BC course...and create amazing opportunities for students to interact with faculty and with one another."—BC Summer Session Director Dee Masiello
Also new to BC Summer Session are the Study Away Domestic Programs: two-week, eight-hour-per-day experiences that provide BC students with three credits toward an elective, with departmental approval.
In one, cross-listed in sociology and environmental studies, students will travel to Detroit to explore how the city is regenerating itself through urban agriculture. The other is a literary and artistic experience of New York City, which will pair morning classes with afternoon museum excursions and other cultural activities.
The University is rolling out additional options for high school students to live and learn on campus, as well, said Masiello, with two- and three-week Boston College Experience programs joining the traditional six-week BCE Honors sessions, and a new emphasis on STEM-focused courses.
In Exploring Forensic Science—a two-week program designed in part by Connell School of Nursing Professor Ann Burgess, a nationally noted expert in forensic nursing—students will be taken to the lab to evaluate evidence from mock crime scenes and through virtual case studies. Participants in the three-week National Disasters and Catastrophes program will learn about natural events ranging from volcanic eruptions to meteorite impacts and pandemic diseases, and get a first-hand experience of seismology through field visits to BC's Weston Observatory.
Other two- and three-week programs include the NECIR Journalism Institute, a collaboration with the New England Center for Investigative Reporting at Boston University; the Business and Leadership Institute; an English Language Immersion; and the BCE Summer Challenge in creative writing, psychology, or media and communications.
The six-week sessions include BCE Honors, in which a student can participate in two Boston College Summer Session courses for undergraduates; Writers in the Making, which features seminars, workshops, and field experiences run by BC English Department faculty members; and Math Experience, in which students sharpen their problem-solving skills through a curriculum overseen by BC mathematics faculty.
All of the Boston College Experience programs prepare students for the transition to college life through coursework, extracurricular activities, reflection, and the opportunity to build relationships with other students from around the country and world, said Masiello.
Summer session courses have start dates in May and June. For details about undergraduate and graduate courses and registration, visit the Boston College Summer Session website. For more information and start dates of BCE programs for high school students, visit the Boston College Experience site.
—Patricia Delaney | University Communications