Washington and Lee University
We like doing things a little differently here at W&L. One example of this is our academic calendar, which features a 12-week fall term, a 12-week winter term and a 4-week spring term.
What is Spring Term, you ask? It is certainly a time for students to enjoy the beautiful weather in the Shenandoah Valley during April and May. But primarily it is an opportunity to take advantage of a wide range of non-traditional academic experiences. Students take only one class during Spring Term and enjoy focused study in an area of personal interest without the full course load of a regular 12-week term.
It’s an intensive experience – classes meet five days each week – and different students use Spring Term differently. Some focus on advanced topics in their major course of study, some take courses completely unrelated to their majors, and some leave campus altogether, traveling in the U.S. or abroad with other W&L students on faculty-led programs.
Course titles this year include:
When students choose to spend Spring Term off-campus, they may spend a month in our nation’s capital or in New York City. These experiences allow students to make real-world connections, gaining valuable perspectives and relationships for future careers in politics, business and finance. Plus, our students enjoy the added benefit of hitting the summer job market weeks before other college students. The Washington Term Program allows students to complete an internship on the Hill four days out of the week and on the fifth day meet as a class, hearing from well known guest speakers. Visitors in previous years have included prominent political figures like Congressman Tom Davis and Vice President Dick Cheney. The New York Internship Program affords internships at Wall Street firms, national media, or government offices, while hearing from guest speakers, including company CEOs and Presidents, and other well-known figures.
If you are more inclined to travel the world, then take advantage of one of our intensive Spring Term Abroad options. Destinations this year will include China, London, Germany, Greece, Turkey, Italy, Ghana, Spain, France and New Zealand. Focus areas include various languages, politics, theater, art, economics and anthropology. While this is not the only time students may study abroad, these programs afford students direct exposure to different languages, cultures and people, without the time commitment of a full year or semester abroad.
As you can imagine, student look forward to Spring Term each year and the world of opportunity it brings to their academic experience.
