Other Course Formats

Selective Lecture Courses

Sarah Lawrence offers a small number of lecture courses designed to give stuents a broad view of a subject. The courses are usually supplemented by group conferences.

Language Third

In an attempt to encourage students to study more than one foreign language at the same time, Sarah Lawrence offers sophomores, juniors, and seniors the option of taking a Language Third. This allows students to study two languages as one-third of their program. Students also have the option of combining a language course and a lecture course as one-third of their program.

Science and Mathematics Third

A similar option is available to appropriate students in biology, chemistry, computer science, mathematics, and physics. They may take two courses in science and/or mathematics as one-third of their program.

Conference Courses

Conference courses are available to all but first-year students and first semester transfers. Together with a faculty member, advanced students may design an individual course to study subject matter not covered in the regular curriculum that year. Conference courses are conducted through weekly meetings between the student and faculty member and must be approved by the student’s don and the committee on student work. Recent conference courses have included “Dance Criticism,” “Revolution in Physics,” “Shakespearean Scene Design,” “Studies in Film Noir,” “Experimental Genetics,” “Plato’s Symposium,” “Women and The Decameron,” and “The Modern Middle East.”

Independent Study

Independent study is intended for juniors and seniors with strong academic records who seek to develop more fully an individual project of research, creative work, or intensive reading. Such study may result in a major work such as a thesis, a literary work, or a musical composition. Permission for independent study is granted by appropriate committees, and the work must be planned with members of the faculty.

Fieldwork and Internships

Many students supplement their academic work with the practical experience gained through internships. Students may choose to earn academic credit for internships by combining them with independent academic study under the supervision of a Sarah Lawrence teacher, an arrangement called fieldwork. Recent fieldwork projects have included work in government agencies, in residential agencies for emotionally disturbed children, in film projects, in foundations, in performing arts festivals, in museums and galleries, and in television.

The Office of Career Counseling has developed extensive listings in the metropolitan New York City area, and many students will pursue internships around their academic schedules during the year. These listings can be accessed through the online internship database called Careerlink.

In addition, the Nationwide Internships Consortium (NIC) is a collection of 18 national colleges and universities. The primary purpose of the consortium is to provide internship listings and opportunities to students and alumni of member institutions. Since 1997, NIC has connected employers to a talented and diverse pool of candidates. The Fall Recruiting Consortium (FRC) is a one-day recruiting event in New York City whereby College students are given the opportunity to interview with employers for internships and full-time positions. And Career and Internship Connections (CIC) holds innovative, off-campus recruiting events during the winter break that allow students to network and interview with companies in the following cities: Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and Washington D.C.

Senior Thesis

Students in their senior year may choose to devote one-third of their program to a senior thesis. The thesis is interdisciplinary and is completed over the course of an academic year with a committee of two or three faculty member chosen by the student. One faculty member serves as the chief sponsor, while the others bring the insights and methods of their disciplines to bear on the project. Students who register for a senior thesis are responsible for meeting with each of their sponsors and keeping them informed of their progress. All faculty sponsors read the final thesis and provide comments to the chief sponsor.