Dutch

W40 Dutch Interim Abroad. Experience Dutch culture and everyday life in The Netherlands. This course features extensive personal contacts and meetings with Dutch persons. Excursions to places of education, business, and political institutions, as well as museum visits, concerts, church services, and guided tours are also aspects of the course. Depending on the language background of participating students, participants may also receive sessions of formal instruction in Dutch. Local and intercity travel is done primarily via the efficient bus and rail systems. Lodging in state-of-art hostels and several home stays with Dutch hosts. There will be extended stays in the major cities of Amsterdam, Amersfoort, and Middelburg, with excursions to cities such as Delft, Maastricht, Haarlem, The Hague, as well as to the province of Friesland and to cities in Belgium. The course concludes with three free days for independent travel. Readings draw from the primary course text, The Netherlands in Perspective by W. Shetter, and from selected articles. Students also read a novel (one of several recommended) that is set in the Netherlands. Learning objectives are (1) that students demonstrate gains in Dutch language skills and (2) that they increase their understanding of various religious, political, social, and cultural facets of the Low Countries. Students demonstrate achievement of these goals in a language workbook, journal writing, field assignments (followed by written and oral reports), and in a concluding writing project that follows a template designed to elicit critical reflection. This course is open to all, but students having taken at least one Dutch language course are given priority admittance to this course. This course may fulfill an elective requirement in the Dutch major. This course will fulfill the CCE core requirement. The dates for this course are January 2-23. Fee: $2,400. H. De Vries. Off campus.