Guidelines
- Office Resources
- Requirements
- When to Study Off Campus
- Choosing a Program
- Costs & Financial Aid
- Off-Campus Study Application
- Academic Credit
- Predeparture Planning
Other Information
Views from Away
Annual Photo Competition
2007-2008 Entries
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Announcements and Events
Office hours. Appointments (M-Th, 10-12 and 2-4) begin after the introductory meeting in September. All students who wish to study away should make a thirty-minute appointment in the fall semester to discuss their plans. For follow-up and simple questions, walk-in hours are held from 10:00 to 12:00 and 2:00 to 4:00 on Friday.
Applications. Applications and petitions to Bowdoin for permission to study off campus in the 2009-10 academic year (fall semester, spring semester, or full year) should be dropped off in the OCS office no later than 23 February 2009, 5:00 pm. Please consult OCS for programs with early deadlines or that fill early. Please note that an application must be for a program on Bowdoin's Program Options List, and applications that do not meet that criterion will be automatically rejected. Any student wishing to participate in a program that is not on the options list should have had an interview in OCS to receive the petition form by 9 February 2009. Application forms are available here as a PDF or in the OCS office.
Summer programs abroad. Transfer of credit applications for a summer program abroad should be made to the OCS office by 15 April 2009. Most programs will have their own deadlines before that date; you are advised to .
Predeparture Meeting. Required for all students leaving for OCS in the fall. Wednesday, 1 April 2009, 7:30 PM. Daggett Lounge, Thorne. Confirmation of meeting will be sent to students upon approval in March.
Returning students. Submit your program evaluation form on-line. (Log in with your Bowdoin user name and password.)
Executive Assistance Program
Executive Assistance Program for Bowdoin Students and Faculty Traveling Abroad (PDF)
Off-Campus Study is a Bowdoin academic program that assists students to broaden and enrich their education at the College through study for a semester or year at other institutions and programs, abroad and in the U.S. Annually about 230 Bowdoin students participate in off-campus study; over half of the College's students have studied away by the time of graduation. The program is administered by the Office of Off-Campus Study (OCS), under the Office of the Dean for Academic Affairs.
Off-Campus Study derives from and supports Bowdoin's mission to provide a liberal arts education through which students deepen intellectual capacities and qualities of maturity that can serve the common good. It entails courses that enrich and bring fresh perspectives to the understanding of an academic field characteristic of the liberal arts, and that are integrated with and comparable in intellectual challenge to the course of study at Bowdoin. Depending on the program and the location, it also strengthens foreign language skills; gives the competence to operate in a foreign culture; makes available new field experiences; exposes students to new methods of instruction and learning; furthers their understanding of the complexity and diversity of world affairs; helps them reexamine their values and their culture as others view them; and develops resourcefulness and adaptability. Off-campus study demands that students be actively engaged in their own education as at Bowdoin, and that after return to Bowdoin they continue to explore how the experience can shape their individual courses of study.
Students who wish to study away should thoroughly read all sections of the on-line Guidelines for Off-Campus Study (see menu), and visit the OCS Office to discuss their options as early as possible in the preceding academic year.
Office Contact Information
Director: Stephen Hall
Assistant Director: Melissa Quinby
E-mail: offcamp@bowdoin.edu
Phone: (+1) 207.725.3473
Fax: (+1) 207.725.3988
Office location: Dudley Coe 301
Mailing address: Off-Campus Study, 4800 College Station, Bowdoin College, Brunswick ME 04011-8439
Advising hours (when classes are in session): appointments at 10:00, 10:30, 11:00, 11:30, 2:00, 2:30, 3:00, 3:30, Monday to Thursday; walk-in hours 10:00-12:00 and 2:00-4:00 on Friday.
Important Dates
5 October 2009: Off-Campus Study Fair (Smith Union, 3:00-5:30 PM)
22 February 2010: Bowdoin's OCS application deadline (for fall 2010, spring 2011, and 2010-11 academic year)