Exeter students to study at Williams College, Massachusetts
In January 2017, six Exeter undergraduates will take up scholarships offered by Williams College, Massachusetts, enabling them to study there for two weeks of their Winter Study Program, alongside Williams College students.
The initiative was arranged between Williams College’s President, Professor Adam Falk, and Exeter College’s Rector, Professor Sir Rick Trainor, and will provide a fantastic opportunity to strengthen the ties between the two colleges.
Williams College is the top liberal arts college in the USA and this opportunity will enable Exeter students to benefit from the wonderful array of academic, cultural, and social opportunities on offer there.
Many of our alumni will already be familiar with the Williams Exeter Programme in Oxford (WEPO), which was established in 1985 and brings 26 Junior Year students from Williams College to Exeter each year to study alongside Exeter students. Up until now, it has not been possible to create a reciprocal programme that brings Exeter students to the USA because of the nature and structure of the Oxford degree course. However, the Winter Study Program falls just outside of Hilary Term and students will be able to attend without losing any study time in Oxford.
President Falk has invited the Exeter students to attend History 13: Eyewitnesses to History: American Treasures in the Chapin Library programme which is being offered as one of over 200 courses available to Williams students each year. The course will be taught by Williams academics (Charles Dew [Professor of History], Wayne Hammond [Chapin Librarian], and Lori Dubois [Reference and Instruction Librarian]), and will have Williams students on it as well so that there is full integration between both colleges’ students.
The six successful students selected will each receive a scholarship from Williams (which covers tuition and meals) and additional bursaries from Exeter, funded by alumni and friends (which will subsidise accommodation and flights). In this way, financial concerns will not be a barrier to any Exeter student wishing to take up this fantastic opportunity and we are excited that applicants to date reflect a wide variety of subjects, interests, and matriculation years.
If you would like to support one of our six students – either in full or in part – the bursary provided by Exeter will be in the region of £1,000.
This is an historic moment for both institutions, made possible by the vision of President Falk and Rector Trainor, and by the generosity of alumni. We look forward to being able to tell you more about this next term when the first cohort return from their studies across the pond.
