Glendening Hall 220

Core Curriculum
Contact Information

For general questions or submission of forms and petitions, please contact us at corecurriculum@smcm.edu
Fax: (240) 895-2234 
St. Mary's College of Maryland
18952 E. Fisher Rd.
St. Mary's City, MD 20686
 

Elizabeth Nutt Williams, Ph.D.
Dean of the Core Curriculum and First Year Experience
Phone: (240) 895-4467
Email: enwilliams@smcm.edu
Dr. Williams will be on sabbatical in Fall 2012: please direct all questions and correspondence to Dr. Feingold, Ms. Wimberly, or the Core Curriculum mailbox.

Ruth Feingold, Ph.D
Assistant Dean of the Core Curriculum and Academic Advising 
Phone: (240) 895-4388
Email: rpfeingold@smcm.edu

Diane Wimberly
Administrative Assistant
Phone: (240) 895-2185
Email:dfwimberly@smcm.edu 

Read our annual report

Experiencing the Liberal Arts in the World

The goal for students as they complete this element of the Core Curriculum is that they bridge the gap between the academy and the world beyond, transcending the theory-praxis divide and giving extra meaning to their academic courses by applying their developing knowledge base to life experiences outside the boundaries of the college campus.

This requirement can be satisfied in a variety of ways:

• A study tour, or a semester- or year-long study abroad program;
• A credit-bearing internship (arranged through the college's Career Development Center);
• A service or experiential learning class;
• By petition, through certain kinds of independent studies or off-campus research experiences that help students meet the goals of the requirement.

In order to gain ELAW credit, students must enroll in Core350 (a zero-credit course) during the same semester in which they engage in the experience they are using to satisfy the Experiencing the Liberal Arts in the World requirement. For more information, please see the lefthand menu bar.

Upon completion of the experience, students must submit a reflective essay of approximately 1600 words to the Office of the Core Curriculum, at corecurriculum@smcm.edu. 

For more information about the reflective essay, including examples, and about the petition process for non-standard experiences, please see the lefthand menu bar.

(Please consult the current  course catalog for additional details.)