Complete immersion in the language is further assured through homestays and various cultural activities. The program is unique in that a UCSC language faculty member accompanies each group and teaches the language course. Capable students may complete two years of course work in French or Spanish within a single academic year. The minor in education is an undergraduate program in which students explore the history of educational thought and philosophy, the politics and economics of education, learning theory and pedagogy, and issues of cultural and linguistic diversity in education. As a part of the six-course minor sequence, students engage in field study in schools through Education 80, Introduction to Teaching.
Participants are usually juniors or seniors in good academic standing.
Students pay UCSC registration fees and are expected to return to Santa Cruz to complete their studies. Students are selected for the programs during winter quarter. The Psychology Field-Study Program provides qualified students with an opportunity to apply and integrate what they have learned in the classroom with direct experience in a community agency. Students develop new skills and clarify personal and professional goals by working as volunteer interns in schools, criminal justice programs, corporations, and mental health and other social service agencies, where they are supervised by a professional within that organization. Psychology faculty members also supervise students' field placements, providing guidance by helping them to synthesize their intern experience with psychology course work and to produce an academic project.