Academic Program

Rock Creek Bldg. 3, Rm. 223 | 503-614-7152 | FAX: 503-614-7170 | studyabroad@pcc.edu

Courses

Students will take 12 credits of course work from PCC as well as offerings from other colleges participating in the program. Details of all the courses given in the Spring 2010 program will be made available at the end of the summer or you can contact the Study Abroad Office at (503) 614-7152.

The OIEC (Portland Community College, Central Oregon Community College, Chemeketa Community College, Clackamas Community College, Mt. Hood Community College and Rogue Community College) offers this unique program to enable students to study abroad while making normal progress toward their degree objectives, earning 12-15 transferable credits in courses taught by community college faculty and local guest lecturers. This program is offered in conjunction with other community colleges in partnership with the American Institute of Foreign Study (AIFS), which provides transportation, living accommodations, and a wide range of student and instructional support services, including an optional pre-program tour of Europe. Credits earned will appear on transcripts from these fully accredited community colleges.

Beginning Fall 2008, PCC will have standard prerequisites of reading, writing and mathematics for general education courses. The standard prerequisites are:

  • Successful completion (grade “C” or higher) of WR 115, or placement into WR 121, and
  • Successful completion (grade “C” or higher) of RD 115, or equivalent test scores, and
  • Successful completion (grade “C” or higher) of MTH 20 or placement into MTH 60

PCC strongly recommends taking care of any missing prerequisites right away, especially to avoid an issues with study abroad registration. Students can meet with an academic advisor at any academic advising office for help in planning classes and getting questions answered about classes taken at another school. For more information go to the Prerequisites Begin Fall 2008 web page.

Course Offerings:

Students should choose a minimum of 14 credits from among the following course options. Note that Humanities (STBD) is a required course and a full load consists of 12 to 14 credits.
 

HUM 199: British Life and Culture (2 Credits) ** Students will register for this course through one of our member consortium college's because PCC does not offer this course. This will not affect financial aid because it will be taken alongside 3 other 4 credit courses (12 credits plus 2 credits of HUM 199 for a total of 14 credits). Please speak to the study abroad office if you have any questions.

 

Taught by the AIFS faculty in London. Two hours per week are either lectures on focusing on historical, political, economic, and cultural aspects of contemporary Britain or, more often, field trips to historic and cultural sites in and around London.

Patricia O’Neill, Central Oregon Community College, poneill@cocc.edu

At COCC since 1985, Patricia is now Professor of History, as well as adjunct professor for the University of Oregon at Bend, teaching such courses as Western Civilization, World History, East Asian History, Culture of the Enlightenment and Historiography. She earned a Master’s in Asian History from SUNY, Buffalo, and a Ph.D. in Comparative History (Europe & China) from the University of Washington. After her schooling, she lived in Taiwan, studying Chinese and teaching English to Chinese businessmen. Patricia met her Dutch husband on Christmas Eve in the hot springs of a Catholic missionary's hostel in the Swiss Alps. They traveled together for several years, through Asia, the Middle East and Europe, and then rambled across the U.S. until they found Bend and decided to stay. Last fall she was on a another adventure, teaching for the Semester at Sea program. See the link: http://www.semesteratsea.org/ (Fall 2008 voyage) for details about how she taught and led field trips around the world.

History 103: World History, 4 credits

Surveys world civilizations and their historical interactions during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries through 1960. The course highlights the impact of industrialization and imperialism in both Western and non-Western contexts: the modern period of world history with a focus on WWI, WWII and the post-war reordering of world civilizations, such as communism, decolonization and the global economy.

History 225: Women in Twentieth Century European History, 4 credits

An introduction to European women’s history in the twentieth century, focusing on a number of selected topics: the changing meanings and understandings of gender, family, motherhood and marriage; demographic changes and shifts in female employment; women's involvement in political movements and women's relationship to the state; and women and popular culture. The course readings will provide an overview of women in many European societies, but they will particularly focus on Britain. Students will examine the ways in which gender shaped the religious experiences, family life, economic roles, and political and legal status of women in Europe over the last century.

History 102: The Legacy of the British Empire, 4 credits

At its height, the British empire encompassed one quarter of the earth. The history of the British Empire reveals the roots of globalization, and the Pax Britannica is the immediate predecessor of contemporary Anglobalization. The course will outline the British imperial century and the consequences of colonial policies in such areas of the world as Palestine and India, and it will explore the post-colonial legacy that continues to shape these former imperial possessions, now known as the British Commonwealth. We will focus on the remarkable way in which different post-colonial communities have integrated within a multicultural British society, particularly in terms of language, religion and transcultural identity.


Melissa Manolas, Portland Community College, melissa.manolas@pcc.edu

Melissa earned an M.A. in Comparative Literature at Louisiana State University. She has lived in New Orleans and in France and is writing a doctoral dissertation (at LSU) on “Displacement and Creolization in Writings of the American South and the French Caribbean.” She has also taught public speaking, debate, and dramatic performance skills at educational camps at Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley. She has traveled extensively, spending six months in Germany, the Czech Republic, and Slovenia; and two years traveling through England, Scotland, France, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Greece and Turkey. Melissa currently teaches literature and composition courses at Portland Community College, Rock Creek.

WR 240, Creative Writing: Nonfiction, 4 credits

Focuses on the writing of essays which use creative writing techniques. The context of study abroad in London offers students the opportunity to explore the genre of travel writing in particular; by reading travel writers and working on their own travel narratives, students would gain an understanding of ways to process other cultures, to interpret their experiences as foreigners, and to translate their travels into real knowledge through writing. Some themes would include concepts such as the self and other, national versus cultural identity, and writing in exile.

ENG 205, Survey of British Literature, 4 credits

Students will read literature of the British Isles: seventeenth, eighteenth, and early nineteenth-century selections, including such authors as William Blake, Jonathan Swift, Jane Austen, Emily Bronte and Mary Shelley. Students will be able to explore the city of London and its literary past and to visit the countryside in order to witness firsthand the landscape and towns that were home and inspiration to so many novelists and poets.

ENG 105, Introduction to Literature: Drama, 4 credits

This course enhances enjoyment of plays as literature; increases understanding of the conventions of drama and the theater; and considers the relationships between culture, historical context and drama. It will be an amazing experience for students to experience plays in London, arguably the heart of modern theater. We will read such playwrights as William Shakespeare, William Wycherly, and Oscar Wilde.

Weekly Class Schedule

Time Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday*
9:00

 

 

 

 

             
10:00
11:00  

 

  

 
12:00 Lunch Lunch Lunch Lunch
1:00

 

 

 

 

 

 

2:00

 
3:00

 

 

 
4:00  
5:00     
6:00

* There are no classes on Friday.