Welcome: Course Registration

Try Something

Pick up a violin. Or, better yet: make one. Each academic year, students have the opportunity to experiment with their passions and try something completely new during a seven-week, off-campus winter term called Field Work Term (FWT). In each of their four FWTs, students bring their studies to the world, confronting the challenges of implementation firsthand and refining their questions to further shape their on-campus experiences.

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Every Space Is A Working Space

The entire campus--from the buildings to the grounds to the landscape surrounding it--does more than provide a backdrop for the creativity that happens here. In fact, the campus facilitates, informs, and inspires the work of each member of our community. Watch as current students, faculty, and staff share what the spaces at Bennington mean to them and to their work.

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Intersections

How is building a chair like working in government? Where does a movement in music intersect with a social movement? Why does solving climate change involve more than the study of the environment? Bennington students describe the intersections.

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Tools and Forms

Fall 2013 Curriculum
Course Schedule Worksheet
Course Pre-Registration | due June 1
Disability Accommodation Request | due June 1
FERPA | due July 15
First-Year Credit Transfer Form | due July 15
Course Materials and Texts

Questions? Ask Us

Laurie Kobik, Assistant Dean for Academic Services
Kate Child, Assistant Director for Academic Services
Kendra Ericson, Assistant Director for Academic Services
Noelle Everett Murphy, Assistant Director for Academic Services
Kelly Hayes, Administrative Assistant

Phone: 802-440-4400
Hours: 8:30 am–4:00 pm

Guidelines for Pre-Registration

One of the most important things to remember as you imagine what you might enroll in is that you have several years to take classes. For your first term at Bennington, you should explore as widely as possible. Develop your passions, certainly, but open yourself to discovering others. Your goal is to build a schedule that incorporates a variety of subjects (e.g. music, biology, literature, visual arts) and approaches (performance, labs, reading, writing, studio work).

Pre-Registration Step-by-Step

Welcome: Registration Guidelines

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Read the entire curriculum.

Yes, the entire curriculum.
Check key details of the courses you’re interested in taking.

Check the number of credits. Check the days and times. Check to see if the class has a prerequisite (course numbers beginning with “4” have prerequisites)—these require permission of the instructor and therefore are not options for pre-registration. Use the blank Course Schedule Worksheet to map out several possible schedules, paying particular attention to the overall balance of your courses.
Ready to complete your Course Pre-Registration? Here's how.

Select courses for your ideal schedule and then additional back-up courses. Be sure your back-up courses span a range of subjects. We will pre-register you for four to six courses (up to 16 credits, which is a regular, full-time course load) based on your preferences and on the availability of spaces. You will be able to make necessary adjustments to your schedule during Orientation in September.

Things to Consider

Welcome: Things to Consider (registration)

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So, you're interested in public action?

Consider a workshop offered through Bennington's Center for the Advancement of Public Action (CAPA). You'll find courses throughout the curriculum addressing pressing world issues, and CAPA workshops are a great place to begin exploring a public action orientation and building the capacities and skills necessary to effect substantive and systemic change.
Never thought you could dance? Danced all your life?

Try a dance class. There are many two-credit options for those who are new to dance. If you have a serious interest in dance, consider selecting First-Year Dance Intensive as one of the courses in your ideal schedule. You may complement it with a two-credit movement practice, which you can add to your schedule during the add-drop period in September.
Interested in drama or in auditioning for a play?

You are encouraged to select only one performance-based course (e.g. Actor’s Instrument) for your ideal schedule. However, you can combine one of these courses with a different type of drama course, such as theater history. If you think you might audition for a play, come with a two- to three-minute monologue already prepared. Auditions take place during the first week of term; further details will be available during Orientation.
Want to study a language?

We offer Chinese, French, Italian, Japanese, and Spanish. Pure beginners (those who have never studied the language before) are welcome to list introductory language classes in their ideal schedule or as one of their back-up courses. But, if you’ve studied a language before and wish to continue doing so, please note this in the comment section of your pre-registration form. We will contact you in June with information about a language placement exam that will help us determine the appropriate 4000-level course for you.
Eager to dive into literature or the social sciences, or both?

The reading and writing demands in these courses are intense; therefore, you are urged to select only one of each—or just one altogether—for your ideal schedule.
Want to study voice or another instrument?

Many music courses have no prerequisites, but to study voice or to take an advanced instrument course you will need to audition for the faculty once you are on campus. Further details about auditions will be available during Orientation.
Science wiz? Math phobic? Neither or both?

There are science and mathematics courses for students at all levels of experience and interest. But if you’re serious about pursuing science, consider selecting a lab course in your area of interest. In the curriculum, you’ll find labs listed directly under the courses with which they are associated and which list the lab as a co-requisite.
Can’t wait to spend time in the studio?

The demands of studio courses in the visual arts are rigorous, so select only one 4-credit studio course for your ideal schedule. You are encouraged to list a second and third option—as back-up courses—if you want to be sure to take a visual arts studio course during your first term.

Additional Resources

If you would like to discuss your registration with staff in the Dean’s Office, please call 802-440-4400 to schedule an appointment. If you are a transfer student, you are strongly encouraged to call to arrange a phone appointment, since your registration needs are different from those of entering first-year students.