Watauga Global Community

• Do you love to learn, especially when it challenges what you already know?
• Do you enjoy discussing what you've learned and sharing opinions and insights with others?
• Do you want to apply your creativity and intelligence to your academic work, using what you've learned in new ways?
• Are you curious about other people, who they are, what they believe and why they believe it?
• Are you interested in exploring local and global issues, understanding issues and proposing solutions for a better world?
• Do you want to be part of a diverse, international community, surrounded by the language and food of many cultures?
• Are you willing to work hard in order to discover all that you are capable of doing?

If you can answer "Yes" to any one of the preceding questions, you should explore Watauga Global Community further—it might be the right program for you.

Since 1972, Watauga Global Community (formerly Watauga College) has been the program where students read, write, think, argue, challenge, ponder, change, struggle, laugh and live together during their first years of college.

All Watauga classes meet general education requirements in interdisciplinary team-taught (multiple professor) core classes that blend fact, fiction, culture, philosophy, motion, art, music, myth, and religion. The variety of classroom formats—lectures, smaller discussion sections, small project groups, linked classes and even trips outside the classroom—provide many different approaches for learning, assuring that one or more of these formats will be ideally suited to you. Working closely with your peers, upperclassmen, and faculty, you will blend academics, residential life, and international concerns into a seamless experience.

Watauga Global Community is located in the Living Learning Center, on the west side of campus, featuring four-person suites, kitchens, lounges, classrooms, an art studio, a music room, and a library.

A very important aspect of Watauga is the community that forms through shared academic work and living experiences. No barriers separate the academic, cultural, and social components of Watauga students, faculty, and staff. In Watauga, the community forms the basis for all that happens. At the same time, you remain free to pursue your choice of a major and can enjoy a variety of student activities offered by Appalachian, including intramurals, service clubs, student government, fraternities and sororities. You get all the benefits of a comprehensive university as well as the close ties inherent in a small learning community.

All first-year students accepted at Appalachian State are eligible to participate in the program. We seek an interesting mix of students who are interested in exploring life in all of its fascinating forms and want to be involved in the world around them.

AN INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE

To go beyond classroom learning, Watauga Global Community has several options for international travel with course credit.  For a true European experience, the University of Trieste in Trieste, Italy, is an excellent destination for a semester abroad.  This link will tell you more: http://international.units.it/.  Two Watauans have spent a semester there, and Appalachian has an exchange program with the University. 

In the development stage are two options for Puebla, Mexico (http://www.udlap.mx/home.aspx) or for the English language version (http://www.udlap.mx/home.aspx?idioma=2): a month-long summer session preceded by a two-week travel and acculturation trip guided by Elitza Kotzeva (kotzevaek@appstate.edu) with Appalachian course credit, and a semester abroad for either Spanish language immersion and/or coursework that automatically transfers to Appalachian.  This program will be available to Wataugans in the spring/summer of 2014.

McFarlane Family International Travel and Research Endowment

This endowment provides support for students currently active in Watauga Global Community (WGC) and enrolled in a university sponsored study abroad trip or semester abroad.  Students must have completed twelve semester hours of Investigations coursework, be enrolled in a research project relevant to the study abroad, and be mentored by a WGC faculty member.  Administration related to this endowment is the responsibility of the College of Arts and Sciences in collaboration with Watauga Global Community.  The application for this endowment: McFarlane Family International Travel and Research Endowment.