Students who have concerns about their required foreign language
proficiency are urged to undertake language study in the summer prior
to enrollment at The Fletcher School, since it is difficult to devote a
lot of time to language study during the course of the academic year.
For this purpose, students may enroll in the Tufts University Summer
School language programs or may choose to enroll in equivalent programs
at other institutions.
However, during the academic year, MALD candidates and
direct admission PhD students who wish to supplement their foreign
language learning may enroll, at no extra charge, in language courses
at either Tufts University or Harvard through cross-registration.
Credit for language study does require approval from the Committee on
Student Academic Programs (CSAP) but when the language study is
appropriate for the student’s academic program and/or professional
goals, the Committee is generally amenable. Foreign language courses
taken for credit will be included as one of the four courses students
are permitted to take per term.
In order to be eligible to receive credit for language study, the following criteria must be met:
a. Foreign language instruction should be appropriate for both the
student’s Fletcher academic experience and his/her professional career
objectives.
b. Foreign language credit will be given for a maximum of two
courses, regardless of the number of language studies the student
completes.
c. Allowance of credit for foreign language study should
encourage, where there is no conflict with professional demands, a
multi-cultural approach to language learning.
Foreign language credit may not be applied to the one year MA degree
requirements and may not be offered for transfer credit. However, all
students, regardless of their degree program, are eligible to audit one
language course per term in addition to their normal load of four
courses. Audited language courses do not appear on the student’s
transcript.
Although The Fletcher School values highly the role of
foreign language learning in the international affairs arena, students
should understand that there is, unfortunately, little time within The
Fletcher School curriculum for students to acquire and/or master a new
foreign language. For that reason, we strongly encourage students who
are serious about learning a new language to pursue intensive study
prior to matriculation and then take advantage of opportunities
provided by our cross-registration agreement with Tufts and Harvard to
build on their existing foreign language proficiency.