RSC Debuts Renaissance Baccalaureate

By: Samantha Brierley

This fall, Russell Sage College debuted its newest program- the Renaissance Baccalaureate. The idea for the Renaissance Baccalaureate was molded after the “Renaissance man” during the Renaissance Period in the 1300’s. These men were like a “jack of all trades”; they could sing, write poetry, and perform. Russell Sage took this idea and applied it to this new program. This means that students in this program will do a variety of things such as study abroad

“Lots of experiences will spill over outside of the classroom,” said Dean Sharon Robinson, as quoted in the 2008 edition of Sage’s Horizons magazine.

 Students in this program graduate in three years opposed to four years like the average college student, and they move onto graduate school in their fourth year. More than 20 different faculty members have helped shape this program.

Students begin their studies two-weeks before their first semester with a one-credit class, which is an introduction to interdisciplinary study. The students live together for the first year and a half, and then move onto a summer working alongside the Hudson River, which will be their general education course; this course is called “Sage on the Hudson.” Internships or research projects will be provided to the students the summer after their second year. The majors that offer this are Environmental Science and Policy and American Studies. There will be more offered in the years to come.

For more information, please visit http://www.sage.edu/rsc/academics/ren_bacc.