Program Is Emerson’s First International Dual Degree Program
Announcement
Boston, MA —
Program begins Fall 2020.
Emerson College today announced a new Global Bachelor of Arts degree program in International and Political Communication with Franklin University Switzerland, as part of its Global Portals initiative focused on intercontinental education, scholarship, and collaboration. Students enrolled in the program will spend the first two years of their undergraduate experience taking liberal arts and foundational communication and politics courses at Franklin in Lugano, Switzerland. Their final two years will be spent at Emerson College in Boston, where students will complete the major in International and Political Communication. Applications will be accepted beginning in Fall 2019. Students will earn an associate’s degree from Franklin and a Bachelor of Arts in International and Political Communication from Emerson College upon completion of the degree requirements. “Emerson is known internationally as the premier institution of higher learning for creative leaders in communication, the arts, and the liberal arts,” said Lee Pelton, president of Emerson College. “Our dual degree program with Franklin University Switzerland will provide students with international perspectives on US domestic politics and communication, uniquely preparing them for future leadership in these burgeoning fields. The partnership also aligns with Emerson’s vision to create a borderless campus—which we see as vital to educating the world’s future generations of artists and storytellers.” According to Michaele Whelan, Emerson’s provost and vice president for academic affairs, the program’s curriculum offers an enriching academic and cultural experience that is distinctly global. “Through the Emerson-Franklin dual degree program, students will be immersed in rigorous liberal arts, political science, and political communication coursework, taking them on intellectual journeys with international perspectives while studying around the world,” she said. During the program’s interim summer session, students have the opportunity to deepen their international experience by completing an Emerson course at its Kasteel Well program in the Netherlands; at a new Emerson program in Sydney, Australia; or electives at the Boston campus. The dual degree program enables each institution to offer financial aid to qualified students. Emerson College announced its first collaboration with Franklin University Switzerland in September 2018, launching two accelerated 3+1 degree programs that allow students to complete a bachelor’s degree at Franklin and a master’s degree at Emerson in four calendar years and a summer. Sara Steinert Borella, vice president and dean of academic affairs at Franklin University Switzerland, said, “The new partnership with Emerson College provides a direct professional pathway for students looking to combine an international liberal arts experience at FUS, paired with sought-after political communication instruction from Emerson. The initiative is the result of a deep and long-term collaboration between Franklin University Switzerland and Emerson College as a way to provide programs and pathways for students that leverage the unique strengths of both institutions.” The degrees at Franklin are the latest international programs announced as part of the Emerson College Global Portals initiative, which includes a Global BFA in Film Art with Paris College of Art and a 3+1 master’s degree program in Barcelona, Spain. The College also plans to establish programs in Sydney, Australia, and Hong Kong by 2022.
About the College
Based in Boston, Massachusetts, opposite the historic Boston Common and in the heart of the city’s Theatre District, Emerson College educates individuals who will solve problems and change the world through engaged leadership in communication and the arts, a mission informed by liberal learning. The College has 3,780 undergraduates and 670 graduate students from across the United States and 50 countries. Supported by state-of-the-art facilities and a renowned faculty, students participate in more than 90 student organizations and performance groups. Emerson is known for its experiential learning programs in Los Angeles, Washington, DC, the Netherlands, London, China, and the Czech Republic as well as its new Global Portals, with the first opening last fall in Paris. The College has an active network of 51,000 alumni who hold leadership positions in communication and the arts. For more information, visit Emerson.edu.