Updated Fields of Study

Sharp-eyed readers may have caught the odd reference in recent weeks to updated Fields of Study in the Fletcher curriculum. If you’re relatively new to the ins and outs of Fletcher you might not notice anything different at all. Those who have been considering Fletcher for a bit longer, though, will see that the list of Fields of Study has been refreshed and streamlined.

There’s been an ongoing school-wide curricular review and reorganization for some time now, and the new Fields of Study alignment is one of the most visible results. Fletcher has always had a living curriculum, and a typical year sees at least a handful of course additions, updates, and modifications. The new Fields of Study are a more significant curricular change, though, and it’s worth taking a few moments to discuss some of the finer points. The first and perhaps most important thing to understand is that, while there are now 11 Fields rather than the prior 25, the curriculum has by no means contracted, and in fact features a number of exciting new areas of study that students can formally pursue. “Technology and International Affairs,” for example, formalizes an area that’s been extremely popular and growing in the past few years, but until now only available to pursue at the level of individual courses rather than a declarable area of concentration. Other Fields, such as “International Economic Relations,” create a larger tent to encompass several closely-related former fields. “Comparative and Regional Studies” foregrounds the extensive regionally-focused coursework that at times was obscured by the prior functional organization of Fields.

Students will also find that each Field consists of considerably more course options than before, continuing Fletcher’s emphasis on a high degree of curricular flexibility. The hope is that students will have an easier time deciding upon their primary Fields of interest, and a greater number of options for how to constitute the Fields they opt to pursue. I encourage all readers to check out the updated individual Field pages for more details on the new Fields of Study!