About

One semester to change your life.

As the ocean and coastal studies campus of Williams College at Mystic Seaport, Williams-Mystic hosts students from colleges and universities across the country for a semester of adventure and academic rigor. History majors from the University of Rhode Island bond with computer science majors from the University of California, Berkely; English majors from Smith College form friendships with maritime business students from SUNY Maritime College. Students from a range of backgrounds forge lasting connections to each other and to the ocean.

From our home base at Mystic Seaport, the largest maritime museum in the US, we travel across the country on three extended field seminars. We take to the open sea for ten days and spend weeks on the road exploring the West and Gulf Coasts. Whether you’re studying marine biodiversity off the coast of Puerto Rico or the impact of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on Louisiana’s coasts, you’re sure to see the country in ways you never would otherwise.

You’ll approach learning from a fresh perspective, taking classes on the history, literature, science, and policy of the world’s oceans. With five faculty and 18–24 students each semester, you’ll also benefit from individualized attention from experts in their field. Between our 8,000-square foot science center and the more than two million items at the Seaport’s Collections and Research Center, you’ll have more resources at your disposal than anywhere else.

Our unique approach benefits students well beyond their semester at Williams-Mystic. They learn to lead and to listen, to consider and create, and to engage not just with scholarship but with the world outside academia. Alumni regularly call our semester the most transformative of their college career, and many return for our annual alumni weekend. Whether they end up illustrating children’s books, conducting research at NOAA, or sailing across the Atlantic on a replica Viking ship, our alumni find that the lessons they learn at Williams-Mystic equip them to lead a meaningful life.

The Williams-Mystic Blog

Every semester, student bloggers, staff, and faculty use this blog to recount their experiences in Mystic and on the road. For more information, check out our website, follow us on Facebook or Twitter, or request information.