Williams-Mystic Coastal & Ocean Studies

🌊 Happy Earth Day from Williams-Mystic! 🌎
With 75% of our beautiful home planet made up of water, we're grateful for all the WM alumni making waves out there. 💙 #earthday #oceanplanet

field work

Williams-Mystic welcomes students from every major and every college. 🌊📚 You don’t have to be a marine biologist—we’ve had English majors, engineers, historians, economists, and even fine art majors. If you’re curious about the ocean, you belong here! #williamsmystic

Pretty much us, most days.

Every student at WM, regardless of major, designs and conducts original research in topics relating to their academic interests. Whether investigating climate policy, sampling for water quality, or analyzing coastal policy cases, students gain hands-on experience in interdisciplinary research.

residential life at WM

You’ll live, study, and cook with your classmates. Students live together in historic houses in Mystic, Connecticut. Cooperative living is a key part of the experience—sharing meals, planning grocery trips, and navigating life in a coastal village builds strong bonds and lifelong friendships.

You’ll live, study, and cook with your classmates. Students live together in historic houses in Mystic, Connecticut. Cooperative living is a key part of the experience—sharing meals, planning grocery trips, and navigating life in a coastal village builds strong bonds and lifelong friendships.

Our students live together in historic houses in Mystic, Connecticut, and for many, it's the first time outside of dorm life. Cooperative living is a key part of the experience—sharing meals, grocery trips, and navigating life independently builds strong bonds & lifelong friendships. #williamsmystic

WM students in New Bedford, MA, learning about the offshore wind industry.

From salt marshes and estuaries to working waterfronts, much of the learning at WM happens outside of the classroom. Students engage directly with coastal environments and communities, connecting their coursework to the places where policies, economies, and ecosystems intersect.

WM student asking questions of the New London, CT mayor.

Our students don’t just study climate change and coastal policy—they meet the scientists, policymakers, and local leaders working on these issues every day. These conversations provide invaluable insights into how coastal communities adapt and thrive.

Student on the maine coast

From Louisiana’s astounding land-loss story to Maine’s working waterfronts, Williams-Mystic students engage with communities navigating sea level rise, fisheries management, and changing economies, among other topics. Field seminars connect classroom discussions to real-world resilience strategies.

student research on the coast

At WM, your classmates come from all over! Williams-Mystic students represent colleges and universities across the country, bringing together a mix of majors, backgrounds, and perspectives. Each semester is a new, dynamic community of people who share a curiosity about the ocean and coast.

Student in the coastal zone

So that's where we are, partnered with two amazing organizations, by land and by sea--literally. But we want to share a little more about what we DO here in Mystic and in coastal areas near and far.

Mystic Seaport Museum is home to the Charles W. Morgan.

More specifically, our campus is part of Mystic Seaport Museum, the country's largest maritime museum! Our students take classes on the museum grounds, do research in the museum's amazing collections and live in houses along the Mystic River. Kind of like Night at the Museum, except it's a SEMESTER!

Welcome sign to historic Mystic, CT

You probably noticed the "Coastal & Ocean Studies" part of our name, and might have deduced that we are NOT in the mountains. We are the coastal campus of Williams College, and we are located in the charming village of Mystic, CT, about three hours from the main campus of Williams College.

Beautiful Williams College, located in Williamstown, MA. Williams has earned the ranking of #1 in US News & World Report's Best College rankings numerous times. The campus is located in the Berkshire mountains.

Are we a college? No, but we're a part of one: Williams College, a liberal arts college tucked into the northwestern corner of Massachusetts. Sometimes we get a mention in U.S. News & World Report. 😉 Williams is known for being rigorous, intellectually stimulating and...in the mountains.

Actually, you'd be surprised how often we think that!

a woman in a red dress is holding a microphone and saying you get a snack you get a snack . ALT: a woman in a red dress is holding a microphone and saying you get a snack you get a snack .

In short, we're an interdisciplinary coastal & ocean studies program. College students of all majors spend a semester with us exploring marine science, marine policy, maritime history and ocean literature—through classroom work, fieldwork, travel and research. And lots of snacks.

Hi all--we're new here, but hope we find our alumni and friends here soon! #williamsmystic

It's hard to say what we are in just a few words, so we'll take a few posts to explain the details.

Here's a few hints: 🌊 🐟 🎓 📚 🔬 ⚖️ 🪸 🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍⚧️ 🦈 🌎 ♻️

Williams-Mystic college students gaze at a sunset as they face the horizon of the Pacific Ocean.

Hey, that's us! Thanks for the shoutout for Williams-Mystic Coastal & Ocean Studies!
mystic.williams.edu