Scripps College Majors: A Comprehensive Guide

Scripps College offers a diverse range of academic programs, allowing students to explore their intellectual passions and prepare for future success. A Bachelor of Arts degree at Scripps College is earned by satisfactory completion of a minimum of 32 courses to include the Core, General Education requirements, a major, and electives. This article provides a comprehensive overview of the majors offered at Scripps College, along with details about the college's academic requirements and resources.

Academic Foundations at Scripps College

A normal course of study for a Bachelor of Arts degree at Scripps College is four years, comprised of eight successive semesters. A normal course load for a Scripps student is four courses per semester. Upon entering Scripps College, a student is assigned a faculty adviser who will aid in arranging a program of studies suitable to the student’s interests, previous training, and academic objectives. These requirements are designed to introduce each student to a variety of formal ways of thinking, to provide a reasonable base of understanding of, and participation in, the world of the 21st century, and to encourage a commitment to lifelong learning.

General Education Requirements

The General Education requirements ensure an education that is well-grounded in skills and well-rounded in knowledge. The requirements are of two types. One demands competency in certain skills, demonstrated through a test or other means that exempt the student from further course work. Scripps College believes that it is important for all students to understand that there are different ways of thinking about knowledge and of defining and examining problems. The goal of the breadth of study requirement is to introduce students to different ways of knowing and different ways of thinking. All students are required to complete one course in each of the areas below.

The Core Curriculum

The Core Curriculum offered at Scripps gives students the opportunity to investigate important issues of human existence in an interdisciplinary context. Each first-year student is required to complete the three-course Core beginning in the first fall semester. Students who transfer to Scripps will be placed into the Core Curriculum sequence based upon their class standing at entrance.

Race and Ethnic Studies Requirement

Given the systematic discrimination and exploitation of African Americans, Latinx/Chicanx, Native Americans, Asian Americans and Middle Eastern Americans that have figured so critically in the history of the United States and its territories, the Race and Ethnic Studies requirement provides the opportunity to study the histories, politics and cultures of people of African, Latinx, Asian, Middle Eastern and Indigenous descent. To add courses to this preapproved list, students must submit courses (including a syllabus) by petition to the Registrar’s Office for faculty review.

Read also: Research Internship Details

Gender and Women’s Studies Requirement

Courses that satisfy the Gender and Women’s Studies General Education Requirement examine gender in a variety of social and cultural contexts. These may include, but are not limited to: race, sexualities, class, ethnicities, ability, and belief systems. Students must complete one course in Gender and Women’s Studies. The requirement may be met by passing any course in the Scripps Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies program or any other course approved by Intercollegiate Feminist Center for Teaching, Research and Engagement.

Foreign Language Requirement

One of the most important features of a liberal education is familiarity with the language of a culture other than one’s own. Such familiarity not only clarifies a student’s sense of cultural identity, but also enhances articulateness and enlarges the view of the scope of thought and language. This can be achieved by:

In the case of a modern language, the ability to understand a native speaker at a moderate speed and to respond intelligently.
By passing the third-semester level course in one language through The Claremont Colleges Modern Languages Program, the cooperative Classics Department, or full-course American Sign Language credit.
By passing a departmental competency examination.

Language placement tests in French, German, Italian, Latin, and Spanish are held at Scripps during fall Orientation, or by arrangement, to demonstrate competency for full or partial waiver of the courses required using one of those languages. The foreign language requirement will be waived for international students who graduated from a non-English high school program. Other students may satisfy the the requirement based upon written verification of non-English language proficiency by an interview with a Claremont faculty member who is fluent in the language. Students may also petition to waive the language requirement by successful completion of an off-campus examination at another college, verified by a letter bearing that college’s seal, and forwarded in a sealed envelope to the Registrar.

Mathematics Requirement

The extensive use of mathematics in our lives as individuals and as a society indicates that a knowledge of mathematics is essential for practical living and for professional development. The math requirement may be met in either theoretical or applied mathematics. Theoretical mathematics involves methods of inquiry based on rigorous deduction and formal proof that are different from those in other areas.

Declaring a Major

Before preregistration in spring of the sophomore year, each student must declare a major by filing an approved major declaration form in the Registrar’s Office. At the same time, the student will select a faculty advisor within the major field who will assist in planning the future program. Students who plan to complete two majors must also declare the second major by filing a second approved major declaration form assisted by a faculty member in the second field.

Read also: Summer Research at Scripps

Major Requirements

A major is an integrated program of study composed of courses and independent work within a discipline or interdisciplinary program. It should have an inner rationale and coherence of structure. The basic educational policy of Scripps is to enable students to think independently and critically. This includes:

Mastery of (a) skills and methods, (b) principles and theory, and (c) essential materials in the field. This mastery will usually be accomplished by successfully completing certain courses or a combination of courses and supervised independent study as determined by the department faculty.
Demonstration of competence in the field. In the areas of music, dance, and theater, a senior performance and/or a thesis is required as a demonstration of competence. In studio arts, and Digital/Electronic and Film/Video tracks of Media Studies, a senior project is required.

During fall of the senior year, in consultation with a major advisor, the student files an approved Senior Major Form in the Registrar’s Office for each major the student anticipates completing, indicating those courses which the student plans to use to complete the major requirements. Seniors will be held to the specific courses indicated on this senior form. Requirements for majors at Scripps College are defined by departments and are listed in the Majors and Minors section of this catalog. All majors consist of a minimum of eight semester courses or their equivalent, and a senior thesis (or senior project). At least half of these courses must be taken at Scripps, except where this regulation is specifically waived.

Double Counting Courses

Up to two courses (including prerequisite courses) may double count towards each of two majors (but not also a General Requirement).

Majors Offered at Other Claremont Colleges

If the major is offered at Scripps or is an intercollegiate major in which Scripps participates, the Scripps major requirements must be met and a Scripps faculty member must serve as the major advisor. If a student wishes to major in a field for which no provision is made at Scripps (for example, sociology), the student may complete the major in part or entirely at one or more of the other Claremont Colleges, and a faculty member of the off-campus college department must be the major advisor. In this case the student must meet the specific requirements of the other college for the major, to include at least eight courses, and also write a senior thesis. A Scripps faculty member must serve as a thesis reader. Off-campus majors require the Scripps advisor’s signature of approval plus the signature of the off-campus advisor in the major field on the off-campus major declaration form.

Dual Major

A dual major must fulfill all of the major requirements for each of the two disciplines (unless an exception is specified in the catalog) and complete a senior thesis that integrates the skills and knowledge of both fields. The two thesis readers are from the faculty of the two fields represented by the dual major. Normally, students who undertake a dual major would be required to complete only one senior seminar, but two may be taken for credit if the thesis readers recommend it. In the case of a dual major where each department requires participation in a senior seminar, and in the event these seminars meet at the same time, the student, with the assistance of advisors from each department, will determine the senior seminar in which the student will enroll.

Read also: Off-Campus Living Near Scripps

Double Major

A double major must fulfill all of the major requirements for each of two disciplines and complete two theses, one in each of the two subject areas.

Self-Designed Major

In exceptional cases a student may petition the Academic Policy Subcommittee of the FEC for approval of a self-designed major. The major must consist of a minimum of ten semester courses or their equivalent (including senior thesis); these courses should allow the student to acquire mastery of the skills, methods, principles, theories, and history related to the course of study. The major will culminate in a thesis that will allow the student to demonstrate the acquired expertise. To plan the course of study the student will work closely with a Scripps academic advisor with experience and fluency in the field. The student will also need:

Statements from at least two faculty members who will be working with the student, defending and supporting the petition.
Initially, a student major petition form must be signed by individual faculty members whose courses are being counted towards the self-designed major.

Senior Thesis/Project

Completion of a Senior Thesis/Project is required of every Scripps student. Senior theses constitute an individual and independent work supervised by two faculty members (one of whom must be a member of the Scripps College faculty): the director of the thesis and a second reader chosen in the relevant field. Options consistent with the basic educational policy of the College may be considered equivalent to the thesis upon approval by two faculty members and petition to the Committee on Academic Review. Deadlines for senior theses are determined by the faculty of each discipline. A minimum grade of D- is required for the senior thesis/project for graduation.

In the case of dual theses: Readers should provide their department’s respective guidelines for thesis preparation and evaluation at the outset of the thesis process. In the event of conflicting guidelines, the readers should elaborate criteria that are mutually agreeable. When the off-campus major has honors at one college and not at another, the student should follow the program of the college that offers honors, but in unusual circumstances may petition the Committee on Academic Review for an exception. For intercollegiate programs where no honors major program has been defined in the Scripps or another catalog, Scripps students may petition for honors in the major.

Minors

Scripps minor requirements must be met if the minor is offered at Scripps. Students planning to complete a minor are encouraged to declare the minor formally at the end of the sophomore year by completing a minor declaration form, including the approval of the student’s Scripps advisor and a professor in the designated minor area of study. A minor declaration form must be submitted to the Registrar no later than the deadline to add classes in the penultimate semester of enrollment. Requirements for minors at Scripps College are defined by departments and are listed in the catalog under the descriptions of the departmental programs. All minors consist of a minimum of six semester courses or their equivalent.

Double Counting Courses (Minors)

Up to one course may double count between a major and a minor or between two minors (but not also a major or General Education Requirement). Students may exceed this double counting limit if the total number of unduplicated courses on the approved declaration form for each minor is at least five courses.

Off-Campus Minors

A few off-campus minors in disciplines not offered at Scripps are available at Pitzer or Pomona Colleges. The requirements for the off-campus minor must be met, but in all instances must consist of at least six semester courses or their equivalent. The above double counting limits apply. Students may petition to the Academic Policy Subcommittee for a self-designed minor. Statements from one or more faculty who will be advising the student defending and supporting the petition.

Course Restrictions

No course may fulfill more than two requirements. Examples: Social Science plus Race and Ethnic Studies; Social Science plus major. Up to two courses (including prerequisite courses) may double count towards each of two majors (but not also a General Requirement). Up to one course (including prerequisites) may double count toward each of two minors (but not also a General Requirement). Up to one course (including prerequisite courses) may double count between a major and a minor (but not also a General Requirement).

Graduation Requirements

A minimum of 16 courses, evidenced by a minimum of two years in regular, full-time attendance, must be completed in residence at Scripps, including the final eight courses. Students may participate in commencement exercises upon satisfactory completion of all degree requirements as verified by the Registrar. For exceptions, see in Academic Policies and Procedures, the Petitioning Process section B.2a/b. Satisfactory completion is demonstrated by a minimum grade point average of 2.00 (C) in the major(s), minor(s), and cumulatively. The cumulative grade point average is calculated only on courses taken at The Claremont Colleges or on an affiliated off-campus study program (study abroad) as a Scripps student. There are three degree award dates during the year. October 18 is the degree award date for students completing requirements over the summer; December 30 for students completing requirements during the fall semester; and the Saturday after the end of final exams in May is the degree award date for students who complete in the spring.

Electives

Electives comprise the many courses a student may choose that are taught outside the major and the general education requirements to meet the 32-course minimum requirement for the degree. In any given semester Scripps offers some 130 or more courses. The other Claremont Colleges offer hundreds more.

Academic Resources

The Writing Center operates under the supervision of the Director of the Writing Center.

Student Life at Scripps

The student-faculty ratio at Scripps College is 10:1, and the school has 75.3% of its classes with fewer than 20 students. The average freshman retention rate, an indicator of student satisfaction, is 93%.

Popular Majors at Scripps College

The most popular majors at Scripps College include:

Research and Experimental Psychology, Other
Biology/Biological Sciences, General
English Language and Literature, General
Environmental Science
Political Science and Government, General
Econometrics and Quantitative Economics
Mass Communication/Media Studies
Neuroscience
Fine/Studio Arts, General
Humanities/Humanistic Studies

Scripps College of Communication at Ohio University

At Ohio University’s Scripps College of Communication, they've always been at the forefront of the communications industry. They've been churning out Pulitzer-winning, industry-defining journalists and photographers for decades, but you may not realize that they are also leading the charge in teaching emerging technologies, interdisciplinary collaboration, and strategies for storytelling in an ever-more-connected world. Here, you won’t just read about what’s new and next, you’ll navigate, apply, and lead it. The Scripps College of Communication has over 30 undergraduate programs to choose from, including majors, minors and certificates.

tags: #scripps #college #majors #list