A program that focuses on the application of biological, chemical, and physical principles to the study of the physical environment and the solution of environmental problems, including subjects such as abating or controlling environmental pollution and degradation; the interaction between human society and the natural environment; and natural resources management. Includes instruction in biology, chemistry, physics, geosciences, climatology, statistics, and mathematical modeling.

A general program that focuses on the English language, including its history, structure and related communications skills; and the literature and culture of English-speaking peoples.

A program that focuses on the general study of dramatic works and their performance. Includes instruction in major works of dramatic literature, dramatic styles and types, and the principles of organizing and producing full live or filmed productions.

Students in this major study the Chinese language and its associated dialects and literature, including Chinese philology, Archaic and Classical Chinese, Modern Standard Chinese (Guóyu), Mandarin, Cantonese, Taiwanese, Wu, Min, Hunanese, Hakka, other dialects and pidgins, and applications to business, science/technology, and other settings.

This general program focuses on the literary culture of the ancient Graeco-Roman world and the Greek and Latin languages and literatures and their development prior to the fall of the Roman Empire.

A program that focuses on the French language and related dialects and creoles. Includes instruction in French philology, Metropolitan French, Canadian French, African and Caribbean Creoles, French regional dialects, and applications in business, science/technology, and other settings.

A program that focuses on the German language and related dialects as used in Austria, Germany, Switzerland, neighboring European countries containing German-speaking minorities, and elsewhere. Includes instruction in German philology; Old, Middle, and High German; Plattdeutsch and other regional dialects; and applications to business, science/technology, and other settings.

A program that focuses on the Japanese language. Includes instruction in Japanese philology; Ancient, Medieval, and Modern Japanese; Japanese dialects; and applications to business, science/technology, and other settings.

A program that focuses on language, language development, and relationships among languages and language groups from a humanistic and/or scientific perspective. Includes instruction in subjects such as psycholinguistics, behavioral linguistics, language acquisition, sociolinguistics, mathematical and computational linguistics, grammatical theory and theoretical linguistics, philosophical linguistics, philology and historical linguistics, comparative linguistics, phonetics, phonemics, dialectology, semantics, functional grammar and linguistics, language typology, lexicography, morphology and syntax, orthography, stylistics, structuralism, rhetoric, and applications to artificial intelligence.

A program that focuses on the Russian language. Includes instruction in Russian philology, Old Russian, Modern Russian and dialects, literature, and applications to business, science/technology, and other settings.

A program that focuses on the Spanish language and related dialects. Includes instruction in Spanish philology, Modern Castillan, various Latin American dialects, regional Spanish dialects, and applications in business, science/technology, and other settings.

A program that focuses on the general study and interpretation of the past, including the gathering, recording, synthesizing and criticizing of evidence and theories about past events. Includes instruction in historiography; historical research methods; studies of specific periods, issues and cultures; and applications to areas such as historic preservation, public policy, and records administration.

A general program that focuses on the introductory study and appreciation of music and the performing arts. Includes instruction in music, dance, and other performing arts media.

A general program that prepares individuals to express ideas, feelings, and/or inner visions through the performance of one or more of the dance disciplines, including but not limited to ballet, modern, jazz, ethnic, and folk dance, and that focuses on the study and analysis of dance as a cultural phenomenon. Includes instruction in technique, choreography, Laban notation, dance history and criticism, and dance production.

A program that focuses on ideas and their logical structure, including arguments and investigations about abstract and real phenomena. Includes instruction in logic, ethics, aesthetics, epistemology, metaphysics, symbolism, and history of philosophy, and applications to the theoretical foundations and methods of other disciplines.

A program that focuses on the nature of religious belief and specific religious and quasi-religious systems. Includes instruction in phenomenology; the sociology, psychology, philosophy, anthropology, literature and art of religion; mythology; scriptural and textual studies; religious history and politics; and specific studies of particular faith communities and their behavior.

Students of Art History study of the historical development of art as a social and intellectual phenomenon. Art History programs include the analysis of works of art, and art conservation, art history research methods, connoisseurship, the preservation and conservation of works of art, and the study of specific periods, cultures, styles, and themes.

Art and Art Studies is a general, introductory program that focuses on the study and appreciation of the visual arts. Students of these two or four year programs receive instruction in art, photography, and other visual communications media.

A program that focuses on the analysis and criticism of media institutions and media texts, how people experience and understand media content, and the roles of media in producing and transforming culture. Includes instruction in communications regulation, law, and policy; media history; media aesthetics, interpretation, and criticism; the social and cultural effects of mass media; cultural studies; the economics of media industries; visual and media literacy; and the psychology and behavioral aspects of media messages, interpretation, and utilization.

Any instructional program that is derived from two or more distinct programs to provide a cross-cutting focus on a subject concentration that is not subsumed under a single discipline or occupational field.

A program that focuses on the interdisciplinary scientific study of the molecular, structural, physiologic, cognitive, and behavioral aspects of the brain and nervous system. Includes instruction in molecular and cellular neuroscience, brain science, anatomy and physiology of the central nervous system, molecular and biochemical bases of information processing, behavioral neuroscience, biology of neuropsychiatric disorders, and applications to the clinical sciences and biomedical engineering.

A program that focuses on the contemporary social and public policy ramifications of science and technology, the interrelationship of science and engineering with the public policy process, and the social and ethical dimensions of scientific and technological enterprises.

Students in this program study general biology at an introductory level. This major provides students with a broad overview of biology and includes instruction in general biology and programs covering a variety of biological specializations.

A program that focuses on the scientific study of the structure and function of biological macromolecules and the role of molecular constituents and mechanisms in supramolecular assemblies and cells. Includes instruction in such topics as molecular signalling and transduction, regulation of cell growth, enzyme substrates and mechanisms of enzyme action, DNA-protein interaction, and applications to fields such as biotechnology, genetics, cell biology, and physiology.

A general program that focuses on the analysis of quantities, magnitudes, forms, and their relationships, using symbolic logic and language. Includes instruction in algebra, calculus, functional analysis, geometry, number theory, logic, topology and other mathematical specializations.

A general program that focuses on the scientific study of the composition and behavior of matter, including its micro- and macro-structure, the processes of chemical change, and the theoretical description and laboratory simulation of these phenomena.

A program that focuses on the scientific study of the earth; the forces acting upon it; and the behavior of the solids, liquids and gases comprising it. Includes instruction in historical geology, geomorphology, and sedimentology, the chemistry of rocks and soils, stratigraphy, mineralogy, petrology, geostatistics, volcanology, glaciology, geophysical principles, and applications to research and industrial problems.

A general program that focuses on the scientific study of matter and energy, and the formulation and testing of the laws governing the behavior of the matter-energy continuum. Includes instruction in classical and modern physics, electricity and magnetism, thermodynamics, mechanics, wave properties, nuclear processes, relativity and quantum theory, quantitative methods, and laboratory methods.

A program that focuses on the systematic study of human beings, their antecedents and related primates, and their cultural behavior and institutions, in comparative perspective. Includes instruction in biological/physical anthropology, primatology, human paleontology and prehistoric archeology, hominid evolution, anthropological linguistics, ethnography, ethnology, ethnohistory, socio-cultural anthropology, psychological anthropology, research methods, and applications to areas such as medicine, forensic pathology, museum studies, and international affairs.

African-American Studies focuses on the history, sociology, politics, culture, and economics of the African-Americans. The program focuses on the African-Americans of the United States, Canada, and the Caribbean but also including reference to Latin American African-Americans.

This program studies the history, society, politics, culture, and economics of the United States and its Pre-Columbian and colonial predecessors, including the flow of immigrants from other societies.

This four year program focuses on the history, society, politics, culture, and economics of the peoples of the Asian Continent. Asian Studies programs include the study of Asian diasporas overseas.

A program that focuses on the history, society, politics, culture, and economics of one or more of the Hispanic peoples of the North and South American Continents outside Canada and the United States, including the study of the Pre-Columbian period and the flow of immigrants from other societies.

A program that focuses on the history, society, politics, culture, and economics of one or more of the peoples of the Russian Federation and its Soviet, Czarist, and medieval predecessors and related borderlands.

A program that focuses on the history, sociology, politics, culture, and economics of women, and the development of modern feminism in relation to the roles played by women in different periods and locations in North America and the world. Programs may focus on literature, philosophy, and the arts as much as on social studies and policy.

A general program that focuses on the systematic study of the production, conservation and allocation of resources in conditions of scarcity, together with the organizational frameworks related to these processes. Includes instruction in economic theory, micro- and macroeconomics, comparative economic systems, money and banking systems, international economics, quantitative analytical methods, and applications to specific industries and public policy issues.

A general program that focuses on the systematic study of political institutions and behavior. Includes instruction in political philosophy, political theory, comparative government and politics, political parties and interest groups, public opinion, political research methods, studies of the government and politics of specific countries, and studies 0f specific political institutions and processes.

A program that focuses on the systematic study of international politics and institutions, and the conduct of diplomacy and foreign policy. Includes instruction in international relations theory, foreign policy analysis, national security and strategic studies, international law and organization, the comparative study of specific countries and regions, and the theory and practice of diplomacy.

A program that focuses on the scientific study of the mechanisms and processes of learning and thinking, and associated information encoding, decoding, processing and transmitting systems. Includes instruction in theories of cognition and intelligence; studies of cognitive processes such as memory, sensation, perception, pattern recognition, problem solving, and conceptual thinking; cybernetics; psycholinguistics; and the study of biological and social communications mechanisms and processes.

A general program that focuses on the scientific study of individual and collective behavior, the physical and environmental bases of behavior, and the analysis and treatment of behavior problems and disorders. Includes instruction in the principles of the various subfields of psychology, research methods, and psychological assessment and testing methods.

A program that focuses on the systematic study of human social institutions and social relationships. Includes instruction in social theory, sociological research methods, social organization and structure, social stratification and hierarchies, dynamics of social change, family structures, social deviance and control, and applications to the study of specific social groups, social institutions, and social problems.

A program that focuses on the systematic analysis of public policy issues and decision processes. Includes instruction in the role of economic and political factors in public decision-making and policy formulation; microeconomic analysis of policy issues; resource allocation and decision modeling; cost/benefit analysis; statistical methods; and applications to specific public policy topics.

A general program that focuses on computers, computing problems and solutions, and the design of computer systems and user interfaces from a scientific perspective. Includes instruction in the principles of computational science, and computing theory; computer hardware design; computer development and programming; and applications to a variety of end-use situations.

Degree Programs at Pomona College

Bachelor's Level Programs

AGRICULTURE AND NATURAL RESOURCES

ARTS & HUMANITIES

COMMUNICATION & MEDIA

INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDIES

LIFE SCIENCE

MATHEMATICS AND STATISTICS

NATURAL SCIENCES

SOCIAL SCIENCES

SOCIAL WORK

TECHNOLOGY