Dec 02, 2024  
2018-2019 Pitzer Catalog 
    
2018-2019 Pitzer Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

The Claremont Colleges


The Claremont University Consortium is an association of five undergraduate liberal arts colleges and two graduate higher education institutions. Similar to the Oxford-Cambridge model, the seven independent institutions on adjoining campuses offer rigorous curricula, small classes, distinguished professors and personalized instruction in a vibrant residential college community.

The consortium provides an educational experience that focuses on broad-based knowledge, development of critical and analytical thinking and effective communication at the undergraduate and graduate level. The curriculum includes natural and applied sciences, social and behavioral sciences, the humanities, business, mathematics, engineering and the arts.

Pitzer College is a comprehensive liberal arts and sciences college that offers degrees in more than 40 majors and 20 minors. Pitzer’s curriculum emphasizes intercultural understanding, social responsibility, student engagement, environmental sustainability and interdisciplinary learning. As one of the country’s first colleges to offer environmental studies and secular studies, Pitzer’s innovative curriculum prepares students for an ever-evolving world. Home to the Robert Redford Conservancy for Southern California Sustainability, the College is annually recognized among the most environmentally sustainable colleges. Pitzer is a national leader in student Fulbright Fellowships among US undergraduate institutions. Ranked among U.S. News & World Report’s top 40 liberal arts colleges, Pitzer prepares students to become effective leaders and global citizens who embody the College’s motto, Provida Futuri, “Mindful of the Future.”

Claremont Graduate University (CGU) is America’s only research-extensive university dedicated solely to graduate study and research. More than 2,000 graduate students pursue advanced degrees across 38 masters and 22 doctoral fields in nine schools, including the internationally renowned Peter F. Drucker and Masatoshi Ito Graduate School of Management. The CGU experience is intimate, transdisciplinary and engaged with the world. CGU provides a unique blend of intimacy and community, of high academic standards, and transdisciplinary research, and innovative teaching concerned with making our world a better place. This blend is just what some of the world’s ablest graduate students demand-and just what tomorrow’s hardest problems require.

Claremont McKenna College (CMC), established in 1946, is among the highest-ranked and most selective liberal arts colleges in the nation. CMC excels in preparing students for leadership through the liberal arts in business, the professions, and public affairs. The college is home to more than 130 accomplished teacher-scholars who are dedicated to teaching and to offering unparalleled opportunities for student collaboration in the research process. Enrolling approximately 1,200 students, CMC combines highly selective need-blind admission, innovative programs, a 9-to-1 student-faculty ratio, 10 research institutes, the impact of the seven-member Claremont University Consortium, and a strong and committed network of alumni, to educate its graduates for a lifetime of leadership.

Harvey Mudd College (HMC) is the liberal arts college of engineering, science and mathematics, ranked among the nation’s best colleges. HMC’s 750 undergraduates pursue bachelor of science degrees in biology, chemistry, computer science, engineering, mathematics, physics, plus joint major programs in biology and chemistry, computer science and mathematics and computational biology. For more than 50 years, HMC has led the way with hands-on undergraduate research opportunities on a par with graduate institutions, a strong focus on the humanities, social sciences and the arts, an exceptional faculty who challenge students to achieve beyond their expectations and one of the nation’s highest rates of graduates who go on to earn PhDs. Our graduates are highly trained scientists, technologists, educators, entrepreneurs and other professionals who understand the impact of their work on society.

Keck Graduate Institute (KGI) educates the future leaders for the bioscience industry and pharmacy practice. KGI offers an interdisciplinary graduate education through its master of bioscience, doctor of pharmacy (PharmD), postdoctoral professional masters in bioscience management, PhD, postbac premedical certificate and other professional programs. Using team-based learning and real-world projects, KGI’s innovative curriculum seamlessly combines science, engineering and the essential of business, finance, regulatory affairs and project management in a way that is uniquely and deeply integrated. KGI also has a robust research program concentrating on the translation of basic discoveries in the life sciences into applications that benefit society. KGI’s new School of Pharmacy will educate pharmacists for a new era of medical practice and for emerging opportunities in the bioscience industry, the healthcare system, modern clinical practice and regulatory agencies.  KGI also offers a unique undergraduate experience through the Minerva Schools. Students participating in the Minerva Schools’ undergraduate program live together in residence halls in major cities throughout the world and take classes in intensive online seminars using a highly innovative video learning platform. 

Pomona College, founded in 1887, is an independent, coeducational institution dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge and understanding through study in the liberal arts and sciences. It has an enrollment of approximately 1,600 students, evenly divided between men and women and composed of students representing a diverse mix of backgrounds and interests. With a student-faculty ratio of about eight to one and an average class size of just 15, Pomona offers its students a chance to work in close partnership with members of a world-class faculty, both in the classroom and through a range of opportunities for student research.

Scripps College, founded in 1926, is a nationally top-ranked liberal arts college and a member of The Claremont Colleges. With approximately 950 students, Scripps College offers an intense learning experience with small classes on a campus famous for its beauty. As part of a consortium with four other colleges and two graduate institutions, Scripps offers its students the benefits of a larger university, with shared facilities, co-curricular activities and cross-registration at any or all of the colleges. The mission of the College is to develop in its students the ability to think clearly and independently, and the ability to live confidently, courageously and hopefully.

President’s Message

Pitzer College stands for academic excellence, social leadership, environmental consciousness and intercultural understanding. We deliberately explore the dynamic tension that exists in the world. Our faculty members work closely with our students to critically interpret the beauty and challenges that frame our existence.

Since its founding in 1963, Pitzer has been dedicated to providing students with a transformative liberal arts education. Pitzer students go on to lead thoughtful, involved lives, working toward constructive social change and bettering the world.

Mission Statement

Pitzer College produces engaged, socially responsible citizens of the world through an academically rigorous, interdisciplinary liberal arts education emphasizing social justice, intercultural understanding and environmental sensitivity. The meaningful participation of students, faculty and staff in college governance and academic program design is a Pitzer core value. Our community thrives within the mutually supportive framework of The Claremont Colleges, which provides an unsurpassed breadth of academic, athletic and social opportunities.

Pitzer Core Values

At Pitzer, five core values distinguish our approach to education:

  • Social Responsibility: At Pitzer, students spend four years examining the ethical implications of knowledge and individual responsibility in making the world better. They learn to evaluate the impact of individual and collective actions manifested in social and political policies.
  • Intercultural Understanding: Individual perspective and approach to the world are informed by the culture in which one resides. Intercultural understanding enables Pitzer students to comprehend issues and events through cultural lenses beyond their own. From Los Angeles to Botswana to Nepal, Pitzer students are educated to thrive and succeed in an ever-changing global community.
  • Interdisciplinary Learning: Pitzer College students are taught to challenge traditional ways of learning and to make immediate connections between academic disciplines. Faculty is organized by field groups instead of traditional academic departments. Scientists, sociologists, historians, writers and artists influence each other’s work and often teach courses together.
  • Student Engagement: Pitzer’s unique curriculum allows students the flexibility to direct their own educational and career paths by creating their own majors. In addition, students are active members of college governance- making decisions on everything from academic policies and faculty hiring to public art displays and building design.
  • Environmental Sustainability: Sensitivity for and preservation of the environment is a key value at Pitzer. Campus landscaping utilizes drought-resistant, native plants and the College is proud of its many LEED-certified sustainable buildings. Students shape their daily activities, programming and studies to ensure that they leave the environment and the world better than they found it. Students interested in environmental issues will find Pitzer an exciting living and learning laboratory.

The regulations, rules, and requirements contained in this catalog constitute a binding agreement between Pitzer College and its registered students. The Faculty Handbook and the Student Handbook also contain rules of operation that are binding.

The information contained in this catalog is subject to change without published notice. Such changes may result from action by the trustees, the president, the committees, or the College Council of Pitzer College.