PDF of the 2012-2013 Academic Catalog - Scripps College

Scripps College Catalog
Scripps College
9
Natural Sciences
Scripps students may major in mathematics through Scripps, and biology, chemistry, or physics
through the W.M. Keck Science Department, administered by Scripps, Claremont McKenna, and
Pitzer Colleges. Majors in computer science, engineering (Scripps participates in a 3-2 program),
and geology are also available through the other Claremont Colleges.
Social Sciences
Social science offerings at Scripps include economics, history, politics and international relations,
and psychology. Scripps and Pitzer Colleges have a cooperative program in anthropology.
Sociology is an off-campus major at Pitzer or Pomona College.
Honors
A number of disciplines offer honors in the major, which typically requires more courses, a higher
minimum grade point average in the major, and a more ambitious senior thesis.
Elective Courses
Electives comprise the many courses the student may choose that are taught outside the major
and the general education requirements to meet the 32-course minimum for the degree. In any
given semester Scripps offers some 130 or more courses. Claremont McKenna, Harvey Mudd,
Pitzer, Pomona Colleges, and Claremont Graduate University offer hundreds more. The student’s
particular choice of electives from among this array lends special character to undergraduate
education.
Students desiring advanced work in the humanities may apply for admission as a Junior Fellow to
the Humanities Institute.
La Semeuse
The seal of Scripps College, designed by sculptor Lee Lawrie, depicts La Semeuse—she who sows.
The image of the sower of “the good seed of thought, of action, of life” was chosen by the faculty
in the 1927-28 academic year. They also selected the College motto, Incipit Vita Nova—“new life
begins here.” The esteemed Professor Hartley Burr Alexander was largely responsible for the seal’s
image and the motto. Before he arrived on campus, he suggested Incipit Vita Nova, the first words
of Dante’s New Life.
It seems to me that what college ought to do is begin a new life in a very real sense, and perhaps
the motto would have a double significance for Scripps in indicating not only the new life begun
for each student, but also the new life which we hope may be begun from a renewed vitality in
education [evidenced in the founding of this college for women].
—Hartley Burr Alexander
Principles of Community
Scripps College is a community of scholars: faculty, students, and staff dedicated to the education
of women and the advancement of learning.
To further this community, Scripps seeks to attract a diverse student body and to build a diverse
faculty and staff. Our goal is to create a hospitable environment without discrimination on the basis
of race, ethnicity, religion, culture, color, beliefs, physical condition, socioeconomic background,
sexual orientation, or age. Scripps believes that each member of the community contributes to the
learning and teaching of all and, therefore, seeks to balance individual freedoms with sensitivity
to, and awareness of, the rights and human dignity of others. Scripps recognizes the obligation to
respond to the acts and effects of discrimination and bigotry by building an academic community in
which people learn to respect and value one another for their differences.