Humanities & Sciences

Our graduates in English tell us that the skills they acquired in writing and critical thinking, as well as their capacity for a disciplined application of imagination and creativity, have prepared them well for a range of careers. Some students go on for graduate degrees in fields ranging from law to literature.

English majors constitute a close community of literature enthusiasts: poetry readings, informal staged readings of plays, public presentations of students' critical essays, and appearances by visiting writers, for example, are part of the experience. Whether you're studying Lolita or Love's Labour's Lost or writing analyses of poetry, novels, or drama, you'll be in small classes that allow for the easy exchange of ideas. Advanced students are encouraged to undertake independent study and honors projects and can qualify for membership in the College's chapter of the Sigma Tau Delta international English honor society.

In the last twenty years the global community has seen many dramatic changes including structural transformation in globalization, economic crisis, and increased attention to the economic dimensions of social justice issues. Climate change, inequality, health care, and global poverty and other pressing issues of the 21st century all demand our attention.  In our department we use modern quantitative methods and historical frameworks to consider these pressing issues as well as important historical episodes and theories in the discipline. 

In recognition of our high quality and analytic approach our BA program earned a STEM Designation from the US Department of Education. With the BA in Economics, international students in the United States on F-1 visas will be eligible to work for three years in the US.

For more than 50 years our students have been doing hands-on science because we know that's what chemists want to do most: formulate their own answers in the laboratory. In your freshman year you'll begin working closely with your professors in the lab. You might even present your findings at a national conference or publish a paper in a professional journal.

The curriculum systematically takes you through the principles of chemistry and prepares you for research -- and we give you plenty of time for that: many students graduate with more than 500 hours in the laboratory. You may develop new materials to use as synthetic bone, fuel cells, or to convert solar energy to electricity. Whatever the topic, your lab experience will closely resemble the real world of science.

Our facilities are state-of-the-art; recent acquisitions include an x-ray diffractometer, a gas chromatograph/mass spectrometer, a 400 Mhz NMR instrument, an atomic absorption spectrophotometer, and a biomolecular mass analyzer.

Our chemistry majors pursue graduate study at top universities such as UC Berkeley, Caltech, Purdue, Harvard, and Penn State. Others go on to medical, dental, or other health-professional schools. You might instead decide to study law, specialize in forensics, enter the field of environmental science, teach at a high school, or work at a company such as DuPont or GE. With the excellent grounding in both theory and research that our program provides, the choice is yours.

Our biology department fosters a strong sense of community: biology majors work side by side with professors who know them by name. You'll learn from full-time faculty who are committed to teaching students at all levels, in the laboratory, in the field, and in the classroom. Each professor has a personal laboratory where you'll use state-of-the-art equipment: you'll be the one operating the fluorescence microscope or the ultracentrifuge or using the controlled-condition plant growth facility to conduct sophisticated, original research.

In addition to hands-on research, you're encouraged to attend regional and national conferences to present your results. Our biology majors often receive competitive grant awards and national recognition for their work. For example, our students have received awards such as the Goldwater scholarship and the Pfizer undergraduate research fellowship.

Upon graduation, many of our biology majors enter professional schools to study medicine, dentistry, or other health fields. Others are accepted at top graduate programs such as UC Berkeley, Yale, Columbia, and Johns Hopkins. Other options include conducting research for the government or in the pharmaceutical industry.

Our art degree programs provide hands-on learning and small studio classes that foster close interaction with our accomplished faculty. Our facility accommodates a variety of studio art areas, including drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking, graphic design and digital art.

The Bachelor of Arts degree (B.A.) gives you a solid foundation in art and art history and a chance to explore your own artistic voice, while leaving you space to explore the liberal arts. If you have an interest in art that you want to combine with multiple minors or a double major, this is the degree for you!

The Bachelor of Fine Arts degree (B.F.A.) is a deep dive into artmaking and art history. Students create a year-long thesis body of personal artwork that is exhibited at the Handwerker Gallery. This is the degree for you if you are considering a life as a professional artist, applying to graduate programs in art, or applying for artist’s opportunities like residencies, grants, exhibitions, or publications. You’ll leave with the knowledge and body of artwork to begin this career path.

Those interested in Art Education should consider our Teach in 5 Program, in which you can earn a Master of Arts in Teaching (M.A.T.) certified in K-12 Art Education. (Note that the art education-specific program starts May 2023.) The curriculum in the art major, in conjunction with an Education Studies minor, prepares students to enter the M.A.T.

A personal interview with a member of the department and submission of an art portfolio are optional for entry to the program.

We also offer an Art Minor and Graphic Design Minor.

If you define yourself as a writer, our unusually flexible program will prepare you for the artistic and professional challenges that lie ahead. You’ll gain the critical thinking skills and practical experience needed for a career in book, magazine, or online publishing, journalism, marketing and public relations, or creative writing. Or you may opt for graduate study in writing, literature, composition and rhetoric, teaching, or other writing-related fields.

As a writing major, you’ll develop your expertise through theory and practice in a variety of genres. If you choose, you may select a concentration in creative writing, nonfiction, feature writing, or professional writing. Our diverse curriculum features more than 40 courses, including unique creative writing courses as well as experiential and service-based learning opportunities. You also might want to consider a minor in just about any field of study—from English to computer science, and from biology to outdoor adventure leadership. Skilled writers are always in demand, and majoring in writing while minoring in another field can help you pursue multiple interests and position yourself for success after college!

Ample opportunities to publish your work exist with the College's award-winning newspaper and other publications, including Stillwater, the writing department’s literary magazine. Master classes with distinguished visiting writers and our extensive network of internships with top publishing houses, newspapers, magazines, museums, advertising agencies, and nonprofit organizations provide even more ways to practice your craft and gain the confidence you’ll need for professional success.

Sociologists ask many questions: How do societies change? What makes social order possible? What are the sources of conflict in society? How is power exercised and how is ideology used to control people? How do people organize to create change? Our sociology program explores the complex dynamics between individuals, their collective identity, and their actions in groups. You‘ll study the traditional foundations of social life -- social institutions and organizations, individuals and culture, social change, and inequality -- as well as social codes and behavioral patterns as they exist in larger local, national, and global social systems.The curriculum reflects the new awareness of the need for a “public sociology,” one that informs public discussions about social issues. You’ll be encouraged to focus your studies around a particular social theme and to use the perspectives you learn to engage in public debates and work toward positive social change. Possible themes include gender and social change; crime and social justice; environment and culture; human services and public sociology; and the intersection of family, gender, and work.

Our dedicated faculty will help you develop skills in writing and analysis, computer usage, and research methods. You’ll also have opportunities to apply what you learn in real-world internship settings and through close collaboration with faculty in independent study and research projects. Students have helped to provide cutting-edge treatment responses for addiction at the Ithaca Community Treatment Court and have planned after-school activities for elementary students at the Greater Ithaca Activities Center, among other projects.

Our graduates make successful transitions into graduate programs and into the workforce, and they have found positions as agency caseworkers, public school teachers, college professors, researchers, college admissions counselors, and advisers to nonprofit organizations.