Humanities & Sciences

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.

we want you to understand how political, economic, cultural, sexual, and racial power structures work. Our interdisciplinary, transnational, and cross-cultural curriculum is designed to be flexible, and it includes nontraditional coursework that emphasizes analysis of the relationships of power. You have the freedom to choose from course options to develop traditional and/or more innovative methods of study, especially at the intermediate, seminar, and tutorial levels.

Our rigorous coursework is founded on small classes, intense dialogue, and close collaboration with faculty who work at the cutting edge of their fields. By the end of your four years, you'll be expected to have developed intermediate competency in a second language, which may help shape the area of your interest. You'll also be strongly encouraged to seek experience outside the classroom. Our students intern with state and local representatives, social service agencies, professional associations, law offices, and schools.

If you want to focus your studies on global issues, you can declare a concentration in international studies. The concentration requires an extra international politics course beyond the regular major, plus a course in either history or anthropology. You’ll choose your upper-level politics courses from the wide range of globally focused courses offered by the department. You’ll also take six credits of a second language beyond the regular politics language requirement.

For students majoring in fields other than politics, we now offer minors in politics and international politics.

Our politics major will prepare you for careers in public service, foreign relations, NGOs, international organizations, and international business. And you'll be well prepared to enter law school or graduate programs in a variety of disciplines, such as the environment, human rights, international and global affairs, journalism, and business.

The Department of Physics and Astronomy offers qualified students the opportunity to receive two bachelor’s degrees, one from Ithaca College and one from an appropriate school of engineering. Students who are interested in this program complete all the requirements for either the Physics B.S. or the Applied Physics B.S. degree in three years, and apply to transfer to the appropriate engineering school for two more years to complete a bachelor’s degree in engineering.

Institutions that our past graduates in the 3-2 program have attended include Cornell University, Clarkson University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, or the State University of New York at Binghamton. Attending other institutions is also possible.

Students in the 3-2 program excel thanks to small classes and individual attention from faculty members at Ithaca; when you move on to the second phase of the program, you will be well prepared for the rigors of an engineering curriculum. Our students have participated in a wide range of research and development fieldwork, including working with students at Cornell to design, build, and compete in a Formula SAE race car.

At the end of Ithaca's 3-2 program you will be ready to pursue graduate education at the nation's top engineering schools, or take a job alongside other IC alums at Intel, Agilent Technologies, and other engineering powerhouses around the world. One recent grad is reaching even further, helping to engineer a probe that will visit Jupiter's moons!

If your long-term objectives include graduate study in physics or a closely related field such as astronomy, engineering, or applied physics, you’ll find excellent preparation in Ithaca’s new physics B.S. program, which emphasizes research-intensive laboratory and methods courses and hands-on research in collaboration with physics faculty. The department also features a performance-based teaching laboratory that facilitates the latest methods in physics education.
Ithaca’s physics department is large enough to offer well-equipped, state-of-the-art research labs yet small enough to offer ample opportunity for individualized instruction. Scientific research is the cornerstone of the curriculum; the B.S. program requires the completion of an individualized research project and the submission of a related thesis. Students also collaborate with professors on faculty research projects, and they frequently present research findings on campus as well as regionally and nationally (for example, at meetings of the American Physical Society).

You’ll complete focused and intensive methods courses; an advanced lab in quantum mechanics or another research field; and an advanced course in a selected topic, such as astrophysics, optics, solid state physics, or electromagnetism. You may want to take additional coursework in advanced physics, mathematics, computer science, chemistry, or biology to strengthen your skills in areas that interest you. A thesis is also required before graduation. Here are a few recent titles: “Determination of Age and Mass of Herbig Ae/Be Stars”; “Identifying and Reducing Positional Errors in Cesium Magnetometer Surveys”; and “Compost Thermal Heating Project,” a student’s ingenious exploitation of the heat generated by compost heaps to recharge cell phone batteries.

Whatever career path you imagine, our combination of rigorous academic preparation and the mastery of research skills will prepare you for the real world. Recent graduates have gone on to Ph.D. programs at the University of Illinois and Oregon State University and advanced study in astronomy at Cornell University.

To understand the exciting advances in modern physics, you must be fluent in the language of mathematics. Our dual-major, mathematics-physics program recognizes this interrelation and supports students whose talents bridge both fields.

The program is designed for students who want to explore physics, from basic mechanics to quantum theory, and learn the mathematical language that describes it, from basic calculus to abstract algebra. To that end, the program offers a balanced curriculum that allows you to pursue both subjects equally. It also gives you more flexibility in selecting courses, allowing you to gain a firm understanding of both subjects. In addition, you may switch to a major program in either area up to the middle of junior year.

Through classroom work and lab projects, you'll learn physics as you gain skills in mathematical computation, modeling, reasoning, and analysis. You'll also have exciting opportunities for hands-on research. Our students are currently working on projects that range from computational modeling of asteroid surfaces to experimenting with advanced optics to re-engineering the campus with sustainable energy systems.

The dual-major program will give you the knowledge, experience, and organizational skills to face successfully all the intellectual and professional challenges that lie ahead. Our graduates have gone on to study for advanced degrees at prestigious schools worldwide or have begun careers in industry, technology, research, and other related fields, working as test engineers, research specialists, and project managers.