Humanities & Sciences

Mathematics is a highly valued tool in today’s world, combining quantitative thinking, formal reasoning, and creative problem-solving. Forget the familiar “when will I ever use this in real life” idea -- math is all around us, and you’ll use it to manage personal finances or to understand climate change, sports statistics, and Google analytics. It’s also terrific preparation for a variety of careers in business, industry, the sciences, and government: Being good with numbers and logical thinking will give you a boost in a competitive job market.

As a mathematics major at Ithaca College, you’ll have plenty of one-on-one time with professors. As a sophomore, you’ll take a seminar led by various faculty members that provides a taste of advanced mathematical topics, such as dynamical systems, non-Euclidean geometries, fairness, and mathematics of climate change. During your junior year, you’ll have the opportunity to work with faculty on research projects. Some recent examples include missile tracking systems, finger games, fractal tree growth structure, and Chebyshev polynomials. In your senior year, you’ll find a faculty mentor to guide you in completing a comprehensive thesis that will culminate in a public presentation of your work. Students have completed theses in cryptology, Fourier analysis, and representation theory, to name a few.

Early on in your studies, you may want to take advantage of the free tutoring available in the math tutorial room. As an advanced mathematics major, you’ll join your peers and faculty members in staffing that room, tutoring other students. You’ll also have the opportunity to participate in or organize game nights for the campus and math days for K-12 students.

Our program prepares you for further study in math and many other fields, including biostatistics, operations research, and environmental engineering. Our graduates have gone on to study for doctorates at prestigious institutions such as Johns Hopkins and Cornell; others have taken jobs as senior systems administrators and actuaries.

Law affects society at virtually every level and touches almost every profession. That’s why the legal studies major and minor offer students the opportunity to learn about the ideas, institutions, and processes of law from multiple perspectives.

The core elements of the major give students a competitive edge by balancing liberal arts and applied theory. You’ll examine the various social, political, philosophical, and sociological factors that shape the evolution and application of law in our society. You’ll also study the relationship between the law and diversity issues such as race, ethnicity, gender, and class.

Our major and minor programs stress the interdisciplinary nature of law while providing a broad spectrum of academic and professional options in not only law but business, teaching, public policy, health administration, and social work.

Know just what you want to do, but not sure how to do it? Our integrative studies major gives motivated students the opportunity to focus on interdisciplinary courses of study that fall outside the usual range of offerings.

As an integrative studies student, you'll follow through on your own academic and career goals by designing a major tailored to your specific interests. You may integrate your major around a theme, topic, issue, problem, or practice. Examples from previous years include intercultural studies and social change, not-for-profit administration, computer science and visual effects, sociopolitical photography, and music administration. The options are virtually unlimited: if you have a strong, clear sense of what you want to achieve, we'll help you do it.

Acceptance into the integrative studies program requires submission of a detailed, well-articulated proposal demonstrating the hows and whys of your suggested path of study, as well as the approval of each department in which you plan to take courses. You'll need to complete one year of study at Ithaca before you'll be eligible for the program. This gives you time to clarify, organize, and fine-tune your thinking on your chosen topic.

History is the study of the deep relationships between our present and our pasts, between who we are now and who we have been as a people in local and global communities. As a history major at Ithaca College you'll explore the complex interplay of political, economic, social, cultural, scientific, and philosophical forces that have shaped the story of humankind. You'll also learn that studying history is a continuous process of interpretation and reinterpretation as new data is collected and different perspectives influence the established historical record.

Our faculty provide expertise in U.S., European, Latin American, Asian, and Middle Eastern histories, among others. With their guidance, you'll examine the history of different eras and cultures while considering broader thematic and interdisciplinary issues. For example, you may wish to study colonial U.S. history or the history of imperial and Weimar Germany, while taking courses in Islamic civilization and global environmental history.

Beyond your coursework, you may participate in independent studies and honors projects, emphasizing close collaboration with individual instructors. You'll also be encouraged to take advantage of internships and cocurricular activities such as Model UN, an optional semester at our London Center, or archival work with the History Center in Tompkins County. In your final year, you may participate in small seminar classes or one-on-one tutorials with faculty.

While firmly focused on the critical examination of our past, our flexible curriculum gives you the freedom to explore complementary disciplines such as anthropology, politics, and geography. Our graduates emerge with broad historical perspectives and strong writing and analytical skills that are well-suited to a variety of careers. Recent alumni have attended graduate school or pursued careers as professors, business executives, teachers, archivists, librarians, attorneys, computer consultants, and urban planning specialists.

Want to be a force for positive change in a time of ever-increasing environmental and social challenges? Environmental studies majors develop the broad knowledge, analytical tools, teamwork, practical experience, and leadership skills necessary to become effective professionals in this burgeoning field.

As an environmental studies major, you’ll learn to assess environmental concerns critically and to explore the interplay among economic, political, social, and scientific factors in environmental issues through a variety of hands-on courses. You’ll immerse yourself in interdisciplinary study, taking courses in a variety of fields and departments, including anthropology, policy, communication, health, or outdoor and environmental education. During your first and final years, you’ll have the opportunity to participate in a seminar that will connect you with a diverse group of environmental professionals, including many graduates from this program. As a senior, you’ll join a research team of faculty and students tackling an applied project and take part in a capstone discussion group designed to help prepare you for graduate school or for entering an environmental profession.

This program offers stellar internships in Ithaca and around the globe and exceptional research opportunities with faculty who are recognized scholars. Our students have studied such diverse topics as the health effects of hydro-fracking, satellite and GIS mapping of landscape change in a local community, conservation easement analyses, an archaeological analysis of tree growth and climate change in meso-America, wetlands investigation and invasive species management, GIS analysis and land stewardship on Ithaca College natural lands, and sustainable on-campus micro-enterprises such as honey production and raising mushrooms. As one of the country’s most ecofriendly cities, Ithaca brims with environmental internship opportunities. Partnerships with EcoVillage at Ithaca, Sustainable Tompkins, New Roots Charter School, and the History Center in Tompkins County expand your options even further. Learning opportunities have also been enhanced by a generous grant that funds student research, internships, campus visits by world-renowned scholars, and travel to the jungles of Central America or to conferences such as the annual UN Convention on Climate Change.

Graduates may pursue advanced science degrees or careers in areas such as environmental planning and policy, sustainable technologies, habitat management, or environmental law. If you're passionate about education, social change, and the protection and wise management of the environment, this program provides you with the tools to make a positive difference in the world.

This interdisciplinary program pairs the social and policy strengths of our environmental studies major with a rigorous science curriculum to give you the broad knowledge and the scientific and technical skills necessary to address global environmental problems successfully.

During your first two years, you’ll acquire a broad science foundation and will also be exposed to environmental humanities and history. You’ll participate in a seminar that will connect you to a diverse group of environmental professionals, including many graduates from this program, and you’ll undertake a cultural immersion experience that exposes you to new perspectives on environmentalism. By your junior year you'll begin focusing on your individual interdisciplinary interests in science and have some research experience with a faculty member. As a senior you’ll either continue your research or participate in one of the many regional internship opportunities. This combination of critical- and systems-thinking skills and hands-on science will prepare you to work effectively with environmental policy makers, educators, and scientists alike.

Real-world experience is a hallmark of the program. Our faculty members have received numerous grants in the last five years, and they often ask their students to join in their research. Locally our students have conducted wildlife movement and population studies, researched the reintroduction of a blight-resistant strain of the American chestnut tree, investigated paleoclimate through tree rings in Mexico, and studied the possible effects of microplastics in Cayuga Lake. They've also studied plant-insect coevolution in Ecuador and the impacts of ecotourism in Belize. As one of the country’s most ecofriendly cities, Ithaca brims with environmental internship opportunities.

Trained to tackle such hot-button issues as our energy future, climate change, natural resource management, and global biodiversity conservation, our environmental science graduates are prepared to succeed. Whether you're passionate about preserving the world's natural resources or using a scientific approach to solve ecological challenges, an environmental science degree from Ithaca College will set you on the path to making a positive difference.

Graduates pursue careers in areas such as environmental consulting and management, aquatic toxicology, wildlife conservation, environmental science outreach and education, solar technology, and renewable energy implementation.

Computer science is the practice of using computer-based solutions to solve complex social, scientific, and intellectual challenges. At Ithaca you'll learn the technical, organizational, and interdisciplinary skills needed to join the ranks of professionals who use computer technology to tackle these issues in diverse fields.

You'll begin your studies with a series of courses that emphasize problem solving using a number of programming languages and tools. Project courses build on these skills, giving you real-world problems to solve with your fellow students. As you progress in your program, you will take more focused courses that will introduce you to the significant concepts and technologies in computer science, such as operating systems, virtual reality, human-computer interface development, and computer networks.

You may also be invited to join your professors' research projects. For example, computer science majors are working in our virtual reality lab to develop therapeutic software for children with motor impairments. They're also working closely with our occupational and physical therapy departments to create assistive robots for children with physical and developmental disabilities. You could also work with faculty designing on-line music discovery engines, interactive DJ programs, serious games, or mobile computing.

Our graduates say that they are well prepared for the challenges of their jobs. Recent graduates are in positions at Lockheed Martin, Microsoft, and IBM, as well as at start-up companies. Others are pursuing further study in distinguished graduate programs at institutions such as Cornell University; University of Massachusetts, Amherst; Rochester Institute of Technology; Tufts University; University of Southern California; and King’s College, London.