2015-16 Pomona College Catalog 
    
    May 18, 2024  
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2015-16 Pomona College Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG] Use the dropdown above to select the current 2023-24 catalog.

Courses

Check major and minor requirement sections in the Departments, Programs and Areas of Study section to determine if specific courses will satisfy requirements. Inclusion on this list does not imply that the course will necessarily satisfy a requirement.

Click here  to view a Key to Course Listings and Discipline codes.
 

Africana Studies
  

  • AFRI010A AF - Introduction to Africana Studies

    When Offered: Each fall.
    Instructor(s): D. Sojoyner
    Credit: 1

    Interdisciplinary exploration of key aspects of Black history, culture and life in Africa and the Americas. Provides a fundamental, intellectual understanding of the global Black experience as it has been described and interpreted in the arts, humanities and social sciences.
  

  • AFRI010B AF - Introduction to Africana Studies: Research Methods


    See the Scripps College Catalog for a description of this course.
  
  

  • AFRI149 AF - Africana Political Theory: Black Political Theory in the United States


    See the Scripps College Catalog for a description of this course.
  
  

  • AFRI190 AF - Senior Seminar

    When Offered: Each fall.
    Instructor(s): E. Hurley
    Credit: 1

    Seminar for Africana studies majors. Complements guidance of primary thesis advisor, by focusing on interdisciplinary research strategies and data collection methods; development of authorial voice for the interrogation of African/African Diasporan topics, notions of race and manifestations of racism. Emphasis on writing, rewriting and peer review. Minors require instructor’s permission.
  

  • AFRI191 AF - Senior Thesis

    When Offered: Each semester.
    Instructor(s): Staff
    Credit: 1

    In the Senior Seminar, students undertake independent research culminating in a substantial thesis. The thesis work will be supervised by one faculty member chosen by the student. Each thesis will be read by one additional reader.
  

  • AFRI192 AF - Senior Project

    When Offered: Each semester.
    Instructor(s): Staff
    Credit: 1

    Through the Senior Seminar, students engage in an independent reading, research and participatory exercise on a topic agreed to by the student and the advisor. Normally, the project involves a set of short papers and/or culminates in a research paper or original work of substantial length based upon participation in a project or program, e.g. original play script, film or film script or artwork.
  

  • AFRI193 AF - Senior Comprehensive Examination

    When Offered: Each semester.
    Instructor(s): Staff
    Credit: 1

    In the Senior Seminar, students will prepare for the exam to be taken during their senior year. The comprehensive examination consists of two field examinations that test the depth of the student’s knowledge of Africana studies. The student chooses two areas in Africana studies (e.g., history and literature) in which to be examined.
  
  

  • AFRI199DRAF - Africana Studies: Directed Readings

    When Offered: Each semester.
    Instructor(s): Staff
    Credit: 0.5-1

    Directed Readings. Syllabus reflects workload of a standard course in the department or program. Examinations or papers equivalent to a standard course. Regular interaction with the faculty supervisor. Weekly meetings are the norm. Available for full- or half-course credit.
  

  • AFRI199IRAF - Africana Studies: Independent Research

    When Offered: Each semester.
    Instructor(s): Staff
    Credit: 0.5-1

    Independent Research or Creative Project. A substantial and significant piece of original research or creative product produced. Pre-requisite course work required. Available for full- or half-course credit.
  

  • AFRI199RAAF - Africana Studies: Research Assistantship

    When Offered: Each semester.
    Instructor(s): Staff
    Credit: 0.5

    Research Assistantship. Lab notebook, research summary or other product appropriate to the discipline is required. Half-course credit only.
  

American Studies
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  • AMST190 JT - Senior Thesis Seminar

    When Offered: Each fall.
    Instructor(s): Victor Silverman
    Credit: 1

    Exclusively for American studies majors who are preparing to write a senior thesis. Letter grade only.
  

  • AMST191 PO - Senior Thesis

    When Offered: Each spring.
    Instructor(s): Staff
    Credit: 1

    Required of all majors in the senior year. The capstone project for majors in which they produce an original work in American studies.
  

  • AMST199DRPO - American Studies: Directed Readings

    When Offered: Each semester.
    Instructor(s): Staff
    Credit: 0.5-1

    Directed Readings. Syllabus reflects workload of a standard course in the department or program. Examinations or papers equivalent to a standard course. Regular interaction with the faculty supervisor. Weekly meetings are the norm. Available for full- or half-course credit.
  

  • AMST199IRPO - American Studies: Independent Research

    When Offered: Each semester.
    Instructor(s): Staff
    Credit: 0.5-1

    Independent Research or Creative Project. A substantial and significant piece of original research or creative product produced. Pre-requisite course work required. Available for full- or half-course credit.
  

  • AMST199RAPO - American Studies: Research Assistantship

    When Offered: Each semester.
    Instructor(s): Staff
    Credit: 0.5

    Lab notebook, research summary or other product appropriate to the discipline is required. Half-course credit only.

Anthropology
  
  

  • ANTH012 PZ - Native Americans and Their Environments


    See the Pitzer College Catalog for a description of this course.
  
  

  • ANTH023 PZ - China and Japan Through Film and Ethnography


    See the Pitzer College Catalog for a description of this course.
  
  
  

  • ANTH047 PO - Economic Anthropology

    When Offered: Offered alternate years; last offered fall 2014.
    Credit: 1

    Explorations of economies from ethnographic and historical perspectives. Attention to diversity in production, exchange and consumption across societies; ways in which people make a living, looking at foraging, pastoralist, agricultural, industrial societies; attention to questions of self-involvement; gifts; debt; political economy; Wall Street; globalization; economy and environment. Previously offered as ANTH189H PO.
  
  

  • ANTH051 PO - Introduction to Sociocultural Anthropology

    When Offered: Each semester.
    Instructor(s): D. Gladney; P. Mahdavi
    Credit: 1

    Study of the structure and dynamics of human culture and social institutions from a comparative perspective. Diversity in ways of life and patterns of social organization explored through ethnographic materials from societies around the world. Letter grade only.
  

  • ANTH052 PO - Human Sexuality

    When Offered: Each fall.
    Instructor(s): Staff
    Credit: 1

    Survey of knowledge about human sexual and reproductive behavior, attitudes, concepts and values, with attention to the biological, psychological and sociocultural dimensions of sexuality. Special consideration of “safer sex” and AIDS prevention, and an examination of controversial issues surrounding sexuality across the globe.
  

  • ANTH053 PO - Language, Thought and Culture

    When Offered: Each fall.
    Credit: 1

    Explorations of proposals that language either determines or constrains thought, shapes perception or experience; reasoning and discourse; language and information processing; cross-cultural study; attention to universals.
  

  • ANTH055 PO - Power, Politics and Culture

    When Offered: Each spring.
    Credit: 1

    Is it possible to create a more just world or are humans inherently competitive, violent and hierarchical? Do nation states reduce conflict or produce it? How do different socio-cultural systems influence politics? This course examines political arrangements in different settings, including those in the U.S. It also gives attention to new social movements that have arisen to challenge the dominance of states and ruling classes.
  
  
  

  • ANTH088 PZ - China: Gender, Cosmology and the State


    See the Pitzer College Catalog for a description of this course.
  
  

  • ANTH102 PO - Applied Anthropology

    When Offered: Last offered spring 2013.
    Instructor(s): P. Mahdavi
    Credit: 1

    This course is designed to provide an overview of the field of applied anthropology. Introduction to the history, theory and methodology; uses of anthropology to solve social, economic, health and development problems, domestically and internationally. Students will conduct their own fieldwork on an applied issue of their choice.
  

  • ANTH105 PO - Methods in Anthropological Inquiry

    When Offered: Each spring.
    Instructor(s): P. Mahdavi
    Credit: 1

    Introduction to ethnography, the major mode of investigation in anthropology. Emphasis on systematic inquiry and inference. The vicissitudes of fieldwork and what it means to learn about human ways of life using the “technology” anthropologists have developed to gather, record and use data.
  

  • ANTH107 PO - Medical Anthropology

    When Offered: Each fall.
    Instructor(s): P. Mahdavi
    Credit: 1

    History, theory, methodology and application of anthropology in various health settings. Concepts of health, illness and healing in diverse cultural contexts. Critical assessment of conventional biomedical assumptions. Use of anthropology to solve health problems.
  

  • ANTH109 PO - Theory in Anthropology

    When Offered: Each fall.
    Instructor(s): D. Gladney
    Credit: 1

    The history of anthropology in the context of the emergence of the social sciences and the division between the sciences and the humanities. Exercises in theory construction and evaluation. Prerequisites: Previous ANTH course.
  

  • ANTH110 HM - Life: Knowledge and Practices


    See the Harvey Mudd College Catalog for a description of this course.
  
  

  • ANTH111 HM - Introduction to the Anthropology of Science and Technology


    See the Harvey Mudd College Catalog for a description of this course.
  
  
  
  

  • ANTH130 PO - Sexual Politics of the Modern Middle East

    When Offered: Last offered spring 2012.
    Instructor(s): P. Mahdavi
    Credit: 1

    Looks at emerging and changing sexual cultures and how they affect and are affected by changes in politics, culture, tradition and the question of modernity in the Middle East. Examines questions of gender, sexuality, health and human rights among peoples of the Middle East from an anthropological lens.
  
  

  • ANTH135 PO - The Social Life of Media

    When Offered: Each semester.
    Instructor(s): Staff
    Credit: 1

    Social and cultural nature of media. Special attention to problems of value and influence in aesthetic, moral and political terms, in news reporting and commentary, sitcoms and movies, advertising uses of media in education.
  

  • ANTH140 PO - Love, Labor and Law Across Borders

    When Offered: Offered alternate years; next offered fall 2016.
    Instructor(s): P. Mahdavi
    Credit: 1

    Over the past quarter century, women and men have migrated across borders to engage in different forms of intimate labor. They have done so formally and informally, as spouses, domestic workers and sex workers. This seminar invites students to question received categories for classifying and understanding these forms of migration by examining them as types of intimate labor that fundamentally reshape constructions of family, citizenship, labor, gender and sexuality across borders. The framework of intimate labor requires one to rethink scholarly, policy and activist formulations of migration and the phenomenon of ‘human trafficking’ premised on artificial distinctions between forced and voluntary movement, formal and informal migration and labor, and legitimate and illegitimate statuses in host and receiving countries. The course will look at readings in various transnational contexts to question ways in which intimate labor is being reconfigured through gendered migration practices and policies. The seminar will primarily look at these issues through an anthropological lens, but we will engage other disciplines such as economics, sociology and politics to enhance our understandings of convergences across modes of intimate labor and reduce gaps between policy and lived experience.
  
  

  • ANTH150 PO - Understanding Religion

    When Offered: Each spring.
    Credit: 1

    Religious experience in differing societies. Questions about religious practices in relation to practitioners’ thoughts, feelings, values and social circumstances: development of approaches helpful in exploring religious life; attention to worldview, myth, ritual, witchcraft, taboo, shamanism and pollution; special attention to new, revitalizing and politicizing religious movements.
  

  • ANTH152 PO - Ethnic Nationalism

    When Offered: Offered alternate years; last offered spring 2015.
    Instructor(s): D. Gladney
    Credit: 1

    Contemporary theories of ethnic and cultural nationalism from social science perspectives. Issues of nation-states, power hierarchies, modernity and identity in contemporary societies. Letter grade only.
  
  

  • ANTH155 PO - Globalization

    When Offered: Each spring.
    Instructor(s): D. Gladney
    Credit: 1

    The nature of globalization and of claims made about it; examination of neoliberalism; transnational labor, media, tourism and youth culture; regional and world systems historically and cross-culturally; globalization of protest; impacts on local communities.
  

  • ANTH156 PO - Comparative Muslim Societies in Asia

    When Offered: Last offered spring 2015.
    Instructor(s): D. Gladney
    Credit: 1

    Course surveys and analyzes the wide diversity found among Muslim communities and Islamic societies. The course also looks at issues of the requirement of the pilgrimage, the centrality of the mosques, the finding of Muslim mates in many non-Muslim areas and religio-political movements.
  

  • ANTH157 PO - Anthropology of Chinese Society

    When Offered: Each fall.
    Instructor(s): D. Gladney
    Credit: 1

    Examines China as a nation in transition; the critical junctures in Chinese history: 1949, the Cultural Revolution, post-Mao economic reforms, Tiananmen Square and their impact on Chinese culture and social life. How Chinese culture and society are “represented” by different authors; China as an ideological construction; minority identity; effects of global and mass mediated popular culture; Chinese diaspora in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore; resistance to Chinese identity by Tibetans, Uyghurs and Taiwanese. Letter grade only.
  

  • ANTH158 PO - The Anthropology of Sports

    When Offered: Each spring.
    Instructor(s): D. Gladney
    Credit: 1

    Theory of sports and the body in socio-cultural anthropology. Survey of premodern and non-western forms such as the first Olympic Games, the ball courts of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, the ritual kickball at the earliest Japanese court, Afghan buzkashi and Native American lacrosse. Tracks how modern team sports were disseminated through the circuits of Western imperialism. Attention to the social structures, cultural meanings and historical pathways by which sporting practices take distinctive form and significance. Letter grade only.
  

  • ANTH159 PO - Anthropology of Food

    When Offered: Offered alternate years; next offered fall 2016.
    Instructor(s): D. Gladney
    Credit: 1

    This course is intended to introduce students to the social practices and meanings, symbolic, biological and political, that surround food and food-related practices. Food is at the heart of most cultures around the world and, we will look closely at the ways in which food is used as prescription, taboo or social solidarity. Feasts, fasts and diets will be viewed in historical and social context with close attention to issues of gender, class and religion. Consumption in the global context will be linked to local tastes and food practices. Letter grade only.
  

  • ANTH171 SC - Seminar in Sexuality and Religion


    Credit: 1.0

    See the Scripps College Catalog for a description of this course.
  

  • ANTH189L PO - Production and Reception of Icons

    When Offered: Last offered fall 2013.
    Instructor(s): S. Martin
    Credit: 1

    This course will examine how icons are constructed and commodified by markets, myths, memories and media. What do icons reveal about identity formation, community belonging and strategies of resistance? How do icons become appropriated? The course will address concepts such as global capitalism, public space, transnationalism, modernity, nationalism and ethnicity.

     

  

  • ANTH189N PO - Memory, Truth, Justice; Violence & Human Rights in Latin America

    When Offered: One-time only; spring 2016.
    Instructor(s): D. Billingsley
    Credit: 1

    This seminar explores issues of violence, human rights, and transitional justice in contemporary Latin America. Using the tools of anthropology, we will examine the legacies of state-sponsored violence against civilians in several Latin American communities. We will address the historical contexts of violence, including gender and ethnic discrimination, the structural effects of colonialism, and the consequences of nation-building projects that sought assimilation or the extermination of difference. We will draw on social scientific theories about political resistance, international law, and collective memory, interrogating how social movements are differentiated by power and purpose. Students will apply the social theory provided in the course toward independent research on a related topic of case study.
  

  • ANTH191 PO - Senior Thesis

    When Offered: Each semester.
    Instructor(s): Staff
    Credit: 0.5-1

    May be taken for half-course in both semesters of the last year or as full course in either semester of the senior year.
  

  • ANTH192 PO - Senior Project

    When Offered: Each semester.
    Instructor(s): Staff
    Credit: 0.5-1

    May be taken for half-course in both semesters of the last year or as full course in either semester of the senior year.
  

  • ANTH199DRPO - Anthropology: Directed Readings

    When Offered: Each semester.
    Instructor(s): Staff
    Credit: 1

    Syllabus reflects workload of a standard course in the department or program. Examinations or papers equivalent to a standard course. Regular interaction with the faculty supervisor. Weekly meetings are the norm. Available for full- or half-course credit.
  

  • ANTH199IRPO - Anthropology: Independent Research

    When Offered: Each semester.
    Instructor(s): Staff
    Credit: 0.5-1

    A substantial and significant piece of original research or creative product produced. Pre-requisite course work required. Otherwise, student should take Directed Reading/199DR. Available for full- or half-course credit.
  

  • ANTH199RAPO - Anthropology: Research Assistantship

    When Offered: Each semester.
    Instructor(s): Staff
    Credit: 0.5

    Lab notebook, research summary or other product appropriate to the discipline is required. Half-course credit only.

Arabic
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Studio Art
  

  • ART005 PO - Drawing I

    When Offered: Each semester.
    Instructor(s): M. Teixido
    Credit: 1

    Introduction to observational drawing with attention to the articulation of line, shape, form, gesture, value and composition. Studio work introduces a range of traditional drawing materials and subjects while exploring a variety of conceptual approaches from image making to visual expression. Letter grade only.
  

  • ART010 PO - Painting I

    When Offered: Each semester.
    Instructor(s): S. Mukherjee
    Credit: 1

    Painting from observation to increase technical skills, visual sophistication and critical awareness. Includes work from the figure, the self-portrait, sketches and the still life. No experience necessary, but ART 005 PO  recommended. Letter grade only.
  

  • ART020 PO - Black and White Photography

    When Offered: Each semester.
    Instructor(s): L. Auerbach
    Credit: 1

    Introductory photography course focuses on traditional black and white processes. Readings and lectures about issues, ideas and photographers give students the opportunity to contextualize their own work within the trajectory of photographic history. Emphasis falls equally on questions of “how?” and “why?”, and a final self-directed project allows students to explore their specific interests.
  

  • ART021 PO - Foundations of 2D Design

    When Offered: Each semester.
    Instructor(s): M. Allen
    Credit: 1

    Foundations of 2D Design is a hands on introduction to the principles of visual design.
  

  • ART 025 PO - Sculpture I

    When Offered: Last offered spring 2012.
    Instructor(s): M. O’Malley
    Credit: 1

    Addresses a wide range of materials and processes to investigate issues of form and presentation. Materials include wire, clay, plastic, plaster, wax and aluminum castings. Assigned projects introduce a variety of techniques while offering the student an opportunity to explore his/her own unique pragmatic, expressive, critical and intuitive sensibilities. Letter grade only.
  

  • ART027 PO - Wood Sculpture

    When Offered: Fall 2015.
    Instructor(s): M. O’Malley
    Credit: 1

    This is a beginning level wood sculpture course devoted to the knowledge of wood, the tools used to shape it and the conceptual practices employed. Students will learn the shop, joinery, carving, lamination, pattern making and conventional fabrication techniques. Art majors given preference. Letter grade only.
  

  • ART 028 PO - Digital Photography

    When Offered: Last offered fall 2014.
    Instructor(s): L. Auerbach
    Credit: 1

    Introductory course explores digital photography as a tool for producing images. Assignments, lectures, and readings expose students to techniques, artists, and ideas ranging from early photographic history to the present. A final self-directed project allows students to articulate their specific intersts. Digital SLR camera suggested, but not required.
  

  • ART029 PO - Introduction to Metal Casting

    When Offered: Last offered spring 2014.
    Instructor(s): M. O’Malley
    Credit: 1

    Expands the technical, conceptual and expressive skills through the process of traditional metal casting. Students learn specific technical skills inherent to casting in a range of material—plaster, wax, aluminum and bronze. Emphasis on pattern making and mold making along with traditional techniques. Introduces a visual and theoretical awareness of contemporary art. Letter grade only. Previously offered as ART 126B PO.
  

  • ART029B PO - Metals: The Alchemy of Pounding, Welding and Casting

    When Offered: Fall 2015.
    Instructor(s): M. O’Malley
    Credit: 1

    Metals: the alchemy of pounding, welding and casting explores the fundamental processes of manipulating metal from forging with a power hammer, to welding and fabrication to lost wax casting of aluminum/bronze. The material’s versatility and uniqueness pose unique possibilities for the artist. No previous experience necessary, but expect to get really dirty. Letter grade only. Prerequisites: Any previous ART course.
  
  
  

  • ART104 PO - Drawing as Improvisation

    When Offered: Last offered fall 2013.
    Instructor(s): M.Teixido
    Credit: 1

    Drawing is a way to see, describe, understand, explore, and be. The act of drawing is largely an improvisational act. In emphasizing this aspect of making drawings we will explore historical and contemporary ideas of improvisation through exercises and readings. This course will invite a range of approaches including but not limited to, collaboration, context specific work and drawing as performance. Letter grade only. Prerequisites: ART 005 PO  or another intro level studio art course. May be repeated twice for credit.
  

  • ART105A PO - Drawing II: Abstractions

    When Offered: Offered alternate years; next offered fall 2016.
    Instructor(s): M. Teixido
    Credit: 1

    Abstraction comprises a rich area of artistic exploration. This course presents various cultural traditions of pattern, the history of mapmaking and how people have made diagrams to better grasp places and concepts. Students are involved deeply with form and a wide range of materials. Analysis of how abstraction manifests itself in contemporary art and how historical precedent informs that production. Prerequisite: ART 005 PO  or portfolio review by instructor. May be repeated once for credit. Letter grade only.
  

  • ART105B PO - Drawing II: Representation

    When Offered: Fall 2015.
    Instructor(s): M. Teixido
    Credit: 1

    In-depth exploration of representation as a conceptual, cultural and technical activity. Projects from photorealism to the willful distortion and invention of form provide the basis for artistic exploration. A range of media will be utilized to realize the critical relationship of form and content. Artwork will be examined to better understand contemporary investigations and the historical precedents that inform them. Prerequisite: ART 005 PO  or portfolio review by the instructor. May be repeated once for credit. Letter grade only.
  

  • ART108 PO - Figurative Painting

    When Offered: Each spring.
    Instructor(s): S. Mukherjee
    Credit: 1

    A course for intermediate and advanced students that explores both the technical problems of painting the figure and considers how artists have represented the body, past and present. Formal problems and conceptual frameworks intersect throughout each assigned project. Prerequisite: ART 005 PO  and ART 010 PO . Letter grade only.
  

  • ART109 PO - Painting as Experiment

    When Offered: Fall 2016.
    Instructor(s): S. Mukherjee
    Credit: 1

    A course for intermediate and advanced students that investigates the fundamental question: what is it to paint? Since painting finds its logic so keenly in experimentation, the course will include experiments related to the process, materiality and meaning of contemporary and historical painting practices. Projects will include the alternate use of materials, alternate representations through performance, and painting’s relationship to site. Letter grade only. Prerequisite: ART 010 PO . May be taken twice for credit.
  

  • ART111 PO - Contemporary Topics in Painting

    When Offered: Last offered fall 2014.
    Instructor(s): S. Mukherjee
    Credit: 1

    An intermediate painting class. Studio work is balanced with discussion of themes and issues in contemporary painting. Field trips. Prerequisites: ART 005 PO  or ART 010 PO , and permission of instructor.
  

  • ART 115 PO - Distro! Self Publishing for Artists

    When Offered: Spring 2016.
    Instructor(s): L.Auerbach
    Credit: 1

    Self-published books, pamphlets, zines, tracts, and posters have long been part of the way artworks and ideas are distributed. In this class, we’ll look at historical and contemporary examples of artist-made publications and produce our own using both digital and analog technologies. Letter grade only. Prerequisites: Any previous art course. May be repeated twice for credit.
  

  • ART116 PO - Advanced Photography

    When Offered: Offered alternate years; next offered spring 2016.
    Instructor(s): L. Auerbach
    Credit: 1

    Over the course of a semester, students will conceive, develop and produce a body of photographic work. The course will consist of discussion, critique, reading, looking, and making. Projects will be conceptually- based and rigorous, taking their shape from the ideas that inform and inspire them. Students will further explore the craft of photography, using various digital and analog methods of production in order to best express their ideas and concerns. Letter grade only. Prerequisites: ART 020 PO  or ART 028 PO . May be repeated for credit.
 

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