2022-23 Pomona College Catalog 
    
    Jun 26, 2024  
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2022-23 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.
 

Mathematics
  

  • MATH142 HM - Differential Geometry


    See the Harvey Mudd College Catalog for a description of this course.
    Satisfies the following General Education Requirement(s), subject to conditions explained in the Degree Requirements section of this Catalog:
    Area 5
  

  • MATH145 PO - Topics in Geometry and Topology

    When Offered: Offered alternate years; next offered spring 2021.
    Instructor(s): V. de Silva
    Credit: 1

    Topic varies from year to year and will be chosen from differential topology, Euclidean and non-Euclidean geometries, knot theory, algebraic topology and projective geometry. Prerequisites: MATH 131 PO  or MATH 171 PO .
    Satisfies the following General Education Requirement(s), subject to conditions explained in the Degree Requirements section of this Catalog:
    Area 5
  

  • MATH147 PO - Topology

    When Offered: Last offered spring 2020.
    Instructor(s): V. de Silva
    Credit: 1

    Topological spaces, product spaces, quotient spaces, Hausdorff spaces, compactness, connectedness, path connectedness, fundamental groups, homotopy of maps and covering spaces. Prerequisite: MATH 131 PO .
    Satisfies the following General Education Requirement(s), subject to conditions explained in the Degree Requirements section of this Catalog:
    Area 5
  

  • MATH150 PO - Methods in Biostatistics

    When Offered: Offered alternate years; next offered spring 2021.
    Instructor(s): G. Chandler; J. Hardin
    Credit: 1

    A methods course in biostatistics. Emphasis on the most commonly used statistical methods in medical and other biological research. Topics such as experimental design, power and sample size determination, odds ratio and relative risk, logistic regression, survival analysis, and adjustments for multiple comparisons. Prerequisites: MATH 030 PO  and one of the following MATH 058 PO  , MATH 152 PO  , ECON 057 PO  , PSYC 158 PO  or AP Statistics.
    Satisfies the following General Education Requirement(s), subject to conditions explained in the Degree Requirements section of this Catalog:
    Area 5
  

  • MATH151 PO - Probability

    When Offered: Each semester.
    Instructor(s): G. Chandler; J. Hardin; A. Radunskaya; A. Rumbos.
    Credit: 1

    Probability spaces, discrete and continuous random variables, conditional and marginal distributions, independence, expectation, generating functions, transformations, central limit theorem. Prerequisites: MATH 032 PO  or MATH 067 PO ; and MATH 060 PO .
    Satisfies the following General Education Requirement(s), subject to conditions explained in the Degree Requirements section of this Catalog:
    Area 5
  

  • MATH152 PO - Statistical Theory

    When Offered: Each fall.
    Instructor(s): G. Chandler; J. Hardin
    Credit: 1

    Introduction to statistical inference, estimation of parameters, confidence intervals, Bayesian analysis and tests of hypotheses. Prerequisite: MATH 151 PO .
    Satisfies the following General Education Requirement(s), subject to conditions explained in the Degree Requirements section of this Catalog:
    Area 5
  

  • MATH153 PO - Bayesian Statistics

    When Offered: Last offered spring 2020.
    Instructor(s): G. Chandler; J. Hardin
    Credit: 1

    An introduction to principles of data analysis and advanced statistical modeling using Bayesian inference. Topics include a combination of Bayesian principles and advanced methods; general, conjugate and noninformative priors, posteriors, credible intervals, Markov Chain Monte Carlo methods, and hierarchical models. The emphasis throughout is on the application of Bayesian thinking to problems in data analysis. Statistical software will be used as a tool to implement many of the techniques. Prerequisites: MATH 151 PO  or by permission of the instructor.
    Satisfies the following General Education Requirement(s), subject to conditions explained in the Degree Requirements section of this Catalog:
    Area 5
  

  • MATH154 PO - Computational Statistics

    When Offered: Each fall.
    Instructor(s): G. Chandler; J. Hardin
    Credit: 1

    An introduction to computationally intensive statistical techniques. Topics may include: random variable generation, Markov Chain Monte Carlo, tree based methods (CART, random forests), kernel based techniques (support vector machines), optimization, other classification, clustering & network analysis, the bootstrap, dimension reduction techniques, LASSO and the analysis of large data sets. Theory and applications are both highlighted. Algorithms will be implemented using statistical software. Prerequisites: MATH 031 PO  or MATH 032 PO ; and MATH 058 PO .
    Satisfies the following General Education Requirement(s), subject to conditions explained in the Degree Requirements section of this Catalog:
    Area 5
  

  • MATH155 PO - Time Series

    When Offered: Offered by a Claremont Colleges Math Deparment on a rotating basis.
    Instructor(s): G. Chandler; J. Hardin
    Credit: 1

    An introduction to the analysis of time series data. Topics include both the time and frequency/spectral domain. Stationary models (ARMA) as well as popular non-stationary models such as ARCH and GARCH are studied. Emphasis on both theory and applications. Statistical software will be utilized. Prerequisites: MATH 031 PO  or MATH 032 PO ; and MATH 058 PO . 
    Satisfies the following General Education Requirement(s), subject to conditions explained in the Degree Requirements section of this Catalog:
    Area 5
  

  • MATH156 HM - Stochastic Processes


    See the Harvey Mudd College Catalog for a description of this course.
    Satisfies the following General Education Requirement(s), subject to conditions explained in the Degree Requirements section of this Catalog:
    Area 5
  

  • MATH158 PO - Statistical Linear Models

    When Offered: Each spring.
    Instructor(s): G. Chandler; J. Hardin
    Credit: 1

    An introduction to linear regression (including simple linear regression, multiple regression, variable selection, stepwise regression and analysis of residual plots, shrinkage methods, and splines) and analysis of variance (including one-way and two-way fixed effects ANOVA). Emphasis will be on both methods and applications to data. Statistical software will be used to analyze data. Prerequisites: MATH 030 PO ,  MATH 031 PO  or MATH 032 PO  and one of: MATH 058 PO , MATH 152 PO , ECON 057 PO , PSYC 158 PO  or AP Statistics. Recommended: MATH 060 PO  .  
    Satisfies the following General Education Requirement(s), subject to conditions explained in the Degree Requirements section of this Catalog:
    Area 5
  

  • MATH160 CM - Monte Carlo Methods


    See the Claremont McKenna College Catalog for a description of this course.
    Satisfies the following General Education Requirement(s), subject to conditions explained in the Degree Requirements section of this Catalog:
    Area 5
  

  • MATH164 HM - Scientific Computing


    See the Harvey Mudd College Catalog for a description of this course.
    Satisfies the following General Education Requirement(s), subject to conditions explained in the Degree Requirements section of this Catalog:
    Area 5
  

  • MATH165 HM - Numerical Analysis


    See the Harvey Mudd College Catalog for a description of this course.
    Satisfies the following General Education Requirement(s), subject to conditions explained in the Degree Requirements section of this Catalog:
    Area 5
  

  • MATH171 PO - Abstract Algebra I: Groups and Rings

    When Offered: Each spring.
    Instructor(s): E. Goins; G. Karaali; G. Sarkis; S. Shahriari
    Credit: 1

    Covers basic structures which appear throughout mathematics including groups and rings. Topics in group theory will include isomorphism theorems, orbits and stabilizers and coset partitions. Topics in ring theory will include ideals, quotient rings and prime and maximal ideals. Ring and field extensions may also be introduced. Prerequisite: MATH 060 PO ; a proof-based course above 100 is strongly recommended.
    Satisfies the following General Education Requirement(s), subject to conditions explained in the Degree Requirements section of this Catalog:
    Area 5
  

  • MATH172 PO - Abstract Algebra II: Galois Theory

    When Offered: Offered by a Claremont Colleges Math Department on a rotating basis.
    Instructor(s): E. Goins; G. Karaali; G. Sarkis, S. Shahriari.
    Credit: 1

    The topics covered will include polynomial rings, field extensions, classical constructions, splitting fields, algebraic closure, separability, Fundamental Theorem of Galois Theory, Galois groups of polynomials and solvability. This course is independent from MATH 174 PO  and may be taken by students who have taken MATH 174 PO . Prerequisite: MATH 171 PO .
    Satisfies the following General Education Requirement(s), subject to conditions explained in the Degree Requirements section of this Catalog:
    Area 5
  

  • MATH173 PO - Advanced Linear Algebra

    When Offered: Offered alternate years; next offered spring 2021.
    Instructor(s): K. Aguilar; S. Garcia
    Credit: 1

    Topics may include approximation in inner product spaces, similarity, the spectral theorem, Jordan canonical form, the Cayley Hamilton theorem, polar and singular value decomposition, Markov processes, behavior of systems of equations. Prerequisite: MATH 060 PO  and a course above 100 or consent of the instructor.
    Satisfies the following General Education Requirement(s), subject to conditions explained in the Degree Requirements section of this Catalog:
    Area 5
  

  • MATH174 PO - Abstract Algebra II: Representation Theory

    When Offered: Each year by a rotating Claremont Colleges Math Department.
    Instructor(s): E. Goins; G. Karaali; G. Sarkis; S. Shahriari.
    Credit: 1

    The topics covered will include group rings, characters, orthogonality relations, induced representations, application of representation theory and other select topics from module theory. Prerequisite: MATH 171 PO . This course is independent from MATH 172 PO  and may be taken by students who have taken MATH 172 PO .
    Satisfies the following General Education Requirement(s), subject to conditions explained in the Degree Requirements section of this Catalog:
    Area 5
  

  • MATH176 HM - Algebraic Geometry


    See the Harvey Mudd College Catalog for a description of this course.
    Satisfies the following General Education Requirement(s), subject to conditions explained in the Degree Requirements section of this Catalog:
    Area 5
  

  • MATH176 PO - Algebraic Geometry

    When Offered: Last offered spring 2020.
    Instructor(s): E. Goins
    Credit: 1

    Topics include affine and projective varieties, the Nullstellensatz, rational maps and morphisms, birational geometry, tangent spaces, and non-singularity and intersection theory. Additional topics may be included depending on the interest and pace of the class. Prerequisites: MATH 171 PO . Recommended previous courses in Analysis, Galois Theory, Differential Geometry, and Topology are helpful, but not required.
    Satisfies the following General Education Requirement(s), subject to conditions explained in the Degree Requirements section of this Catalog:
    Area 5
  

  • MATH180 HM - Applied Analysis


    See the Harvey Mudd College Catalog for a description of this course.
    Satisfies the following General Education Requirement(s), subject to conditions explained in the Degree Requirements section of this Catalog:
    Area 5
  

  • MATH180 PO - Introduction to Partial Differential Equations

    When Offered: Last offered spring 2020.
    Instructor(s): A. Rumbos; B. Shtylla
    Credit: 1

    Partial Differential Equations (PDEs) including the heat equation, wave equation, and Laplace’s equation; existence and uniqueness of solutions to PDEs via the maximum principle and energy methods; method of characteristics; Fourier series; Fourier transforms and Green’s functions; Separation of variables; Sturm-Liouville theory and orthogonal expansions; Bessel functions. Prerequisites: MATH 102 PO  and either MATH 101 PO  or MATH 131 PO .
    Satisfies the following General Education Requirement(s), subject to conditions explained in the Degree Requirements section of this Catalog:
    Area 5
  

  • MATH181 PO - Dynamical Systems

    When Offered: Offered alternate years; next offered spring 2021.
    Instructor(s): A. Radunskaya; A. Rumbos
    Credit: 1

    Continuous dynamics and most of the following topics: linear and nonlinear systems; bifurcation theory and chaos; existence and uniqueness theory and dependence on data; Hartman-Grobman and Poincaré-Bendixson theorems; Lyapunov stability theory; and stable manifold theory. Prerequisites: MATH 102 PO  and either MATH 101 PO  or MATH 131 PO .
    Satisfies the following General Education Requirement(s), subject to conditions explained in the Degree Requirements section of this Catalog:
    Area 5
  
  

  • MATH183 PO - Mathematical Modeling (CP)

    When Offered: Each spring.
    Instructor(s): A. Radunskaya; A. Rumbos; B. Shtylla
    Credit: 1

    Introduction to the construction and interpretation of deterministic and stochastic models in the biological, social and physical sciences, including simulation studies. Students are required to develop a model in an area of their interest. Offered with an optional Community Partnership activity. Prerequisite: MATH 102 PO .
    Satisfies the following General Education Requirement(s), subject to conditions explained in the Degree Requirements section of this Catalog:
    Area 5
  
  

  • MATH187 PO - Deterministic Operations Research

    When Offered: Last offered spring 2020.
    Instructor(s): V. de Silva; S. Shahriari
    Credit: 1

    Linear, integer, nonlinear and dynamic programming, classical optimization problems, applications to Markov chains, networks; and game theory. Prerequisites: MATH 032 PO  or MATH 067 PO ; and MATH 060 PO .
    Satisfies the following General Education Requirement(s), subject to conditions explained in the Degree Requirements section of this Catalog:
    Area 5
  

  • MATH188 HM - Social Change and Decision Making


    See the Harvey Mudd College Catalog for a description of this course.
    Satisfies the following General Education Requirement(s), subject to conditions explained in the Degree Requirements section of this Catalog:
    Area 5
  

  • MATH189B PO - Topics in Applied Mathematics

    When Offered: Last offered fall 2019.
    Instructor(s): A. Radunskaya; B. Shtylla; A. Rumbos
    Credit: 1

    Cutting edge topics in Applied Mathematics that will be of interest to students in a broad range of disciplines. Specific topics might include: Optimization, variational methods, discrete models, stochastic differential equations, delay differential equations, control theory & perturbation methods. Prerequisites: MATH 102 PO  and either MATH 101 PO  or MATH 131 PO . May be repeated once for credit. Previously offered as MATH188  PO.
    Satisfies the following General Education Requirement(s), subject to conditions explained in the Degree Requirements section of this Catalog:
    Area 5
  

  • MATH190 PO - Seminar in Mathematical Exposition

    When Offered: Each fall.
    Instructor(s): V. de Silva; S. Shahriari; G. Sarkis
    Credit: 0.5

    Directed study for majors. Seminar will discuss how to do a literature search in mathematics, how to read research papers in mathematics, how to write a mathematics paper and how to present a mathematics talk. Students will give oral presentations on the background material and major questions in the area of their senior research. Attendance is required. Required for senior majors. Half-course. Letter grade only.
    Satisfies the following General Education Requirement(s), subject to conditions explained in the Degree Requirements section of this Catalog:
    Speaking Intensive
  

  • MATH191 PO - Senior Thesis in Mathematics

    When Offered: Each spring.
    Instructor(s): V. de Silva
    Credit: 0.5

    Preparation and presentation of senior thesis for completion of the major. Required for senior majors; attendance is required. Half-course. Letter grade only.
    Satisfies the following General Education Requirement(s), subject to conditions explained in the Degree Requirements section of this Catalog:
    Speaking Intensive
  

  • MATH197 HM - Selected Topics in Mathematics

    When Offered: Each semester.
    Instructor(s): Staff
    See the Harvey Mudd College Catalog for a description of this course.
  

  • MATH199DRPO - Mathematics: Directed Readings

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

    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.
  

  • MATH199IRPO - Mathematics: 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. Prerequisite course work required. Available for full- or half-course credit.
  

  • MATH199RAPO - Mathematics: Independent 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.

Media Studies
  
  

  • MS045 PZ - Documentary Media


    See the Pitzer College Catalog for a description of this course.
    Satisfies the following General Education Requirement(s), subject to conditions explained in the Degree Requirements section of this Catalog:
    Area 6
  

  • MS046 PZ - Feminist Documentary


    See the Pitzer College Catalog for a description of this course.
    Satisfies the following General Education Requirement(s), subject to conditions explained in the Degree Requirements section of this Catalog:
    Area 6
  

  • MS049 PO - Introduction to Media Studies

    When Offered: Fall 2020.
    Instructor(s): J. Friedlander
    Credit: 1

    Presents a comprehensive view of the issues important to media studies, including the development of new technologies, visual literacy, ideological analysis and the construction of content. Students will read theory, history and fiction; view films and television programs; and write research and opinion papers. Same course as MS 049 SC. [I]
    Satisfies the following General Education Requirement(s), subject to conditions explained in the Degree Requirements section of this Catalog:
    Area 1
  

  • MS049 SC - Introduction to Media Studies


    See the Scripps College Catalog for a description of this course.
    Satisfies the following General Education Requirement(s), subject to conditions explained in the Degree Requirements section of this Catalog:
    Area 1
  

  • MS050 PO - Introduction to Film

    When Offered: Spring 2021.
    Instructor(s): K. Wynter
    Credit: 1

    One of three gateway courses to the Media Studies Major, this course introduces film and video from aesthetic, historical and political perspectives. Students learn the basic categories necessary to comprehend formally the filmic image: cinematography, mise-en-scene and editing. Students study the history of genres and film movements and engage the theory and politics of filmic representation. Same course as LIT 130 CM . [I]
    Satisfies the following General Education Requirement(s), subject to conditions explained in the Degree Requirements section of this Catalog:
    Area 1
  

  • MS051 PO - Introduction to Digital Media Studies

    When Offered: Spring 2021.
    Instructor(s): M. Andrejevic; R. Engley
    Credit: 1

    An interdisciplinary introduction to the study of digital and electronic media, exploring the relationships between “old” and “new” media forms, the historical development of computer-based communication and the ways that new technologies are reshaping literature, art, journalism and the social world. [I]
    Satisfies the following General Education Requirement(s), subject to conditions explained in the Degree Requirements section of this Catalog:
    Area 1
  

  • MS057 SC - Intro to Game Design


    See the Scripps College Catalog for a description of this course.
    Satisfies the following General Education Requirement(s), subject to conditions explained in the Degree Requirements section of this Catalog:
    Area 6
  

  • MS060 HM - Documentary Fact and Fiction


    See the Harvey Mudd College Catalog for a description of this course.
    Satisfies the following General Education Requirement(s), subject to conditions explained in the Degree Requirements section of this Catalog:
    Area 1
  

  • MS070 PZ - Media and Social Change


    See the Pitzer College Catalog for a description of this course.
    Satisfies the following General Education Requirement(s), subject to conditions explained in the Degree Requirements section of this Catalog:
    Area 1
  

  • MS 071 PZ - Video Art


    See the Pitzer College Catalog for a description of this course.
    Satisfies the following General Education Requirement(s), subject to conditions explained in the Degree Requirements section of this Catalog:
    Area 1
  

  • MS074 PZ - Sound Theory, Sound Practice


    See the Pitzer College Catalog for a description of this course.
    Satisfies the following General Education Requirement(s), subject to conditions explained in the Degree Requirements section of this Catalog:
    Area 1
  

  • MS079 PZ - Silent Film


    See the Pitzer College Catalog for a description of this course.
    Satisfies the following General Education Requirement(s), subject to conditions explained in the Degree Requirements section of this Catalog:
    Area 1
  

  • MS080 AA - Video and Diversity


    See the Pitzer College Catalog for a description of this course.
    Satisfies the following General Education Requirement(s), subject to conditions explained in the Degree Requirements section of this Catalog:
    Area 1
  

  • MS082 PZ - Introduction to Video Art


    See the Pitzer College Catalog for a description of this course.
    Satisfies the following General Education Requirement(s), subject to conditions explained in the Degree Requirements section of this Catalog:
    Area 6
  

  • MS083 PZ - Contemporary Practices in Media


    See the Pitzer College Catalog for a description of this course.
    Satisfies the following General Education Requirement(s), subject to conditions explained in the Degree Requirements section of this Catalog:
    Area 1
  

  • MS 084 PZ - Handmade Film


    See the Pitzer College Catalog for a description of this course.
    Satisfies the following General Education Requirement(s), subject to conditions explained in the Degree Requirements section of this Catalog:
    Area 6
  

  • MS087 PZ - Media Sketchbook


    See the Pitzer College Catalog for a description of this course.
    Satisfies the following General Education Requirement(s), subject to conditions explained in the Degree Requirements section of this Catalog:
    Area 6
  

  • MS088 PZ - Mexican Visual Cultures


    See the Pitzer College Catalog for a description of this course.
    Satisfies the following General Education Requirement(s), subject to conditions explained in the Degree Requirements section of this Catalog:
    Area 1
  

  • MS089D PO - Popular Cultures and Audiences

    When Offered: Spring 2021.
    Instructor(s): Staff
    Credit: 1

    In this course, we will survey the concept of popular culture throughout American history. How have people received, remixed, and reinterpreted cultural forms and practices? How did demographic shifts and technological innovations play a role? Methodologically, we will draw from such disciplines as media studies, sound studies, history, anthropology, and musicology, combining secondary literature with our own close readings of primary texts, recordings, oral histories, and archival collections. We will examine such topics as Colonial era Native American Psalmody, 19th century riots over Shakespeare, Amateur Night at the Apollo, Star Trek slash fiction, and social eating live streams, in order to better understand the ways in which people use culture to construct, develop, or enforce notions of citizenship, identity, and belonging.
    Satisfies the following General Education Requirement(s), subject to conditions explained in the Degree Requirements section of this Catalog:
    Area 1
  

  • MS 091 PO - History of American Broadcasting

    When Offered: Spring 2019.
    Instructor(s): R. Engley
    Credit: 1

    History of American Broadcasting. Studies the history of American broadcasting from the diffusion of radio as a mass media through the transition to television, up to the development of television as the dominant broadcasting form. Students will begin to understand the impact of U.S. broadcasting by familiarizing themselves with key programs and trends. Letter grade only.
    Satisfies the following General Education Requirement(s), subject to conditions explained in the Degree Requirements section of this Catalog:
    Area 1
  

  • MS 091 PZ - History of American Broadcasting


    See the Pitzer College Catalog for a description of this course.
    Satisfies the following General Education Requirement(s), subject to conditions explained in the Degree Requirements section of this Catalog:
    Area 1
  

  • MS092 PO - Principles of Television Study

    When Offered: Offered alternate years; next offered fall 2020.
    Instructor(s): R. Engley
    Credit: 1

    Television is now at the forefront of political and aesthetic culture in a way that used to be reserved strictly for film, literature, and visual art. Seizing this contemporary moment of TV’s (seemingly) widespread culture legitimation, this course examines the historical development of television study, focusing on concepts such as: flow, immediacy, genre, platform, narrative complexity, liveness, ideology, and bingeing. Letter grade only.
    Satisfies the following General Education Requirement(s), subject to conditions explained in the Degree Requirements section of this Catalog:
    Area 1; Speaking Intensive
  
  

  • MS099 PZ - Advanced Editing


    See the Pitzer College Catalog for a description of this course.
    Satisfies the following General Education Requirement(s), subject to conditions explained in the Degree Requirements section of this Catalog:
    Area 6
  

  • MS100 AA - Asian Americans in Media


    See the Pitzer College Catalog for a description of this course.
    Satisfies the following General Education Requirement(s), subject to conditions explained in the Degree Requirements section of this Catalog:
    Area 1
  

  • MS100 AA - Asian Americans in Media


    See the Pitzer College Catalog for a description of this course.
    Satisfies the following General Education Requirement(s), subject to conditions explained in the Degree Requirements section of this Catalog:
    Area 1; Analyzing Difference
  

  • MS 101 PZ - Asian Amer Media in Communities


    See the Pitzer College Catalog for a description of this course.
    Satisfies the following General Education Requirement(s), subject to conditions explained in the Degree Requirements section of this Catalog:
    Area 1
  

  • MS110 PZ - Media and Sexuality


    See the Pitzer College Catalog for a description of this course.
    Satisfies the following General Education Requirement(s), subject to conditions explained in the Degree Requirements section of this Catalog:
    Area 1
  

  • MS 112 PZ - Anthropology of Media


    See the Pitzer College Catalog for a description of this course.
    Satisfies the following General Education Requirement(s), subject to conditions explained in the Degree Requirements section of this Catalog:
    Area 1
  

  • MS 114 PZ - Film Sound


    See the Pitzer College Catalog for a description of this course.
    Satisfies the following General Education Requirement(s), subject to conditions explained in the Degree Requirements section of this Catalog:
    Area 1
  

  • MS115 PZ - Topics in Sound Culture: Soundscape


    See the Pitzer College Catalog for a description of this course.
    Satisfies the following General Education Requirement(s), subject to conditions explained in the Degree Requirements section of this Catalog:
    Area 1
  

  • MS 116 PZ - Screen Culture


    See the Pitzer College Catalog for a description of this course.
    Satisfies the following General Education Requirement(s), subject to conditions explained in the Degree Requirements section of this Catalog:
    Area 1
  

  • MS 117 PZ - Fan Culture and Celebrity


    See the Pitzer College Catalog for a description of this course.
    Satisfies the following General Education Requirement(s), subject to conditions explained in the Degree Requirements section of this Catalog:
    Area 1
  

  • MS118 PZ - Art & Politics in African Diaspora


    See the Pitzer College Catalog for a description of this course.
    Satisfies the following General Education Requirement(s), subject to conditions explained in the Degree Requirements section of this Catalog:
    Area 1
  

  • MS120 HM - Animal Media Studies


    See the Harvey Mudd College Catalog for a description of this course.
    Satisfies the following General Education Requirement(s), subject to conditions explained in the Degree Requirements section of this Catalog:
    Area 1
  

  • MS120 PO - Disability and Media

    When Offered: Offered alternate years; next offered fall 2021.
    Instructor(s): R. Engley
    Disability Studies, as defined by the Society for Disability Studies, ‘sits at the intersection of many overlapping disciplines in the humanities, sciences, and social sciences.’ This course aims to explore disability within and through the study of media objects (film, television, streaming video, and social media) and media theory. We will address the intersection of disability, queerness, and race, with a special focus on how racism and capitalism shape beliefs around ability and influence the representations of disability within popular media. This class aims to cover many different aspects of disability, including the perceptions surrounding mental and chronic illnesses as well as physical differences. Letter grade only. Prerequisites: MS 049 PO, MS 050 PO, MS 051 PO, or MS 092 PO.
    Satisfies the following General Education Requirement(s), subject to conditions explained in the Degree Requirements section of this Catalog:
    Area 1; Analyzing Difference
  

  • MS125 PO - Critical Game Studies

    When Offered: Offered alternate years; next offered fall 2021.
    Instructor(s): O. Moralde
    Credit: 1

    This course provides students with the intellectual framework and critical vocabulary to examine video games as media texts via aesthetics: the value of gameplay experiences and how we fit them into our lives. How do we play, and why? The course will also address questions of politics: how can games shape, and how are they shaped by, the current of public life? Who gets to play, particularly along lines of race, gender, sexuality, and class? Live and recorded gameplay demonstrations will provide students with the material for criticism and inquiry, alongside contemporary critical games writing that will serve as models for their own writing projects. Participants do not need previous experience with games or computers, but only a willingness to engage with games and gameplay within a critical context. Prerequisites: One of MS 049 PO , MS 050 PO , MS 051 PO  or MS 092 PO .
    Satisfies the following General Education Requirement(s), subject to conditions explained in the Degree Requirements section of this Catalog:
    Area 1
  

  • MS131 PO - The “Two”: Intersubjectivity Across Media

    When Offered: Offered alternate years; next offered fall 2021.
    Instructor(s): R. Engley
    Credit: 1

    This course focuses on theoretical questions regarding the “two”: the social tie, friendship, confession, and the relationship between the individual subject and the group. This class will ground its inquiry in the fundamental question: what do we make of the encounter between the one and an(other)? To answer this, we will examine a challenging set of philosophical texts and a range of media that revolve around the intersubjective relation (or non-relation) of two central characters or figures. Objects of study will include Richard Linklater’s Before Sunrise and Abbas Kiarostami’s Certified Copy, Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s television series Fleabag, Season 1 of Sarah Koenig’s podcast Serial and Fumito Ueda’s classic minimalist video game Ico. Letter grade only. Prerequisites: MS 049 PO  or MS 050 PO  or MS 051 PO  or MS 092 PO  or equivalents.
    Satisfies the following General Education Requirement(s), subject to conditions explained in the Degree Requirements section of this Catalog:
    Area 1
  

  • MS 135 PZ - Learning From YouTube


    See the Pitzer College Catalog for a description of this course.
    Satisfies the following General Education Requirement(s), subject to conditions explained in the Degree Requirements section of this Catalog:
    Area 1
  

  • MS140 PO - Screening Violence

    When Offered: Fall 2020.
    Instructor(s): K. Wynter
    Credit: 1

    The focus of this course is on representations of violence on screens and its widespread consumption. Through a range of theoretical texts and in conjunction with detailed analysis of select films and media, this course examines and debates the various, competing accounts of depicting, disseminating, and consuming images of violence. How did the omnipresence of scenes of violence on screens become a transnational phenomenon? Why does it have the power to move, excite or titillate us? What is our responsibility to images of violence, if any? These are some of the questions we will address as we chart the history of screening violence from early film and media to the present. Letter grade only.
    Satisfies the following General Education Requirement(s), subject to conditions explained in the Degree Requirements section of this Catalog:
    Area 1
  

  • MS141 PO - Cinema, Sensation, and the Body

    When Offered: Last offered spring 2019.
    Instructor(s): K. Wynter
    Credit: 1

    To what extent does watching a movie imitate the body’s own sensorial encounters with the world? How do filmmakers use color, sound, lighting, movement, editing and space to create embodied experience? This course is an introduction to these and related questions by examining both cinema’s bodily representations and the relationship between the viewer’s body and the events on the screen. Our approach is organized around a diverse cross-section of film screenings that include art cinema, experimental cinema, Hollywood melodrama, global cinema, and body horror. Turning attention to what is at stake when we consider what it means to feel cinema permits a wide range of critical approaches to screen media including continental philosophy, media theory, genre theory, experimental cinema, and feminist thought. Throughout the semester, we will become better acquainted with the sensuous facets of cinema along with the social, political, and aesthetic possibilities cinema affords when understood as both appealing to a sensuous body and being a sensuous body in its own right. Prerequisites: MS 049 PO , or MS 050 PO , or MS 051 PO  or equivalent. Letter grade only.
    Satisfies the following General Education Requirement(s), subject to conditions explained in the Degree Requirements section of this Catalog:
    Area 1
  

  • MS 142 PO - Queer Visions, Queer Theory

    When Offered: Irregularly
    Instructor(s): D. Young
    Credit: 1

    This seminar explores the intersection of cinema and media aesthetics, sexuality, and queer theory. We will consider a range of creative works from the era of silent cinema through to contemporary online media, asking how sexuality functions within them as a disturbing force shaping what can be seen and what cannot be articulated, and how they draw on and interrogate ideas of desire, the couple, the family, community, reproduction, and sociality itself. To this analysis we will bring resources from critical theory, especially feminist, queer, and trans theory. Weekly film screening required.
    Satisfies the following General Education Requirement(s), subject to conditions explained in the Degree Requirements section of this Catalog:
    PO Area 1 Requirement
  

  • MS144 PO - Masculinities

    When Offered: Offered alternate years
    Credit: 1

    This course explores how in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, masculinity has served as a constant (and constantly shifting) object of cultural fantasy, inextricable from the changing ways we understand and imagine gender, sex, class, race, and nation. Precisely because, in the US and Europe, white masculinity has named a position (or fantasy) of cultural dominance; one often confused with the ostensibly “universal.” We will focus especially on the minoritarian and situated perspectives on masculinity opened up by nonwhite, trans, queer, and/or feminist writers, theorists, and film-makers. Letter grade only. Prerequisites: MS49, MS50, or MS51.
  

  • MS146 PO - Temporalities of the Moving Image

    When Offered: Fall 2018.
    Instructor(s): K. Wynter
    Credit: 1

    This course will concentrate on time as a category of analysis. Cinema possesses distinct affinities with the rationalization of labor and standardization of time that took place at the end of the nineteenth century, and yet it also provides a way of negotiating and resisting these processes, as it imagines alternative relations to standardized time. The course begins from the proposition that cinema provided a way for the twentieth century to re-think its changed relation to time after industrial modernity. Topics will include amnesia, boredom, duration, distraction, memory, the supposed death of cinema, real time, and simultaneity. Letter grade only. Prerequisites: MS 049 PO  , MS 050 PO  , or MS 051 PO  .
    Satisfies the following General Education Requirement(s), subject to conditions explained in the Degree Requirements section of this Catalog:
    Area 1
  

  • MS147H PO - Reality, Realism and the Real

    When Offered: Last offered spring 2018.
    Instructor(s): J. Friedlander; H. Krips
    Credit: 1

    In the humanities, Realism has been criticized for impressing upon audiences the illusion that they are watching real life events unfold spontaneously before their eyes - an illusion that takes on a politically conservative role as a vehicle for the circulation of dominant ideological meanings. In the sciences, by contrast, Realism has attracted far more favorable reviews: for example, Einstein writes that “If one renounces this assumption [of Realism]…then I do not see what physics is supposed to describe.” In this course we will examine the interplay between these two attitudes towards Realism. In particular we will suggest that it is possible to recuperate a politically progressive role for Realism as an aesthetic-representational form. Letter grade only. Prerequisites: MS 049 PO , MS 050 PO  or MS 051 PO  , or 5C equivalents. [T]
    Satisfies the following General Education Requirement(s), subject to conditions explained in the Degree Requirements section of this Catalog:
    Area 1
  

  • MS 148F PO - Global Cinema

    When Offered: Fall 2018.
    Instructor(s): T. Connelly
    Credit: 1

    This course introduces students to the history and theory of global cinema. We will discuss and analyze a variety of filmmakers and film movements from around the globe, ranging from the silent period to the present. We will study voices from East and West cinema, with regards to film language, aesthetics, and politics, as well as their film style and genre. Along the way, we will learn a number of terms and theoretical concepts, including formalism, realism, surrealism, post-colonialism, modernity, postmodernity, and globalization.
    Satisfies the following General Education Requirement(s), subject to conditions explained in the Degree Requirements section of this Catalog:
    Area 1
  

  • MS148B PO - Drone Theory

    When Offered: Last offered fall 2019.
    Instructor(s): M.Andrejevic
    Credit: 1

    This class draws on the figure of the drone to consider contemporary developments in media theory and practice. It invokes the drone – understood not just as a weaponized device but as forming part of a distributed, mobile, interactive, information network – to explore emerging logics of interactivity, data processing and automation. The course will rely upon critical theory to examine the development of asymmetrical power and remote control associated with drones and will situate the drone within the cultural imaginary, drawing upon the historical relationship between military and media technology. The goal will be to use the figure of the drone to illuminate more general logics of cybernetic control – their fantasies and actualities and the ways in which these relate to historical figures of automata, telepresence and action-at-a-distance. Additionally, the class will explore and critique theoretical developments that anticipate the forms of knowing, sensing and experiencing associated with the figure of the drone. Letter grade only.
    Satisfies the following General Education Requirement(s), subject to conditions explained in the Degree Requirements section of this Catalog:
    Area 1
  

  • MS148D PO - Powers of Pleasure

    When Offered: Fall 2020.
    Instructor(s): J. Friedlander
    Credit: 1

    This course interrogates John Fiske’s contention that “pleasure may be the bait on the hook of hegemony, but it is always more than this; it always involves an element that escapes the system of power.” With this claim in mind, we will: 1) evaluate key arguments in the field regarding pleasure’s complicity with dominant ideological frameworks–particularly with regard to normative views of gender, race, class and sexuality; 2) consider ways in which the critique of pleasure itself may collude with patriarchal, racist, clasist and heteronormative systems of thought; and 3) explore the possibilities for pleasure to undermine established systems of power. Letter grade only. Prerequisites: MS 049 PO , MS 050 PO , and MS 051 PO .
  

  • MS148G PO - Film Theory

    When Offered: Spring 2019.
    Instructor(s): T. Connelly
    Credit: 1

    This course develops theoretical approaches to the analysis of film as it enters the digital era. The course starts out with classic film theory and concludes with a consideration of the impact of digitization. Along the way we will learn a number of terms, theoretical concepts and methodological approaches to critically evaluate and analyze fictional films, including formalism, realism, genre, ideology, semiotics, structuralism, psychoanalysis and postmodernism. We will consider the question of how forms of analog film fare in the digital era and what is meant by the pronouncement of the “death of film.” Letter grade only. Prerequisites: MS 049 PO  , MS 050 PO  , or MS 051 PO  .
    Satisfies the following General Education Requirement(s), subject to conditions explained in the Degree Requirements section of this Catalog:
    Area 1; Speaking Intensive
  

  • MS149G PO - Theory & Aesthetics -Television

    When Offered: Fall 2018.
    Instructor(s): T. Connelly
    Credit: 1

    This course introduces students to the study of television from an aesthetic, theoretical and critical perspective. Students will learn a number of terms, theoretical concepts and methodological approaches to critically evaluate and analyze television texts, including the language of filmmaking, genre theory, ideology, semioitcs, structuralism, feminism, auteur theory, political economy and audience ethnography. Prerequisites: MS 049 PO , MS 050 PO , and MS 051 PO .
    Satisfies the following General Education Requirement(s), subject to conditions explained in the Degree Requirements section of this Catalog:
    Area 1
  

  • MS149T PO - Junior Seminar: Critical Studies

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

    An overview of core traditions in Critical Media Studies through in-depth engagement with key texts. This course serves as preparation for the Senior Seminar by consolidating a foundation in critical theory. Areas of focus include the following: The Frankfurt School, The Chicago School, Pragmatism, Structuralism and Post-Structuralism, Semiotics, Feminist Theory, Queer Theory, Psychoanalytical Theory, Postcolonial Theory, and Critical Race Theory. Prerequisites: MS 049 PO  , MS 050 PO  , or MS 051 PO  , and one upper level theory class (MS 147 PO - MS 149 PO).
  

  • MS150 PO - Seriality Studies

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

    Serial media is ubiquitous. The method of distributing installments of a larger narrative over time has seen increasing prominence in a variety of media forms, ever since the birth of mass media and the serial novel in the mid-19th century. From the early film serials of The Perils of Pauline and Flash Gordon to Star Wars and the Marvel Cinematic Universe, from the popular radio serials of The Shadow and The Lone Ranger to true crime podcasts Serial and My Favorite Murder, from the development of the traditional network television series to the ‘binge model’ of Netflix, serial narrative has enabled complex longform storytelling and engaged and enraged audiences. But to study seriality is not just to observe an industry strategy for releasing narrative. Nor is it sufficient to simply acknowledge how seriality ensnares author, text, and audience. The study of seriality involves excavating and articulating a comprehensive theory. Looking to psychoanalysis, existentialism, radical feminism, and Black Marxism, with supplemental examination of narrative, audience, and authorship studies, this course will aim to understand seriality as a textual, social, psychical, and political form. Prerequisites: one of MS 049 PO , MS 050 PO , MS 051 PO , MS 092 PO  or equivalents. Letter grade only.
    Satisfies the following General Education Requirement(s), subject to conditions explained in the Degree Requirements section of this Catalog:
    Area 1; Speaking Intensive
  

  • MS153 PO - The Original Television Series

    When Offered: Last offered spring 2019.
    Instructor(s): K. Klioutchkine
    Credit: 1

    The Original Television Series from “The Sopranos” to “Mad Men.”. The course examines the original television series, a prominent development in U.S. television and, more broadly, in American culture during the last decade. We discuss representative texts in this genre, among them The Sopranos, The Wire, and Mad Men, and examine the genre’s distinctive features. We also look at how television series engage with American culture. Prerequisite: MS 049 PO  or MS 050 PO  or MS 051 PO  or MS 091 PO.
    Satisfies the following General Education Requirement(s), subject to conditions explained in the Degree Requirements section of this Catalog:
    Area 1
  

  • MS 165 PO - Black Popular Culture

    When Offered: Offered alternate years; next offered fall 2020.
    Instructor(s): K. Wynter
    Credit: 1

    This course will critically examine the role of media (including, but not limited to: cinema, television, music, journalism, and video games) in facilitating, disseminating, and challenging social, political, and cultural constructions of ‘blackness.’ We will analyze the production and consumption of black representations in mainstream American media and explore the ways these processes influence basic assumptions about social roles, expectations, and norms that tend to inhere to concepts of ‘blackness’ and black popular culture. Students will be encouraged to develop a critical and political consciousness around historical formations of black identity, their own participation in embracing and/or resisting black representations, and the impact of black popular culture on their lived experiences. The course will be structured as a seminar and will emphasize collaborative thinking and discussion. Each class will feature a media component, a brief lecture putting the assigned media and readings into context, followed by collective discussion and contribution. Letter grade only.
    Satisfies the following General Education Requirement(s), subject to conditions explained in the Degree Requirements section of this Catalog:
    Area 1
  

  • MS170 HM - Digital Cinema: Experience Animation


    See the Harvey Mudd College Catalog for a description of this course.
    Satisfies the following General Education Requirement(s), subject to conditions explained in the Degree Requirements section of this Catalog:
    Area 6
  

  • MS 171 PO - A.I.: Humans and Machines

    When Offered: Irregularly
    Instructor(s): D. Young
    Credit: 1

    The rapid development of A.I. technologies, in which machines take on functions previously associated with human cognition, raises the question of what, if anything, is unique to human experience: a capacity for desire? humor? abstract thinking? aesthetic judgment? In this class we will examine how the boundary between the human and the machine appears as an object of investigation in contemporary literature and film, as well as in media theory and critical theory. These texts bear on topics that include surveillance and facial recognition; techno-utopianism and dystopianism; the algorithmic reproduction of bias; and the technological sublime. Students will work on creative research projects that may take a range of forms.
    Satisfies the following General Education Requirement(s), subject to conditions explained in the Degree Requirements section of this Catalog:
    PO Area 1 Requirement
  

  • MS173 HM - Exile in Cinema


    See the Harvey Mudd College Catalog for a description of this course.
    Satisfies the following General Education Requirement(s), subject to conditions explained in the Degree Requirements section of this Catalog:
    Area 1
  

  • MS175 PO - “Horror” and The American Horror Film

    When Offered: Spring 2021.
    Instructor(s): K. Wynter
    Credit: 1

    Of all the film genres that partition and divide the products of American cinema, the horror genre has proven to be the most durable and the most easily adaptable to the shifting historical circumstances and socio-political anxieties to which it runs parallel. This course examines some of the key factors that have contributed to the horror genres capacity to maintain its continued viability in popular culture across a wide range of media including graphic novels, video art, and interactive gaming. Beginning with the modern period of the American horror film and then expanding beyond its physical and ideological borders, this course is designed to encourage students to challenge the ideas that have become associated with the term “horror,” and to consider whether some other term or terms may be better suited to describe the types of feelings horror films and its related forms of media actually inspire. We will consider some of the following questions: What is horror? Do horror genre films truly inspire horror or are we, as participants, moved by some other affect or response? Is it possible to locate cinematic representations of horror and its experience outside of the horror genre? Prerequisites: MS 049 PO , or MS 050 PO , or MS 051 PO  or equivalent. Letter grade only.
    Satisfies the following General Education Requirement(s), subject to conditions explained in the Degree Requirements section of this Catalog:
    Area 1
  

  • MS179C HM - Special Topics in Media Studies: Modern China Through the Lens


    See the Harvey Mudd College Catalog for a description of this course.
    Satisfies the following General Education Requirement(s), subject to conditions explained in the Degree Requirements section of this Catalog:
    Area 1
  

  • MS179D HM - Species of Cinema


    See the Harvey Mudd College Catalog for a description of this course.
    Satisfies the following General Education Requirement(s), subject to conditions explained in the Degree Requirements section of this Catalog:
    Area 1
  

  • MS180 PO - The War Film

    When Offered: Last offered spring 2020.
    Instructor(s): K. Wynter
    Credit: 1

    This course surveys the history of the war film. Our focus will center mainly upon Hollywood cinema’s depiction of warfare, but the course also expands beyond American borders to explore the genre in a global context. While the Hollywood war film can often serve as a platform for glorifying armed conflict and celebrating the heroism of the combatant, it has also historically been a site of political and ideological critique, and has served as a barometer of the social mood and public perception of warfare. Throughout the semester we will examine representations of war in cinema across the 20th century and into the 21st century, tracking its impact and its aftermath at the level of the political and social, but also at the level of the subjective and the psychological. We will develop the critical and theoretical frameworks necessary to grapple with aesthetics of violence, reading work from Prince, Massumi, Baurillard, Virilio, Foucault, and Scarry, among others. Topics will include, torture, preemption, genocide, trauma, deterrence, revenge, reintegration and forgiveness. Letter grade only. Prerequisites: MS 050 PO  or equivalent.
    Satisfies the following General Education Requirement(s), subject to conditions explained in the Degree Requirements section of this Catalog:
    Area 1
  
  

  • MS190 JT - Senior Seminar

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

    Jointly taught seminar designed for senior majors. Review of key issues/theories in media studies.
  

  • MS190A JT - Media Studies Thesis Lab

    When Offered: Each fall.
    Instructor(s): Staff
    Credit: 0

    This course accompanies the Senior Seminar, MS 190, in providing students with opportunities to work on your capstone with an instructor in small cohorts. It will take the form of writing workshops and critique sessions.
 

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