Combined Plans in Liberal Arts and Engineering

Occidental College cooperates with the California Institute of Technology and the School of Engineering of Columbia University in several programs of engineering education based on a broad foundation in the liberal arts.  Learn more about this program.

Exchange Program with the California Institute of Technology

An exchange program between Occidental and Caltech permits full-time students at either school to receive credit for courses taken at the other institution during the fall or spring semesters but not during the summer. The option does not apply to courses that are equivalent to those offered by the home institution, but is designed to enlarge the range of course offerings a student may take. Thus, Occidental students may enroll in such courses as applied science, astronomy, or engineering.

A student in the exchange program must obtain prior approval from his or her advisor, the instructor of the course, and the Occidental and Caltech registrars. The program is usually not open to freshmen. Additional tuition payments are not required, but the student may have to pay special fees in connection with certain laboratory courses.

At the completion of an exchange course, appropriate information is recorded on the student’s Occidental transcript.

Exchange Program with the Art Center College of Design

Full-time students at Occidental and Art Center may receive credit for courses taken at the other institution during the fall or spring semesters but not during the summer, with the permission of both institutions. The program is designed for art majors and is not open to first-year students.

A student in this exchange program must obtain prior approval from the chair of the Department of Art History and the Visual Arts at Occidental, his or her advisor, the instructor of the course, and the Occidental and Art Center registrars. Additional tuition payments are not required, but there may be special laboratory fees.

At the completion of an exchange course, appropriate information is recorded on the student’s Occidental transcript.

 

Cooperative Arrangement with Columbia University School of Law

The Columbia School of Law may admit Occidental students upon completion of their junior year to its Accelerated Interdisciplinary Program in Legal Education, leading to the potential completion of the Bachelor of Arts degree from Occidental and Doctor of Jurisprudence from Columbia at the end of six years. The program is highly competitive in terms of both grade point average and LSAT scores. Contact the Career Development Center for details.

 

Cooperative Arrangement with the Keck Graduate Institute

In collaboration with the Keck Graduate Institute, students interested in biotechnology may qualify for admission to the Master’s in Bioscience Program.

Students in the program will complete the four-year Bachelor of Arts degree in biochemistry at Occidental including specified courses for one of three tracks — computational biology, bioengineering, or biosystems — in preparation for study at KGI toward the Master’s in Bioscience. Students with at least a 3.2 GPA in their required biochemistry classes will be guaranteed admission to the KGI master’s program immediately following their graduation.

Writing Program

Occidental expects its graduates to demonstrate superior writing ability. The Writing Program prepares students in all disciplines to write effectively: to develop complex concepts clearly and fully, to organize essays and reports logically, and to maintain the conventions of standard written English. This standard of writing performance is upheld in all College courses.

To achieve this goal, the College emphasizes expository writing and research skills in the Core curriculum, in courses emphasizing the methodologies of various disciplines, and in the composition courses in the Writing & Rhetoric Department. The foundation of the College’s Writing Program is the first-year instructional program in Cultural Studies. First-year students take year-long, sequenced seminars that help students develop college-level writing strategies in rich disciplinary content to further their knowledge and communication of the topics they study.

In addition to the Core curriculum in writing, the Writing & Rhetoric Department offers courses to students who want to concentrate on the most effective strategies for writing in and out of the academy. These include Writing & Rhetoric 201, a class that centers on the processes and skills necessary to fine writing, and the College’s advanced writing courses, Writing & Rhetoric 301 and 401. Any student seeking individual instruction in writing or assistance with a particular paper will find support and advice available at the Center for Academic Excellence (CAE), where English Writing professors work as writing specialists, and where student writing advisors collaborate with student writers. The Director of Writing Programs will gladly advise students of all resources available for developing their writing ability.

Proficiency in writing is a requirement for graduation. Students meet this requirement in two stages, the first of which is passing the first-stage Writing Proficiency evaluation in the Cultural Studies Program. Completion of the Cultural Studies courses does not by itself satisfy the writing requirement. An additional measure of writing proficiency is required; most recently this measure has been participation in a shared intellectual experience with required reading. Frosh are expected to pass the writing exercise that culminates the experience.  Those who do not pass the Cultural Studies Writing evaluations will be asked to pass with a C or better a course in the Department of Writing & Rhetoric (201) or another writing course designated by the Director of Writing Programs in conjunction with the Director of the Core Program. The second stage of the requirement will be met in the student’s major department. Each department at the College has specified its own writing requirement in the major; students should consult their department chair.

FIRST STAGE WRITING REQUIREMENT FOR TRANSFER STUDENTS

In order to fulfill the First Stage Writing Requirement, transfer students must: 1) have completed two writing courses (minimum six semester units) with specific writing instruction (not simply a course offered in an English department, nor any literature, creative writing, “writing intensive” courses) prior to transferring to the College; any courses not approved by the Registrar upon entrance must be appealed through the Writing Program; or 2) complete Writing & Rhetoric 201 or 401 after entering the College; or 3) submit a petition and portfolio before the senior year. Students must contact Writing Programs at the CAE to receive instructions.

Each student should receive, at the time of declaring the major, a description of the particular Second Stage Writing Requirement for the department. However, an overview of the department options follows:

FIRST STAGE WRITING PORTFOLIO OPTION FOR TRANSFER STUDENTS

Generally compiled over the sophomore and junior years, three papers are drawn from departmental work. Revisions are encouraged or may be required. One paper may be a retrospective analysis of the student’s writing. A reflective analysis of the portfolio may be required in addition to the three papers. Portfolios are read by more than one faculty member. The requirements for submitting a portfolio are available in the Writing Programs Office. The Writing Programs Department and the Director of the Core Program make every effort to work with an individual student’s portfolio submissions.

SECOND STAGE WRITING

Writing-Intensive Seminars:  Most departments require a single junior-year seminar that includes a considerable amount of writing. The final product is read by more than one professor. A grade of B- is usually required, depending on the department. Fulfillment of the requirement is met through additional coursework when the grade in the seminar is not satisfactory.

Writing Across the Major:  Some departments have deemed all upper-division courses writing intensive. A few departments require more than one writing-intensive course in order to complete the Second Stage Writing Requirement in the major. An average grade of B- is generally required, depending on the department. See department chair for specifics. 

Creative Writing: It is recommended that students interested in creative writing choose a major or minor that will provide them background in literature. Of special interest is the Writing Emphasis in the English and Comparative Literary Studies department. The College believes that it is essential to understand a tradition of literature and authorship in order to become a writer oneself. There are also offerings in various creative arts at the College that would support such an emphasis. Students interested in journalistic writing should consider the importance of intellectual background and training available in the different programs in the humanities, arts, sciences, and social sciences. Students also have the opportunity to take independent studies in creative writing, and in special cases, to elect Senior Year Honors Projects in writing. Specific courses that address creative writing include ECLS 380 (Creative Writing), English Writing 286 (Principles of Journalism II), Writing & Rhetoric 301 (Creative Non-Fiction), Writing & Rhetoric 401 (Writing Across the Curriculum), French 343 (Theory and Practice of Translation), Theater 201 (Alternative Voices in American Theater), and Theater 380 (Playwriting). Writers also are invited regularly to ECLS creative writing classes and to the Intercultural Community Center, events that are open to the campus at large.

Additionally, every other year a Remsen Bird Visiting Artist gives classes and/or workshops on campus. In the last few years the ECLS Department has sponsored several literary  Honors Projects in writing. Specific courses that address creative writing include ECLS 380 (Creative Writing), Writing & Rhetoric 286 (Principles of Journalism II),Writing & Rhetoric 301 (Creative Non-Fiction), Writing & Rhetoric 401 (Writing Across the Curriculum), French 343 (Theory and Practice of Translation), Theater 201 (Alternative Voices in American Theater), and Theater 380 (Playwriting). Writers also are invited regularly to ECLS creative writing classes and to the Intercultural Community Center, events that are open to the campus at large.

Additionally, every other year a Remsen Bird Visiting Artist gives classes and/or workshops on campus. In the last few years the ECLS Department has sponsored several literary conferences with invited guests; the department also sponsors a literary contest with prizes for fiction, poetry, and short drama, and provides support for The Occidental Review, a literary magazine edited by students. Students also have the opportunity to work on the student newspaper, to join literary clubs, and to elect an internship course under the direction of a faculty member. Internships, arranged with the help of the Career Development Center, have included work at the Mark Taper Forum, the Getty Art Institute, the Huntington Library, the Minority Training Institute, and Dreamworks.

Students at Occidental also have the opportunity to hear distinguished writers on campus; guests in the last several years have included Alice Walker, bell hooks, Walter Mosley, Toni Morrison, Joyce Carol Oates, Sandra Cisneros, Amy Tan, Anna Deavere Smith, Maya Angelou, Gish offers opportunities to hear many other writers at Vroman’s Bookstore, Beyond Baroque, Skylight Books, and Dawson’s Books, among others.

Reserve Officers Training Corps

Although there is no ROTC unit at Occidental, qualified Occidental students may be able to participate in Air Force or Army ROTC through programs at UCLA and USC. Appropriate academic credit, not to exceed eight units, may be awarded upon successful completion of transfer work in these programs. Interested applicants should consult the Office of Admission or the Associate Registrar for details.