The Core Program and Cultural Studies Program (CSP) Seminars
OxyEngage (pre-orientation program)
Multicultural Summer Institute (MSI)

The Core Program and Cultural Studies Program (CSP) seminars

Through the Core Program, all first-years take fall and spring CSP seminars. Here’s a sampling of recent and popular CSPs:

• Disneyland and Urbanism
• The Shape of Space
• Criminal Dreams: Sherlock Holmes meets Sigmund Freud
• Cowboys, Samurai, Manly Men
• Liquid Horror

In addition to regular CSP seminars, Oxy offers some special team-taught interdisciplinary courses that satisfy the CSP requirement. Fall 2013 will feature:

CSP 1: California Environment Semester (CES)

Join a group of first-year students and three faculty learning about natural science, economics, and the environment of California through four integrated courses built around class work and extended field trips. Investigate the biology, economics, and geology of our environment. Curiosity about the natural world and our relation to it is the only prerequisite.   

CSP 2: Revolutions: Africa and Beyond

Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya in 2011; South Africa in 1993; Algeria in 1962. These are some of the revolutions that captured international attention and dramatically changed the social and political landscape of Africa. Through class work, cultural excursions, and academic partnerships, this course examines these revolutions’ impact on contemporary Los Angeles culture.
 

OxyEngage (pre-orientation program)

OxyEngage offers a great way for you to explore, connect, and encounter experiences in and around Los Angeles. There are three programs to choose from:

1. OxyExplores gives students who love the outdoors the opportunity to participate in wilderness trips led by trained professionals.

2. OxyConnects realizes one of the cornerstones of Occidental’s mission—community—by introducing students to the needs of our surrounding communities and the opportunity to respond to those needs through service-oriented trips.

3. OxyEncounters is the perfect opportunity for students unfamiliar with Los Angeles to encounter the diversity of arts and culture found in our neighborhood of Eagle Rock and in the greater Los Angeles area.

All trips take place August 21-23, the three days prior to New Student Orientation. Participants arrive on campus on August 20 and move into their permanent housing assignment. Space is limited. Registration opens June 3. For more information email oxyengage@oxy.edu or call 323-207-6776. For more info, head to OxyEngage’s main page.

Multicultural Summer Institute (MSI)

Since 1987, MSI has offered a four-week academic/residential program for about 50 incoming first-years. It enrolls students from a variety of ethnic, regional, and cultural backgrounds who have expressed interest in issues of multiculturalism. MSI serves to give its diverse student body an introduction to the social, cultural, and intellectual resources of Southern California, as well as familiarize students with the Oxy community and surrounding area. In addition to coursework, past events have included concerts (Mos Def, Talib Kweli), visiting the Museum of Tolerance, and community service projects. For more info, head to MSI’s main page.