Areas of Study | Occidental College

When you study the liberal arts in Los Angeles, your opportunities for academic exploration and hands-on learning are endless.

Choosing majors and minors at Oxy

Occidental’s undergraduate programs include 45 majors and minors across the arts, humanities, and sciences. There are also countless opportunities for independent research, internships, and other experiential learning. Don’t want to limit yourself to one area? You won’t have to—interdisciplinary majors, self-designed courses of study and majors with multiple emphases make your academic journey at Oxy uniquely your own.

Other pathways, programs, and exploration guides

Oxy also offers pre-law and pre-health advising as well as a pre-engineering pathway and guides to exploring AI, business, data science, and environmental studies through interdisciplinary coursework. Our exchange programs with institutions like Caltech, Columbia University, and ArtCenter give you even more ways to expand your academic pursuits.

What do our students say?

If you want to hear about our various programs direct from the source, check out these Meet Our Majors profiles.

Area of Study

a robot hand reaching out to touch a human hand

sign for U.S. Route 66 in California, a historic U.S. highway that ran from Chicago to Santa Monica

American Studies Major, Minor

Occidental (Oxy) students using a large format film camera

Art & Art History Major, Minor

large, golden Chinese dragon sculpture, likely a decoration on a temple or building.

Asian Studies Major, Minor

A petri dish and a pipette are shown with a blue liquid

Biochemistry Major

the underside of a large tree merging into an image of a DNA double helix

Biology Major, Minor

a colorful woven basket

Black Studies Major, Minor

an Occidental College classroom of students and a young woman standing up to talk

Business at Oxy

numerous Erlenmeyer flasks containing a white, opaque liquid, likely in a laboratory setting

Chemistry Major, Minor

A view of the Great Wall of China, representing the Chinese Studies program at Occidental College (Oxy).

Chinese Studies Major, Minor

An ancient Greek or Roman sculpture of a man with his arm stretching back to throw a discus, representing the Classical Studies program at Occidental College (Oxy).

Classical Studies Minor

digital illustration representing the mechanical nature of the human mind, often associated with Cognitive processes, Mental health, Stress and well-being and Artificial intelligence

Cognitive Science Major, Minor

College Writing Program

close-up of the Shabaka Stone, an important ancient Egyptian relic from the 25th Dynasty.

Comparative Studies in Literature & Culture Major, Minor

abstract visual representation of a neural network or a similar complex interconnected system

Computer Science Major, Minor

two main blotches of ink, with smaller droplets and thin streaks radiating outwards

Critical Theory & Social Justice Major, Minor

a young woman smiling as she looks at a large computer screen full of data illustration

Data Science at Oxy

Building with a row of international flags

Diplomacy & World Affairs Major

A busy maritime container port with multicolored cargo containers

Economics Major, Minor

Education Minor

Engineering and draftsman's tools on top of engineering planning papers

Engineering Program

a page from a medieval illuminated manuscript, specifically identified as folio 13r from a 15th-century Book of Hours.

English Major, Minor

Environmental Inquiry at Oxy

a group of researcherscollecting samples on a frozen alpine lake surrounded by snow-covered mountains, representing the Environmental Science department at Occidental College (Oxy).

Environmental Science Concentration

A plate of delicious assorted tacos

Food Studies Minor

French Studies Major, Minor

Gender, Women, & Sexuality Studies Minor

Colorful rocks displayed next to each other

Geology Major, Minor

German Studies Minor

Language books arranged in a row

Group Language Major

A 1973 image of Joan Baez, Marshall Ganz, Dolores Huerta in solidarity at a protest

History Major, Minor

top-down view of an organized wooden office desk with various items including a keyboard, mug, notebook and colorful sticky notes

Interdisciplinary Writing Minor

Japanese Studies Major, Minor

image illustrates knee pain or injury, a common issue for athletes, especially runners

Kinesiology Major, Minor

a brightly colored Ecuadorian textile

Latino/a & Latin American Studies Major, Minor

two wooden head cutouts and colored jumbled letters representing different individuals attempting to communicate

Linguistics Minor

An Occidental College diver looking for marine specimens deep in the ocean

Marine Biology Concentration

a digital rendering of mathematical and statistical formulas in a 3D, abstract space, often used to represent complex data or scientific concepts

Mathematics Major, Minor

a cameraman holding a film camera with a colored background

Media Arts & Culture Major, Minor

3D illustration of biological cells, likely stem cells, floating in a light blue background

Molecular & Cell Biology Concentration

an electronic keyboard controller with a violin bow resting on its keys

Music Major, Minor

visualization of a biological neuron, a fundamental nerve cell in the brain

Neuroscience Minor

sunlight streaming through a dense kelp forest underwater representing the Philosophy department at Occidental College

Philosophy Major, Minor

A Foucault pendulum: a large, shiny, brass-colored bob (ball) suspended by a wire over a circular floor display with light-up segments and a star design at the center

Physics Major, Minor

Citizens participating in a United States election by casting their votes at a polling place

Politics Major, Minor

A young Oxy alumna stands outside the HCC with a medical coat and stethiscope

Pre-Health Advising

Occidental College professor Marisol Leon standing in front of a classroom of students, talking

Pre-Law Advising

a hand holding up a puzzle of the brain against the sunlight with a missing piece

Psychology Major

A child and adult at a playground

Public Health Minor

A series of 4 images: A Torah scroll, The bell wall of Mission San Gabriel Arcángel, a historic Spanish mission in California, A stone statue of the Buddha, and Whirling dervishes performing the Sema ceremony, a Sufi spiritual practice associated with Islam.

Religious Studies Major, Minor

Russian Studies Minor

rear view of a large crowd of people viewing international flags

Sociology Major, Minor

Spanish Studies Major, Minor

actors on a stage, all in dramatic poses

Theater & Performance Studies Major, Minor

a lush, green section of the Los Angeles River with the downtown Los Angeles skyline visible in the hazy background

Urban & Environmental Policy Major, Minor