Harvey Mudd College Announces Expanded Summer Session

Harvey Mudd College, a leader in programmatic innovation, excellence and rigor, is expanding its course offerings in a new Summer Session, May 20–June 28. Students at Harvey Mudd and at The Claremont Colleges as well as HMC alumni, visiting scholars and other adult learners, along with high school juniors and seniors are invited to augment their skills and ignite their intellectual curiosity by enrolling in six-week courses at Harvey Mudd.

“Summer Session participants can look forward to Harvey Mudd’s exceptional faculty and campus resources to study selected courses in the humanities, the social sciences, natural sciences, and mathematics,” says Lisa Sullivan, vice president and R. Michael Shanahan Dean of the Faculty. “We’re excited to expand course offerings and welcome lifelong learners to experience the College’s strong institutional culture of academic excellence and innovation.”

There are a wide range of courses being offered by several academic departments.

• Discrete Mathematics, taught by Dagan Karp, professor of mathematics and associate dean for diversity. In addition to his interest in algebraic geometry and Gromov-Witten theory, Karp has a passion for civil rights, including gender equity, and is active in promoting diversity in and through mathematics.
• Ethics: Ancient and Modern, Darryl Wright, professor of philosophy. He specializes in moral and political philosophy and the history of ethics.
• Materials Engineering, Albert Dato, Iris and Howard Critchell Assistant Professor of Engineering. Dato researches the synthesis and applications of nanomaterials and directs the Energy & Nanomaterials Lab, which seeks to develop solutions to energy and environmental challenges through applications of advanced materials.
• Mechanics & Wave Motion, Peter Saeta, professor of physics. He researches the limits to absorption enhancement in thin-film solar cells from plasmonics. Before coming to Harvey Mudd College, Saeta was awarded research fellowships by the AT&T Bell labs and the National Research Council.
• Nonlinear Data Analytics, Weiqing Gu, Avery Professor of Mathematics. She specializes in differential geometry and topology, with applications to Big Data analysis, computer-aided design and robotics.
• Principles of Microeconomics, Rebecca Johannsen, visiting assistant professor of economics. She is an expert in financial economics and public policy.
• Prophecy, Apocalypse, Erika Dyson, Willard W. Keith Jr. Fellow in the Humanities and associate professor of religious studies. She specializes in American religious history, with an emphasis on science and religion.
• Public Speaking for Science and Citizenship, Paul Steinberg, professor of political science and environmental policy and holder of the Malcolm Lewis Chair of Sustainability and Society, and chair, Department of Humanities, Social Sciences, and the Arts. He is interested in how different societies around the world respond to environmental problems. He is author of the book “Who Rules the Earth? How Social Rules Shape Our Planet and Our Lives,” and The Social Rules Project, a multi-media initiative exploring the institutional dimensions of environmental problems.
• Science vs. Pseudoscience, Anna Ahn, professor of biology. Her research area is the neural control and mechanics of animal locomotion.
• Technology and Medicine, Vivien Hamilton, associate professor of the history of science. She teaches a wide range of courses in the history of science, technology and medicine, focusing in particular on medical technologies, including x-rays, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Hamilton is a co-author of the book Inevitably Toxic: Historical Perspectives on Contamination, Exposure and Expertise.

All courses earn HMC academic credit and, for HMC degree-seeking students, are applicable toward degree requirements. Priority registration continues through April 19 with late registration accepted until May.

Visit the summer session website for application instructions and more information.