Courses

Hampshire Courses

Hampshire's educational approach emphasizes individual choice and development. Just as Hampshire attracts creative students who question the status quo, it appeals to professors who are excited about opportunities to experiment with innovative methods of teaching and learning and are keen to co-teach with colleagues. Hampshire's flexible academic structure gives professors the freedom to explore connections and develop courses related to their own and their students' scholarly interests.

Since Hampshire's curriculum is deliberately not fixed, many of Hampshire's courses change each year. Course descriptions that follow reflect a sampling of courses that have been offered at Hampshire over the past three years. Students may expect to see a similar choice of offerings during their time at Hampshire. For current semester course descriptions, visit our Web site at www.hampshire.edu.

Hampshire College courses are divided into three levels. The 100 (Exploratory) and 200 (Foundational) courses are open to all students. The 300 (Advanced) courses, designed primarily for upper-division students, require previous background. Course levels are explained below:

First-Year Tutorials

First-year tutorials are small classes taught by the student's academic advisor, and designed to introduce first-year students to Hampshire and to college life. Organized as small seminars, tutorials are offered by faculty in each of the Schools, and are designed especially for entering students. Tutorials develop academic content areas, cultivate methods of inquiry, and introduce students to the larger academic life of the college. Tutorials are also devoted to developing foundational intellectual skills essential to the pursuit of learning. For example, students will examine how to work through an analytical process, assay evidence and inference, and organize an argument; read thoughtfully, critically, and imaginatively; write with clarity, economy, and cogency; and make efficient use of resources and the tools of research and documentation.

First-year tutorials are also the locus for Division I advising. Each tutorial will be led by a faculty member who will serve as the academic advisor for each student enrolled in the course. The advisor is responsible for monitoring and evaluating each advisee's academic progress throughout the Division I process. Advisors also provide general academic advice to aid in course selection, academic development, and the transition to advanced study in Divisions II and III.

100 Exploratory Courses (often seminars) are designed to introduce students to the conceptual tools necessary for college work in general and the Hampshire examination process in particular. Besides providing specific subject content, these courses emphasize individual attention to students' needs and interests, engage students directly in the excitement of learning, and allow opportunity for close faculty/student relationships and evaluation of students' skills and preparation.

200 Foundational Courses explore subject matter needed by students in any division. These can be "skills courses" (statistics, computer programming, and dance techniques); they can be general surveys or introduction-to-the-field courses, designed to convey a large body of information (e.g., introduction to economics); they can be "foundational" in that they present the combination of skills and concepts that are required for any further work in the area (e.g., Film or Photo I); or they can be designed to cover a body of central theories or methodologies.

300 Advanced Seminars and Courses are taught on an advanced level and presume some background or experience on the part of the student.