Hampshire College

Division II is the core of a student’s education at Hampshire College. It consists of a concentration of courses and other learning activities, including the multiple cultural perspectives requirement, additional studies as appropriate, and the performance of community service. The Division II final meeting, at which the concentration is passed, completes the process.

The concentration is a program of study adapted to the individual interests and needs of the student. Each student designs and carries out a concentration, with the guidance and supervision of a committee of faculty selected by the student for this purpose. Two Hampshire College faculty must be members of the committee, one of whom serves as chair of the committee. A Five College faculty member or an individual from the surrounding community may occasionally serve as a third member.

Within the limits of the resources of the college, the Five Colleges, and the ability of the student and the student’s committee to locate resources for the student, there is great latitude in the design of a concentration. It is essential, however, that a concentration proceeds on the basis of a plan, that it be a coherent body of studies, and that it builds from work at foundational levels to advanced work. Division II is normally a four-semester process, with the portfolio of work submitted to the committee at the conclusion of Division II representing the equivalent of four semesters’ worth of work in Division II. The Division II contract must be filed at least three semesters prior to passing the Division II examination.

In the concentration, the student seeks to achieve a grasp of particular knowledge and techniques, the broader concepts that lie behind them, and critical and analytical skills appropriate to the relevant disciplines. A concentration may range from a plan of studies similar to that of a traditional college major to a highly individualized program of study. Its scope may be broad or narrow. It may include a number of different kinds of learning activities: independent studies and projects, courses, reading programs, internships, and other forms of field study.

Additional studies are also an important part of a student’s work in Division II. The concentration is not the whole of a student’s work in Division II. In addition to the concentration, the student is expected to pursue academic interests in areas unrelated to the concentration, much as a student at a traditional college would engage interests outside the major. Since these additional studies need not meet the criteria for a concentration (coherence, focus, and depth), this feature gives the Division II student an added measure of flexibility and freedom in designing a course of study.

At the Division II final meeting, the concentration committee determines whether the Division II has been completed. The type of material to be presented to the committee and the form in which it is to be presented must be determined by the committee well in advance of the date set for the final meeting. When a student has passed the Division II, the committee records a pass online, and files a written evaluation online that becomes part of the student’s academic record.