Spring 2009 Pre-Registration Information

 

 

 

All students who pre-register in person must have their pre-registration forms signed by their academic advisor prior to pre-registration.

 

 

Important Dates for Spring 2009

Tuesday

January 20

First day of classes; first day of add/drop

Thursday

January 22

Senior Thesis meeting 11:00am, Pickford Auditorium

Monday

February 2

Last day to add classes

Thursday

March 12

Last day to withdraw or opt for CR/NC grading

Friday-Monday

March 13-20

Spring Break: no classes in session

Monday

April 27

Senior Theses are due by noon in the Founders Room, Bauer Center

Wednesday

May 6

Last day of CMC classes

Monday-Friday

May 11-15 

Final Exams

 

 

PRE-REGISTRATION

Pre-registration for the spring semester for CMC students will be held on Tuesday, December 2, through Monday, December 8, 2008. All currently enrolled CMC students who plan to attend Claremont McKenna College in the spring, should pre-register for classes at their appointed day and time.  Students who cannot come in at their assigned day or time may come in at a later time or may have someone else come to pre-register for them.  

Pre-registration Form.  Pre-registration forms list the registration appointment time assigned to each student.  Students must turn in this form when they pre-register and they will receive a printout with their selected courses before they leave the Registrar's Office. No changes to pre-selected courses may be made until the beginning of the spring semester.  Students who have not met their financial obligations to the College are not allowed to participate in pre-registration. The Registrar reserves the right to withhold pre-registration if students have otherwise failed to meet their responsibilities.

 

Late Pre-registration.  Students who for any reason have not pre-registered by the end of regular pre-registration will have the opportunity to pre-register late on Friday, December 12 between 1:00 pm and 3:00 pm.

 

Study Abroad During the Current Semester. Students who are studying abroad during the current semester may register by proxy or by email or fax.  Registration forms for those registering by proxy are forwarded to the designated proxies.  The proxies are expected to pre-register the abroad students in the courses specified at or after the assigned pre-registration day and time.  Those registering by email or fax will also have their course selections processed by the Registrar’s staff at or after the assigned pre-registration time.

 

Off-Campus Study Next Semester.  Students who have been accepted for study abroad or exchange programs in the spring semester are advised not to pre-register unless there is some chance their plans may change.  If such students pre-register, their registrations will be deleted on Wednesday, January 7, 2009, unless they have notified the Registrar's Office in writing that they will be attending CMC in the spring.

 

SPRING 2009 FIVE-COLLEGE SCHEDULE OF COURSES

The 2009 5-College Schedule of Courses is attached to your pre-registration form.  Be sure to read all instructions in this memo and the Schedule of Courses carefully before selecting your courses.  Please remember that the five Colleges have different rules and restrictions, and that only CMC rules apply to CMC students.  Be sure to save your 5-College Schedule of Courses.  If you misplace your copy of the schedule, you can access it online through the Student Portal.

 

WHAT TO DO WHEN CLASSES CLOSE

Usually, students may sign up for closed courses with written permission of the instructor.  The CMC Registrar's Office does not keep waiting lists for closed classes.  Many faculty members, however, do keep waiting lists and students interested in entering a closed class should contact the faculty members as soon as possible.  The Joint Science department office keeps waiting lists for all closed Joint Science courses and labs, if appropriate.  During pre-registration, CMC students will be informed as CMC courses close.  Information on closed off-campus courses is reflected on the portal.  Home campus students usually have priority over off-campus students, and CMC students may be asked to leave off-campus courses that were open to them at pre-registration.

COURSE LOAD AND OVERLOADS

The maximum number of courses students may sign up for at pre-registration is 4.75, not including PE and other non-credit courses.  Students in the 3/2 programs must consult with Professor Higdon to determine their course load. Permission to take an overload (more than 4.75 courses) in the spring depends upon a student's GPA during the fall semester and therefore cannot be considered until January.  Petition forms for overloads will be available in the Registrar's Office in January.

FACULTY ADVISORS

All students are urged to meet with a faculty advisor prior to pre-registration to review their progress at CMC and discuss their course selection.   All students who register in person must have written approval of their course selection.  Students without a faculty advisor are encouraged to select one as soon as possible. If you want to change your academic advisor, you must submit the CHANGE OF MAJOR OR ADVISOR FORM with your pre-registration form when you register.  Necessary forms are available in the Registrar’s Office.

INDEPENDENT STUDY

Approval of petitions for independent study is partially based upon the GPA received during the previous semester. Therefore, students cannot pre-register for independent studies.  Independent studies are limited to juniors and seniors.  Interested students may petition for an independent study during the first 10 days of the spring semester.  Check the CMC Catalog for further information.  Forms will be available in the Registrar's Office in January.

NEW AND REVISED CMC AND JOINT SCIENCE COURSES

Descriptions of new and revised CMC and Joint Science courses are provided in Appendix II.  Descriptions of new or revised courses at the other colleges are available at the sponsoring college’s Registrar's Office.

 

PERMISSION SLIPS

If a course requires permission, students must obtain the appropriate written permission. The Registrar’s Office will accept either a signed permission slip or a printout of an email which confers permission. If you use an email, be sure to print the header information on the printout, so that we can verify the sender’s information. 

 

 

 

PE REQUIREMENT AND PE COURSES

CMC students must complete three semesters of physical education by the end of their sophomore year.  Two seasons of a team or club sport will also fulfill the three-semester PE requirement. To count towards the PE requirement students must register for all PE courses, including athletic teams and club sports. Coaches cannot sign up or drop students. Regular due dates and deadlines apply to PE courses.  All PE courses are non-credit courses for CMC students.  Fees for PE courses are charged to students’ accounts and are final as of the deadline to add classes on the 10th day of the semester.  In January, PE courses will begin on Monday, January 26.  PE courses that are “to be arranged” will meet for the first time on Thursday, January 29 at 11:00 am in Ducey Gym.

 

REGISTRATION FOR OFF-CAMPUS (NON-CMC) COURSES

At CMC, freshmen and sophomores may take one course off-campus; juniors and seniors may take half of their courses off-campus. Courses/programs at the other Claremont Colleges not considered cross-registration for CMC students are listed in Appendix III.  CMC students register for all courses at the CMC Registrar's Office, including art and music courses for which they registered with a department.  Qualified students may register for CGU courses in January with written permission of the instructor.

 

SENIOR THESIS

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Senior thesis is a regular course for which students must pre-register or register at the CMC Registrar's Office.  Students completing a thesis in science make all other arrangements with the Joint Science Department (see below for further information.)  Students scheduled to graduate in May who are not registered for senior thesis in the fall should find information on senior thesis and a Senior Thesis Topic Form with their pre-registration materials.  The Senior Thesis Topic Form must be completed and signed by the reader before students can register for thesis.  A required meeting explaining thesis requirements, formatting etc. will be held at the beginning of the spring semester.  Students planning to start a senior thesis in the spring semester who have not received information on thesis should contact the Registrar's Office as soon as possible.  Students currently registered for a two-semester (Fall-Spring) thesis must register for the second semester of their thesis.  No permission slip or topic form is required for this.  Science majors must complete a science thesis.  They may do a two-semester thesis by taking Biology 188, Chemistry 188, or Physics 188 in the semester prior to 190L.  One-semester library theses in Science are registered under Biology 191, Chemistry 191, or Physics 191. All two-semester science theses include labs.

 

 

FALL GRADES

All students will access their grade reports for the fall semester on the portal.  If you would like to have a paper copy of your grade report mailed to you or held for pick up, please come to the Registrar’s Office and inform us in writing.

 

SUMMER SCHOOL AND TRANSFER CREDIT

For those of you starting to think about taking courses off-campus during the summer, please remember that CMC students will only receive credit for summer school courses or summer internships if they have submitted completed approval forms to the CMC Registrar's Office in advance. Advanced approval is also required for courses offered in Claremont by the other Claremont Colleges.  Further information on transfer credit, summer school and internships can be found in the CMC Catalog and the Statement of Academic Policy.

 

Courses Meeting General Education Requirements in 2008-2009

1. Freshman Humanities Seminar 10

2. Literature 10

3. Foreign Language: 3rd college semester of any language offered in Claremont

4. Mathematics: MATH 30 or above

5. 2 semesters of laboratory science:  Joint Science courses numbered under 100 with labs can satisfy the GE requirement. Students may take either a year of introductory science (AISS 1A&1B, BIOL 43&44, CHEM 14&15, PHYS 30&31 or PHYS 33&34), or they may take one biological science with lab and one physical science with lab to meet this requirement.

6. Humanities (Minimum of two disciplines OUTSIDE your major)

            Philosophy: any CMC Philosophy course numbered under 60

            Religious Studies: Any CMC Religious Studies Course # under 180

            Literature: Any CMC literature course numbered 50 or above

Foreign Literature: 4th College semester of European or Classical language; 5th semester of Korean; 5th semester of Arabic, or 6th semester of Chinese or Japanese

7. Social Sciences (Minimum of three disciplines OUTSIDE your major)

            Economics: 50

            Government: 20

            History: Any CMC History course numbered under 170

            Psychology: Any CMC Psychology course numbered under 100

 

OFF-CAMPUS or INTERDISCIPLINARY MAJORS must complete 6 GE courses between the social sciences and humanities.

 

APPENDIX II

NEW AND REVISED CMC AND JOINT SCIENCE COURSES

 

BIOL082L JS – Today’s Plant Biotechnology

This course will delve into modern plant biotechnology and how these techniques can be used to effect the social and physical limitations of food, drugs, and energy. The positive and negative aspects of genetically-engineered crops will be discussed.  A team project will explore potential uses of the technologies

 

BIOL083LCJT – Science, Management, & Technology: Neuropharmacology

This course will explore issues of basic science, applied science, the commercialization of scientific discoveries, and the implications of such commercialization in the context of economically important products related to neuropharmacology and brain function.  Presentations concerning the biology of signal communication among neurons will be interspersed with discussion of the economics of innovation, market research, distinctions between basic and applied research, and the social implications of commercialization of scientific discoveries.  This course features a combination of lectures, discussions of research articles and case studies, and a group project.

 

BIOL162L JS – Cell and Molecular Biology of Organelles

Chloroplasts and mitochondria are the location of some of the most critical functions in the eukaryotic cell.  These organelles also contain their own genomes that are regulated by both organelle- and nuclear-encoded proteins.  This course examines the relationship between gene expression in the organelle s and the nucleus and how interactions between the three compartments are regulated.  Lectures will be based on analysis of the primary research literature.  Students will generate a research proposal based on their analysis of topic of their own choice.

 

BIOL187A JS – Special Topics in Biology: Epigenetics

Epigenetics “above genetics” is an exciting field of science that is beginning to explain the unexpected.  This seminar style course allows students to read, analyze, and present the current literature in this quickly evolving field, as well as write a research grant proposal describing novel experiments of their own design. Cross-listed with BIOL164 HM.  Prereqs: Biology 43, 44, Chem 14, 15

 

HIST107  CM – Reading Ancient and Medieval Historians

Works surviving from the great historians of the ancient and medieval Mediterranean populate the imagination with impressions of distant worlds. But to what extent do these impressions depend on how authors chose to tailor past events to a contemporary political and social background? To what extent did the ‘great histories’ interact with competing versions of the past? This course will address these and other questions by unpacking the famous Greek, Roman and early-medieval historians and by considering how contemporary contexts shaped the writing of the past. This course offers a comparative cultural and literary approach to reading Herodotus, Thucydides, Livy, Tacitus, Ammianus Marcellinus, Procopius, Gregory of Tours and Bede. Continuities and differences in the historical portrayal of such themes as politics, violence, gender and religion will receive particular attention.

 

GOVT110  CM – Culture Wars

In recent decades Americans have been increasingly divided over such issues as abortion, gay marriage, and the appropriateness of religion in the public square. This course will explore the sources and origins of such divisions. For instance, do activists on the left and right really exist in two distinct cultures?  What are the philosophical assumptions and beliefs that hold their various political opinions together?  What is their view of the human person and how does it shape the way they see the world?  Do they each offer equally rational ways of comprehending the world?  

 

GOVT142A CM – Regionalism in East Asia: History and Its Prospects

This course examines the evolving pattern of regional integration in East Asia since the end of World War II, paying special attention to the legacy of Japanese colonialism and the rivalry between China and Japan in the region. In particular, this course will focus on the imbalance between economic interdependence and the level of political cooperation in the region. We can observe the growing power of nationalistic, conservative political groups in domestic politics and the ongoing fierce territorial disputes in the region. This imbalance between economic and political integration provides many intriguing questions in regard to the prospect of East Asia in the global political economy: Can East Asia play a role as another pole in the world economy?  What kinds of political factors delay regional economic integration? Conversely, how has deepening economic integration impacted on domestic politics of each country?  Students will explore these questions and other relevant issues by reviewing the historical trend of regional integration in the areas of economy, politics, and security. South East Asian countries will also be reviewed in terms of the relationship between ASEAN and East Asia.

 

GOVT146  CM  - Chinese Foreign Policy

Examines China's contemporary foreign policy with emphasis on its structure and processes and on its changing relations with the United States, Japan, Korea, Russia, and other Asian and Pacific countries. It focuses on such issues as international perceptions, diplomatic negotiations, international political economy, and strategic orientations.

 

GOVT159I CM – Politics of Divided Korea and the United States

This course examines the US-Korea (both South and North Korea) relations since the U.S. military occupation of the southern part of the Korean Peninsula from 1945 to 1948 after World War II. The course will explore the U.S. influence on Korea in the following critical junctures in modern Korea: (1) the historical origins of the Division and the Korean War; (2) the rise and fall of authoritarianism; (3) economic development; (4) the origin and development of the recent North Korean nuclear threats and the reactions to these threats. In particular, this course will explore the evolving pattern of US-South Korea alliance and examine the recent political challenges, such as the rising anti-Americanism in South Korea.  The goal of this course is to help students to understand the US-Korea relations within a broader historical and strategic context of the Cold War and its collapse, using perspectives of the changing strategic environments at the global and regional level.

 

GOVT175  CM – Politics and Law in American Sports

In this course, several political and legal issues or circumstances connected with sports will be examined, including:  Supreme Court decisions (Tollson, Floyd v Kuhn, Radovich v. NFL, etc.) civil rights concerns, economic-political issues, labor laws, unionization, strikes and lockouts, equal protection and integration on the basis of sex and race, the political and legal aspects of franchises and stadium building, regulations and investigations concerning gambling and the use of performance-enhancing drugs, House and Senate investigations, local and state legislation, issues of interstate commerce, presidential politics, the political use of sports by the military, anti-trust considerations, the Mitchell report, federal legislation, and similar issues

 

HIST196  CM – A Disorder in the Polity: Women & US Politics 1620-1877

This course examines the role of both real women and idea of "woman" in the political history of the United States.  From colonial beginnings through the American Revolution and the founding and into the nineteenth century, women have been active participants in American political processes, especially in times of war and crisis.  Moreover, the "problem" of female citizenship has vexed male policy makers from the time of the founding onward.  In this course, you will meet many interesting and inspiring American leaders and political innovators but you will also tackle the most basic question about the nature of citizenship in a modern nation state.

 

ID  030  CMWriting Center Theory & Practice

All tutors working in the CMC Writing Center are expected to take this course prior to becoming a tutor.  We will discuss writing center theory and the practice of tutoring, as well as writing pedagogy and learning assistance.  Students in the course are expected to participate actively in discussions, engage in regular online learning activities through Sakai, and complete three papers and a group project.

 

ID  031  CM – Writing Theory & Pedagogy

All tutors working in the CMC Writing Center are expected to take this course prior to becoming a tutor.  We will discuss writing center theory and the practice of tutoring, as well as writing pedagogy and learning assistance.  Students in the course are expected to participate actively in discussions, engage in regular online learning activities through Sakai, and complete three papers and a group project.

 

LIT 085  CM - Contemporary American Fiction: Post-1945 American Fiction

When the New York Times Book Review recently polled hundreds of writers and critics to determine the "best work of fiction" over the past 25 years, a debate ensued. We will use the resulting controversial list as a starting point for this course, while also looking back further to the beginning of the period after World War II in search of the best. As we do so, we will examine how the "best" is chosen and which texts are likely to remain relevant in the future. Readings may include Vladimir Nabokov, Ralph Ellison, Flannery O'Connor, J.D. Salinger, Philip Roth, Raymond Carver, Richard Yates, Toni Morrison, and Mary Gaitskill. Particular attention will be paid to bringing these novels and short stories to the "way we live now," but we will also put these works in their proper context. We will examine relevant developments in music and film (competing and complementary media in an era like no other) as well as attitudes about race, sex, and politics. How a cultural moment results in a particular literary style will also be important.  Presentations will be on film adaptations of fiction on the syllabus—which will use an inquiry into filmmaking as a way to get closer to the text. 

 

LIT 099  CM – Special Topics: Visual Identity and Fashion in Literature

This course examines the theme of fashion, fetishism, and visual identity in literature.  Using texts ranging from the 18th to the 20th century, we will engage in a scholarly and aesthetic investigation of fashion as communication, cultural artifact, art, and a possible medium of social change.  We will also examine such issues as body modification, extreme beauty, ritual, size diversity, and taboos.  Critical texts will include writings on corset controversies, dandies, dress reform, and fetishism. Primary texts may include excerpts from Laurence Sterne’s Tristram Shandy, Choderlos de Laclos’s Dangerous Liaisons, Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility and its adaptations, works by Oscar Wilde, excerpts from Thomas Carlyle’s Sartor Resartus, George Eliot’s Mill on the Floss, Wilkie Collins’s No Name or Thomas Hardy’s Mayor of Casterbridge, Henry James’s “The Romance of Certain Old Clothes,” Marcel Proust’s descriptions of Yves Saint Laurent, Fortuny, and Charles Frederick Worth, and F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby.  We will also, of course, look at period replicas and Victoria’s secrets, examining the “felt life” of men and women from the Enlightenment to the Jazz Age.  

 

LIT 139  CM – Film Theory

This course investigates the major film theories from the beginnings of cinema to the present.  We begin with a study of classical film theory (1900-1960) that attempts to define the essence of the form, its relation to reality, and its status as mass medium and/or art.  We then move on to more recent work that examines film from ideological, sociological, or psychological perspectives, or considers the changing nature of cinema in the digital age.  Readings include work by Hugo Munsterberg, Vachel Lindsay, Sergei Eisenstein, Lev Kuleshov, Rudolf Arneim, Bela Balasz, Andre Bazin, Christian Metz, Raymond Bellour, Laura Mulvey, Mary Ann Doane, Paul Virilio, Friederich Kittler, D. N. Rodowick, and Nicole Brenez. 

 

MATH172  CM – Abstract Algebra II

This course is a continuation of MATH 171, covering selected topics in the theories of groups, rings, fields, and modules with a specific emphasis on Galois Theory. Topics covered will include polynomial rings, field extensions, splitting fields, algebraic closure, separability, Fundamental Theorem of Galois Theory, Galois groups of polynomials and solvability. Prereq: MATH171.

 

PSYC116  CM – Psychology of Child, Family, and Work

Emphasizes the psychological impact of changing societal influences on children and family structure. Reviews the empirical literature on the impact of current changes and crises in several domains including: school systems, the workplace, child care and medical services. Main issues identified and debated to generate potential solutions and potential changes in public policies regarding: economic and work related factors, the impact of technological and medical advances, trends in the educational system, and current social crises. Prerequisite: one course in psychology and one course in statistics

 

PSYC131  CM – Special Topics: Psychology & Economics

An introduction to a relatively new discipline at the intersection of Psychology and Economics, sometimes referred to Behavioral Economics, which seeks to explain human economic behavior using assumptions that are as psychologically realistic as possible.  This course will cover evidence based on experiments, asking people direct questions, and the work of psychologists and other social and biological scientists. This course will incorporate the implications of this evidence into models of human economic behavior to 1) accommodate such phenomena as altruism, fairness, identity, impulsivity, overconfidence, loss-aversion, self-serving biases, hedonics, and time-varying discounting among others and 2) address public policy implications for such behavioral phenomena as credit card borrowing, risk management, portfolio choice, retirement saving, procrastination, addiction, crime, discrimination, affirmative action, unemployment, charitable giving and public health.

 

APPENDIX III

OFF-CAMPUS COURSES/PROGRAMS NOT CONSIDERED

CROSS-REGISTRATION 

SCRIPPS COLLEGE:

Lower-level Languages, Joint Music, Philosophy

PITZER COLLEGE:

Lower-level Languages

POMONA COLLEGE:

Lower-leve lLanguages, Theatre

ALL COLLEGES:

JS Courses (for CMC, Pitzer, and Scripps students)

American Studies 103 JT and 180 JT 

Asian-American Studies (courses with an “AA” suffix)

Black Studies(courses with a “BK” suffix)

Chicano Studies(courses with a “CH” suffix)

Media Studies Courses (courses with an “MS” prefix)

Military Science & Leadership Courses

Physical Education Courses

 

 

Religious Studies Courses

 

Please note: the home college may limit CMC enrollment in these courses.

 

During the add/drop period (the first ten days of the semester) all courses require instructor permission to add.