Occidental College Viewbook - 2018/2019

O C C I D E N TA L C O L L E G E

1600 Campus Road Los Angeles, CA 90041-3314 oxy.edu

OCCIDENTAL COLLEGE

LIBERAL ARTS IN LOS ANGELES

LIBERAL ARTS in LOS ANGELES

T H E P O W E R O F P LA C E

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2,050

91%

in

los angeles

STATES,

56

WASHINGTON, D.C. and

FOREIGN

COUNTRIES

925 BEVERAGES

35 including an option for a self-designed course of study

Location matters. It doesn’t define your college education, but it informs it.

Occidental’s place in Los Angeles will extend the scope of your opportunities far beyond the College’s 120-acre campus.

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Place is not narrowly defined at Occidental. Our historic setting is tucked between the evolving, eclectic neighborhoods of Eagle Rock and Highland Park.

The picturesque campus defies the stereotype of an urban college, yet we are undeniably in one of the world’s most dynamic cities.

Our location serves as a springboard for putting theory into practice and ideas into perspective. An Oxy liberal arts education has no geographic boundaries. You might find yourself diving into the Pacific for marine research, interning at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, living in New York as a Kahane U.N. Program participant or studying abroad in South Korea.

Oxy also inspires community. Uncommonly inclusive and consciously collaborative, our students forge close-knit relationships and embrace differences, even if their conversations are sometimes challenging. They develop the skills to live in an increasingly diverse world and to succeed in a global economy.

Oxy alumni who have played in the NFL

41%

filmed on campus recently (“Here and Now,” “NCIS: Los Angeles,” “The Romanoffs,” and “Sweet Vicious”)

During his two years of study at Occidental, Barack Obama ’83 first began to take the world of books and ideas seriously, and was awakened to the notion that he could make a difference in the world. The classes he took, the lasting relationships he formed with professors and friends, and his experiences outside of the classroom all helped shape the person he was to become. Oxy “started giving me a sense of what a purposeful life might look like,” he said.

Honoring the president’s legacy, the Barack Obama Scholars Program at Occidental College will empower the next generation of leaders in active pursuit of the public good by providing a comprehensive experience for exceptional students of all backgrounds who seek the opportunity to create lasting and meaningful change.

For more information, visit obamascholars.oxy.edu.

demonstrated financial aid met

The power of place

Occidental College is not just in Los Angeles. It’s of Los Angeles, Southern California and beyond.

FACULTY RATIO

poured daily in the student-run coffee lounge, the Green Bean

come from

liberal arts

9:1

STUDENT-

THE BARACK OBAMA SCHOLARS PROGRAM

in the nation according to The Daily Meal

domestic students of color

OXY

alumni have won Academy Awards (so far), including two-time honoree Ben Affleck ’95 (Best Original Screenplay for Good Will Hunting in 1997, and Best Picture for Argo in 2012)

Oxy is home to some sociable (and well-fed) squirrels, including “Chubby,” who lives on the Office of Admission patio. (Many of his friends

(according to architectural firm StructureHub)

are dumpster divers.)

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A land of magical improvisation.

— A UTHOR CAREY MCWILLIAMS’ DESCRIPTION OF LOS ANGELES

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Place. Location. Context.

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Engage & Experience

We Are Here The Place: Academic Quad Top 10 Spots Not to Miss at Oxy

The Place: Thorne Hall The First-Year Experience Let’s Get Social

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Social Sciences

20

Sciences

26

Building a Community

32

Arts

38 44

The Place: Global Forum Spotlight: Social Science Majors Comps: The Final Frontier

The Place: Solar Array Spotlight: Science Majors Learning In Depth: Research

The Place: Tiger Cooler 10 Clubs & Activities at Oxy Community Engagement

The Place: Keck Theater Spotlight: Arts Majors Express Yourself

Humanities The Place: The Academic Commons Spotlight: Humanities Majors Experiential Learning

Finding Your Place The Place: Johnson Student Center Residence Life Athletics: All In for Oxy Top 10 Things to Do in the Neighborhood

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Going Places

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Last Hurrah

The Place: Hameetman Career Center Career Opportunities Global Imprint

The Place: Remsen Bird Hillside Theater Notes & Notables

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P LA C E . LO C AT I O N . C O N T E X T.

Downtown

LOS ANGELES

The Ocean

8 miles from Oxy

23 miles from Oxy

Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA)

Hollywood

7 miles from Oxy

Dodger Stadium

9 miles from Oxy

5 miles from Oxy

Disneyland

34 miles from Oxy

York Blvd.

HIGHLAND PARK A vibrant mix of old and new, “L.A.’s Coolest Street” is teeming with eclectic eateries, art galleries and vintage shops—all just a short walk from campus.

Highland Park Metro Station

Solar Array

2.5 miles from Oxy

see pg. 20

Hiking & Skiing San Gabriel Mountains

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Hameetman Career Center see pg. 52

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Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)

Santa Monica Pier

25 miles from Oxy

23 miles from Oxy

Griffith Park 8 miles from Oxy

The city’s largest urban park offers dozens of hiking trails, the L.A. Zoo and the world-famous Griffith Observatory.

Academic Quad see pg. 4

Kemp Stadium

Colorado Blvd.

see pg. 49

Thorne Hall

EAGLE ROCK A mile away from campus, you’ll find an array of restaurants, accommodations, coffee houses, and shopping (including an Oxy student staple: Target).

see pg. 8

Keck Theater see pg. 32

Hollywood Burbank Airport (BUR)

FEAST Garden

13 miles from Oxy

see pg. 29

Hillside Theater see pg. 58

Old Pasadena & Caltech 5 miles from campus

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P LA C E . LO C AT I O N . C O N T E X T.

The Place

ACADEMIC

QUAD rab a beverage and a bench: Between the Academic Commons and the Johnson Student Center, the Academic Quad is the main artery of campus. Century-old oak trees provide shade for study, conversation, contemplation … and ample opportunities to satisfy one’s treeclimbing whimsy. Club members “Quad sit” over lunch, selling doughnuts or marketing events (such as Oxy’s annual Relay for Life, Fall Concert and Iron Chef competition). From DJs and bands to food trucks and art installations, there’s always something happening.

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P LA C E . LO C AT I O N . C O N T E X T.

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THE LIST AHMANSON READING ROOM

GILMAN FOUNTAIN

Described by one student as “a comfortable oasis for people in search of peaceful places to study,” this Academic Commons space is coveted for its spacious communal tables, natural sunlight and scholarly atmosphere. (It’s also known as the “Quiet Room.”)

Oxy’s most photographed landmark has been featured in countless TV shows and films (most notably Star Trek III: The Search for Spock). It’s also a hub of student activity, from studying on nearby benches to lounging in the grass to a friendly game of Frisbee golf.

THE GREEN BEAN Our student-run coffee lounge features fair-trade coffee and sustainably sourced, uncommonly delicious pastries from a favorite nearby bakery.

It hosts student artwork, openmic nights and political and sports broadcasts—all in an inclusive, diverse and communal space.

FIJI HILL The highest spot on campus, Fiji Hill offers stunning panoramic views of Los Angeles and the surrounding area. Gaze at a glorious sunset and take in the architectural splendor of Oxy’s hillside solar array.

AGC PLAZA

MOORE ZOOLOGY LAB

At the heart of campus, AGC Plaza is home to Oxy’s two oldest academic buildings and to the College’s administrative center. On Feb. 18, 1981, the steps of the plaza served as the podium for the first political speech by an Oxy sophomore named Barack Obama.

Among the world’s largest natural history research collections, Moore Lab contains 65,000 bird and mammal specimens, including an unparalleled collection of Mexican bird species.

Students are busy at work in the lab sequencing DNA, doing independent research and even uncovering new species.

BIRD STUDIO This recital hall is home to intimate musical performances by Oxy community members and visiting musicians, from Music on a Friday Afternoon (a weekly showcase of student music) to the Occidental Faculty Woodwind Quartet to the premiere of new instrumental works by Professor Adam Schoenberg’s Composition Seminar students.

FOUCAULT PENDULUM

RUSH GYMNASIUM Rush Gym rocks as host to Oxy’s men’s and women’s basketball and women’s volleyball teams as well as other campuswide events. Fans sport their orange and black as they cheer on the Tigers. The gym is named for Frank “Speedy” Rush, a track star from the Class of 1909.

Located in the lobby of the Hameetman Science Center, this hypnotic pendulum is a replica of a physics experiment originally conducted by Leon Foucault to demonstrate the Earth’s rotation. It’s one of two such pendulums in L.A.—the other is at Griffith Observatory.

BRANCA PATIO

Adjacent to the Green Bean Coffee Lounge, this outdoor dining area is a favorite study spot and hangout year round. It’s also convenient to the Marketplace, where you’ll enjoy many a meal.

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ENGAGE & EXPERIENCE

The Place

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his is where your academic journey begins, trooping into the College’s iconic building to the thump of taiko drums. Beyond Thorne Hall’s elegant facade, however, is a vibrant performance space that has been home to a dizzying array of events, including soaring organ recitals, the transformative oratory of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., dramatic performances by national touring companies and generations of student-run activities, from Dance Production and Glee Club to music recitals and plays.

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ENGAGE & EXPERIENCE

As a high school senior from Jamaica, N.Y., Jordan Walker first visited the Oxy campus through the Multicultural Visit Program. “When I arrived, it became clear that there is a tight-knit community that extends from students and faculty to administrators as well,” he says. “It felt as if Oxy’s admission counselors knew me.” Soon after his arrival as a first-year, Jordan got involved in campus life and is currently a director of the Blyth Fund, student representative for the Board of Trustees’ investment committee, and an Admission tour guide.

Everyone’s first-year experience is different, but one thing is for certain: Occidental offers students the intimacy of a close-knit campus located in a residential community and access to the educational, cultural and recreational resources of Los Angeles and Southern California. The foundation of our commitment to a liberal arts and sciences educations is embodied in the Core Program, which is designed to spur students to think critically and creatively from the moment they set foot on campus.

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THE FIRST-YEAR EXPERIENCE

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GETTING TO THE CORE Students begin their Oxy journey with a common grounding in the liberal arts through the Core Program, a distinctly interdisciplinary array of courses required of all students providing the intellectual foundation for Oxy’s commitment to excellence, equity, service and community. In your Core courses, you’ll be challenged to move outside your comfort zone to think critically and creatively about history and human knowledge, to cross cultural boundaries and to question your own assumptions.

Every student is required to successfully complete a minimum of three courses in academic departments that provide significant experiences in three areas: U.S. Diversity courses allow students to gain a greater appreciation of the myriad perspectives found in a multicultural society and an understanding of the forces that create, contest or maintain power, identity and difference.

Global Connections courses provide students with an understanding of the interconnectedness of cultural, socioeconomic and political systems on a global level. Regional Focus courses enhance global literacy by providing students with an in-depth contextual understanding of a geographical, national or cultural region of the world.

CULTURAL STUDIES PROGRAM SEMINARS Fall CSP seminars encourage faculty and students to jointly explore human culture from a variety of disciplinary as well as cultural perspectives. These are small seminars in which the lecture and reading material provide the focus for discussion, critical analysis and intensive instruction in writing. Recent fall CSP seminars include:

Spring CSP seminars approach topics from a global perspective. They incorporate the writing of research-based essays, mastering the skills necessary for the location of relevant materials (in both print and electronic media), constructing evidence-based arguments and utilizing the conventions of academic discourse. Recent spring CSP seminars include:

• Childhood, Youth and the Social Construction of Difference

• Black Paris: Diasporic Connections in the City of Light

• Autocracy and Its Resistance in Ancient Rome

• UFOs and Spirits of the Land: Exploring Multiple Ways of Knowing Reality

• Science and You • From Low Culture to High Art: The Evolution of Comics and Graphic Narrative in the 20th Century • Love in Personal and Political Life • Nature Writing and the Environment

• From Zorro to J.Lo: The History of Latina/o Representation in U.S. Film and Television

Labs for the Liberal Arts are special courses within the Core Program that expand and transform the traditional 4-unit CSP seminar into an 8- or 16-unit team-taught, interdisciplinary program. Recent labs include: • Health and Humanity • California Environment Semester • California Immigration Semester • Culture of Food • The Struggle for Human Rights: Realities and Representations

• No Justice, No Peace: Resisting, Thinking and Writing for the Sake of Justice • From the Phonograph to Auto-Tune: Exploring the Cultures of Recorded Music

CSP LECTURE SERIES Each year the Cultural Studies Program hosts several distinguished speakers from outside the Occidental community, deliberately chosen to represent different fields and perspectives. Recent themes have included “(Eco)Systems of Power,” “Emancipation,” “Sustainability” and “Re-envisioning Metropolis: Los Angeles and the Urban Arts.”

Nikki Silvestri, founder and CEO of the environmental project development firm Soil and Shadow, talks about “Power, Soil and Community Development” as part of a Core Studies Program lecture series on energy and the environment.

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ENGAGE & EXPERIENCE

L E T ’S G E T

SOCIAL

Who better to introduce you to Oxy than our students themselves? Get a firsthand glimpse of student life on campus and off through these student and club Instagram posts—and get set for your own #OxyBound adventure.

1. As one of several club sports at Oxy, the Ultimate Frisbee team Detox has headed to the D3 national championships for two seasons running. Detox member Evan Sarafian captures the camaraderie after a score at the 2018 Stanford Open. Follow them at @detox_ultimate.

6. Computer science major Stephanie Angulo (@stephcodes) documents campus life and her tech-world adventures, showcasing her internship experiences and the welcome backdrop of L.A. weather. Or as Stephanie would put it: “if(isNovember && temp > 70°F){ steph.codesOutside(); }.”

2. It takes a village to make a movie, and media arts and culture major Jeremy Bloom (@bloomj95) had a great one to help create his senior comps short, Shattered. First-year student Samantha Pess was on hand to capture the lights, camera and action.

7. It’s no accident that the Accidentals regularly compete at ICCA—the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella. These hard-working women sing their hearts out all over campus throughout the year. Hear for yourself at @oxyaccidentals.

3. Founded in 1893, The Occidental is the official student-run newspaper on campus. Look for a new issue every Wednesday during the school year. Staffer Shawn Cremer (a diplomacy and world affairs major) posts a peek into the print edition on the paper’s Instagram account, @oxyweekly.

8. Explorers take note: @oxybikeshare is ready to roll, and you’re invited. The group hosts bike rides all over Los Angeles during the school year, including a recent trip to nearby Chinatown. No bike? No problem. Rent one for free, or get help fixing yours whenever you need it.

4. The Oxy Ski and Snowboard Club wants you to know that yes, “There IS snow in SoCal.” Submitted as evidence: a photo of the students after a recent ride posted by biology major Anna Tara Shlim on the club’s account, @OxySkiandBoard.

9. Students find chemistry with each other all across campus, and if you’re looking for science-based evidence, look no further than @alphachisigma_oxy.

Biochemistry major Lauren Chin snapped a pic of the professional chemistry fraternity on the Quad during National Chemistry Week.

5. With 75 percent of students traveling abroad for educational opportunities, options for global experiences abound. Art and art history major Tyler Ivy (@TylerIvy1) explored the work of Michelangelo on a two-week trip to Florence, Italy, alongside classmates in Professor Eric Frank’s class.

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SOCIAL SCIENCES

The Place

GLOBAL FORUM he Global Forum is Oxy’s marketplace of ideas, images and information about matters of international importance. A two-story-high, LED-lit media wall of sculpted glass with 10 embedded interactive screens, the Global Forum is a constantly shifting array of student and faculty research and coursework, including digital reports from Oxy students studying overseas, that extends discussion beyond the classroom. The space also hosts events such as a daylong Diversity & Equity Hackathon each spring, which brings together coders, technologists and activists to address issues of diversity and equity through the development of critical technology projects.

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SOCIAL SCIENCES

ACADEMIC PROGRAMS

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putting theory to practice KAYLA WILLIAMS Urban & Environmental Policy major Hometown: New York City After her first year at Oxy, Kayla Williams spent the summer as an intern at Esperanza Community Housing Corporation, which helps residents of South Los Angeles access the resources and opportunities around them. The 10-week internship “gave me the opportunity to put theory to practice,” says Kayla.

“Not only was I reading about injustices, but I was then going to work and making meaningful steps toward addressing those same issues. While interning at Esperanza, my understanding of concepts such as public health and environmental justice completely changed. I now see these topics as intertwined.” Kayla is also a student staff member of Occidental’s Center for Community Based Learning, which aims to enrich students’ learning and commitment to social responsibility through civic engagement.

STUDENT

expanding your mind

SOCIAL SCIENCE OFFERINGS ART PECK ’77 Economics

After flirting with a science major on a premed track, Art Peck ’77 majored in economics and had professor Woody Studenmund as an adviser. He also was a founding member and first president of the Blyth Fund—a six-figure, studentmanaged investment portfolio. Now, as president and CEO of Gap Inc. ALUMNI since 2015, Peck oversees a global apparel retailer with nearly $16 billion in annual sales. “In my family, we always talked about that you’re not going to college to get a job; you’re going to college to expand your mind,” says Peck, who grew up in the Bay Area and was attracted to Oxy’s small, urban setting. “Liberal arts was the path.”

BLACK STUDIES DIPLOMACY & WORLD AFFAIRS ECONOMICS EDUCATION* GENDER, WOMEN & SEXUALITY STUDIES* HISTORY

“My 10-week internship gave me the opportunity to put theory into practice, and my understanding of concepts such as public health and environmental justice completely changed.

In addition, I gained a more dynamic view of the majors offered at Occidental and what careers I can pursue after college.”

KAYLA WILLIAMS

understanding ideas SOPHAL EAR Associate Professor, Diplomacy & World Affairs

FACULTY

AMERICAN STUDIES

When faculty member Sophal Ear enters the classroom, “I don’t leave my identity at the door,” he says. “I’m who I am because of where I’ve been and where I come from.” Ear migrated to the United States with his family in 1985, a decade after fleeing his native Cambodia. He teaches political economy, development and security because “these are all essential intersections of my life’s work,” he notes. “I talk about the ideas that have shaped our world.

For me personally, some of these ideas have exacted a terrible price. But it’s important to understand why. Anger doesn’t solve anything. As a Buddhist, it also lets me practice the first law of karma: ‘Cause others to have good results so you can too.’”

LATINO/A & LATIN AMERICAN STUDIES POLITICS PUBLIC HEALTH* SOCIOLOGY URBAN & ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY INDEPENDENT PATTERN OF STUDY *minor only

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SOCIAL SCIENCES

FRONTIER enior comprehensive projects, aka “comps,” reflect Oxy’s educational philosophy of learning deeply and independently. Comps are final-year projects, fieldwork, theses, exams, presentations or creative works required by each major. Each discipline defines its comps expectations differently, and they all challenge and inspire students in unexpected ways. Many of our students draw senior comps inspiration from their multicultural surroundings in Los Angeles, and research and exploration abroad.

For his senior comp, Zander Silverman, an urban and environmental policy major, explored the potential benefits of an afterschool skateboard-mentoring program pairing college students with middleschoolers in the Pasadena Unified School District. “It was incredibly fun and invigorating to get to interact with the kids,” he says. “Every interview I had inspired me and pushed me to work harder.”

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Seniors in Oxy’s Department of Media Arts and Culture host a screening of their comphrensive films in Thorne Hall.

Chelsea Blankenchip Carmichael, Calif.

Biochemistry major After reading a wealth of scientific literature, the biochemistry major chose to examine the intersection of viruses and bacteria, specifically how viruses could be used to detect bacterial pathogens. The most important thing she took away from her comp “was the ability to work independently,” Chelsea says. A side benefit? Boosting her self-confidence about public speaking. “I was happy that I was able to complete my presentation, despite all the nerves leading up to it.”

Miriam Hamburger Belmont, Mass.

Religious Studies major For her senior comprehensive, Miriam explored how “Native American art and its subsequent marginalization reveals discrimination within the Western art world and how art is a political tool in challenging such an oppressive framework.” The music and images of the DJ collective A Tribe Called Red, shown here, can be looked to as a guide for “art as activism,” Hamburger writes.

Toby Ellentuck New York, N.Y. Media Arts and Culture major Inspired by an Oxy class called Sustainable Justice, the media arts and culture major studied how reality TV shows like “House Hunters” and “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” contributed to the subprime mortgage and housing crisis—and how the demise of the Sears catalog’s “Modern Home” kits (sold from 1908 until 1940) dovetailed with the Great Depression.

Cynthia Magallanes-Gonzalez North Long Beach, Calif.

Sociology major Cynthia interviewed more than 28 refugee mothers from poor or developing countries who took work in Morocco to better provide for their families back home. A quote from one of the women provided the main title for her comp: “I’m not a good mother now, but I will be in the future.” After graduation, she returned to the country on a Fulbright Scholarship to expand her comp research.

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SCIENCES

The Place

SOLAR

ARRAY

ne of the most visible landmarks on the Oxy campus has generated a lot of enthusiasm—and clean, renewable energy—since its construction in 2013.

Combining science, engineering and art, Oxy’s 1-megawatt, ground-mounted solar array generates 12.6 percent of the College’s annual electrical usage. It’s the liberal arts approach to green energy, and the most visible manifestation of Oxy’s commitment to sustainability.

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SCIENCES

ACADEMIC PROGRAMS

SCIENCES 222

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realizing one’s potential A winning formula ANTON MOLINA ’15 Chemistry and Physics Alumnus Anton Molina ’15 managed to do it all as an Oxy student: complete a demanding double major in chemistry and physics, conduct research with chemistry professor Eileen Spain, and win multiple awards, including Goldwater, Fulbright and NSF Graduate scholarships.

After his Fulbright took him to Germany, where he worked with spider silk proteins at a biomaterials laboratory at the University of Bayreuth—“I had a fantastic time”—Molina is now pursuing a doctorate in materials science and engineering at Stanford. Working with MacArthur Fellow and bioengineering professor Manu Prakash, Molina is studying what he calls “unconventional systems” to better understand how the building blocks of basic materials function.

ALUMNI

EVAMARIE DAVID Psychology major Hometown: Bentonville, Ark. EvaMarie David was focused on completing her premed prerequisites when she enrolled in a Developmental Psychology course as a sophomore. “It changed my whole perspective of psychology,” she says.

With the support of her professor and mentor, EvaMarie participated STUDENT in Occidental’s Summer Research Program, examining loneliness in adolescents within four high school contexts. “We looked at one specific high school and conducted on-site data collection on peer-nominated behavioral reputations and social standing, self-reported loneliness, as well as peer-nominated victimization and aggression,” she explains. “This project was part of a larger project with a research group at USC and I feel honored to be part of the team.” EvaMarie attributes her ability to do research to her professor’s belief in her. “I feel as though I’ve been afforded one of the most invaluable experiences because I get to challenge myself around other scholars but I also get to realize and capitalize on my potential.”

“Professors here have offered themselves as a resource consistently and constantly. Oxy really sees that students want to accomplish so much and that we’re so ambitious, and it really equips us to do so.”

EVAMARIE DAVID

SCIENCE OFFERINGS BIOCHEMISTRY BIOLOGY Emphases: Cell & Molecular Biology Environmental Science Marine Biology CHEMISTRY COGNITIVE SCIENCE COMPUTER SCIENCE Emphases: Mathematics CS+X ENGINEERING GEOLOGY Emphasis: Environmental Science KINESIOLOGY MATHEMATICS NEUROSCIENCE*

building a better major KATHRYN LEONARD Professor of Computer Science Department chair Kathryn Leonard presides over Oxy’s fastest-growing major, which tackles computation theory with a liberal arts twist—an approach that is clicking in the classroom. Leonard—who doublemajored in English and mathematics as an undergraduate—encourages FACULTY students to think about the role of humans in technology. “If we’re the ones building the machine, then we have to be very careful about putting our own biases into the machine and, furthermore, putting in biases that we aren’t even aware of,” she told the Los Angeles Times. “In order to have that kind of awareness, you need an exposure to a broad range of perspectives.”

PHYSICS PSYCHOLOGY PUBLIC HEALTH* INDEPENDENT PATTERN OF STUDY A combined plan in engineering is offered for students who meet the established program requirements, as are pathways to engineeering graduate programs. *minor only

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SCIENCES

Students measure stream depth and flow in Eaton Canyon near the Occidental campus for a geomorphology class.

hether it’s testing a scientific hypothesis, composing a new piece of music or surveying or observing human subjects, a hallmark of the Oxy experience is the chance for our students to engage in research—often at a level typically reserved for graduate students. Under the guidance of a faculty mentor, Oxy students are encouraged to do research on campus, in Los Angeles and around the world.

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In addition to funding international travel directly associated with faculty-mentored research across the curriculum, Oxy’s Undergraduate Research Center supports the College’s mission by providing experiences that encourage the development of scholarship, teamwork and communication skills through faculty-mentored independent research. URC programs provide resources for creative endeavors and original projects on and off campus in all disciplines. Summer research opportunities on campus enrich the academic experience of Oxy’s most promising students.

Undergraduate research enables you to collaborate directly with a professor, do a deep dive into a topic of your choosing or develop the expertise to prepare you for graduate or professional work—and sometimes all of the above.

FINDING YOUR VOICE Working with professor Andrea Hopmeyer, psychology major Alexis Morse of Phoenix, Ariz., developed a research protocol to examine LGBTQIA+ crowd affiliation and associated risks, and supervised four student research assistants on the project. Alex wrote her senior thesis on the topic—work that her faculty mentor is confident will be picked up by a professional journal. The experience also helped Alex find her voice as a female scientist to have a female scientist mentor and role model. This kind of close, one-on-one interaction is among the most rewarding elements of the Oxy liberal arts experience—and gives you a leg up on life after college, whether it’s graduate school, medical school or the working world.

THE WORLD AS A CLASSROOM Undergraduate research develops creative and research skills in order to enhance critical thinking and independence of thought. Thanks to a John Parke Young Grant, Naomi Navarro (a diplomacy and world affairs major from Los Angeles) traveled to Janwaar, India, to study the development of a skatepark community. Her photos were published in Vogue India magazine. Naomi—who is the first in her family to attend college—credits her mentor, professor Sophal Ear, with “pushing me to step out of my shell and try different things.” Ten years from now, she would love to be either running her own organization or foundation or doing field research: “I like being out there.”

CAREER DEVELOPMENT Mark Gad, a biochemistry major from Long Beach, Calif., began working in the lab alongside biochemistry professor Joseph Schulz as a first-year student. Three years later, he was one of about 150 undergraduates nationwide to participate in a national collegiate research conference sponsored by Harvard University. (His topic? “Synthetic Neuroexcitatory Peptides From Fish-Hunting Cone Snails.”) “It was the perfect event for not only talking to peers from all over the country about the research they do in their respective fields, but it was also great for career development,” says Mark, who now plans to become a research scientist—which makes his mentor very happy. “The sky’s the limit for Mark,” Schulz says.

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The Place

TIGER COOLER he Cooler is a full-service espresso bar and cafe serving food and drink into the late night. Its open space serves plenty of other functions, from a casual gathering place to a site that hosts waltz and polka dances, open-mic talent nights, comedy and social change cabarets and the occasional indoor roller rink.

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THE LIST OPEN SOURCE Computer science has historically been a segregated field, but Open Source is focused on building an inclusive space for students of all backgrounds to pursue computer science, Oxy’s fastest-growing major. From workshops and social media to weekly Workspaces (where the motto is “No question is a dumb question”) to an annual hackathon in collaboration with the Center for Digital Liberal Arts, Open Source encourages every member to be a leader by bringing their ideas to fruition. Open Source is a movement of community, inclusivity and collaboration.

CULTURAL CLUBS

BLYTH FUND Offering a unique opportunity for handson endowment management, Oxy’s Blyth Fund is a premier six-figure, wholly studentmanaged investment portfolio designed to broaden interest in finance among our most promising students. The 14-person board, elected each spring, studies the stock market and maintains a portfolio. They are free to buy and sell as they see fit.

FEAST GARDEN

GREEK LIFE

Oxy’s Food, Energy and Sustainability Team is dedicated to enjoying, studying and discussing the connection between our food and the environment. Students manage and harvest an organic garden located just below the Urban & Environmental Policy Institute.

Philanthropy and service are hallmarks of Oxy’s eight fraternities and sororities. Each supports its own beneficiary agency, and they unite to help other service events on campus.

Twenty percent of Oxy students are involved in Greek life.

PEER HEALTH EXCHANGE A branch of the national organization, PHE gets Oxy students directly engaged with the L.A. community by teaching ninth-grade health classes at local schools that don’t have funding for health curriculum.

More than a dozen cultural organizations on campus celebrate the diversity of our student body. Current groups include the African Student Association, Asian Pacific Americans for Liberation, Black Student Alliance, Chinese Culture Club, Hawai’i Club, Japanese Cultural Organization, Korean-American Student Association, La Raza Coalition, Latinx Student Union, Los Compadres, Pilipino United Students Organization, and South Asian Students Association.

THE FANG Reviving a cultural staple of campus life dating to the 1940s—Monty Python’s Terry Gilliam ’62 cut his satirical teeth as editor—The Fang is Oxy’s alternative literary/arts publication for students, sparing no one with its “vitriolic content, subversive humor, bile and adenoidal ramblings.”

OXY HIKING CLUB Oxy’s outdoorsiest group sponsors nearby hikes, from the trails at Griffith Park to the San Gabriel Mountains—and they’ve got hiking gear available for anyone who needs it.

KOXY Born as an offshoot of the College’s speech department in the post-war 1940s, Oxy’s student-run radio station has broadcast online since 2000, expanding its reach around the globe. With freeform programming as well as concerts on campus, KOXY creates an opportunity to coalesce around music, art and ideas.

PULSE Meeting weekly, Pulse is dedicated to bringing dance to people of all backgrounds and experience.

The club hosts free dance classes—ranging from hip-hop to contemporary—taught by choreographers among the Oxy community. Everyone is encouraged to express themselves and creatively engage with others.

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B U I L D I N G A C O M M U N I TY

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

Los Angeles is a diverse cultural landscape. Oxy students, faculty and staff are front and center in addressing social justice issues, learning from and with community partners and connecting what happens in classes with current issues in the community.

We define community to be local, national and global, and we engage through curricular and co-curricular research, projects and activities. Our approach turns students into stakeholders, and half of all Oxy students participate in some form of community engagement while in school.

CENTER FOR COMMUNITY BASED LEARNING Community engagement at Oxy is integrated into the curriculum, and the Center for Community Based Learning uses this approach to enrich students’ learning and commitment to social responsibility. Communityconnected classes include field or internship projects that meet learning objectives through visits to community organizations or schools, neighborhoods, museums, libraries and other places outside of the College.

One example is the team-taught colloquium class Living Los Angeles, which strives to provide students with an interdisciplinary understanding of the complex city of Los Angeles. After learning about cultural and political histories of particular neighborhoods (Boyle Heights, Highland Park, Little Tokyo and South Los Angeles), students participate in communitybased research projects with a community-based organization that is focused on a current policy issue.

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URBAN & ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY INSTITUTE NEIGHBORHOOD PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM Oxy’s Neighborhood Partnership Program seeks to enrich the educational experience of Occidental students by allowing them to receive real-world, handson educational experience outside of the classroom. Approximately 50 Oxy students volunteer with the NPP each year, venturing to local high schools to guide prospective college students through the application process, and hosting field trips to Oxy to demystify the college experience.

They also foster small group dialogues on social justice topics.

The Urban & Environmental Policy Institute (UEPI) is a research, policy and advocacy organization committed to bringing about social change and a more just, livable and green society. UEPI engages students, faculty and staff at its home on Oxy’s campus and connects Oxy with its community partners in Los Angeles and beyond.

UEPI has over a dozen local, statewide and national programs that employ strategies of research, organizing, coalitionbuilding, education, advocacy and policy. Special attention is paid to issues of community and public health, food systems, environmental justice, housing and the built environment and urban inequality. Oxy students assist with a variety of UEPI projects, including an affordable housing internship, California farm-to-school programs and community health engagement.

COMMUNITY LITERACY CENTER In the true spirit of community engagement, Oxy’s Community Literacy Center connects Oxy students and elementary schoolage children in a warm and welcoming environment.

In association with Oxy’s community literacy class (Education 140), CLC participants work one-on-one with their students with a focus on creative exploration in language arts. The center integrates arts, technology, critical thinking and critical literacy in an engaging and meaningful way. It’s a growth experience for tutor and student alike.

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“ Why we cherish Oxy so much is because we value social justice, because we value engagement, because we value the ideas of equality.”

ELLA TURENNE Assistant Dean for Community Engagement

MLK DAY OF SERVICE The largest of three service days during the academic year, the MLK Day of Service honors Martin Luther King Jr.’s spirit of service and peace by engaging hundreds of Oxy students, staff, faculty and alumni in community-based projects ranging from canvassing, gardening and food harvesting to library sorting and food distribution. The Office of Community Engagement coordinates the event with more than 20 community partners in Los Angeles. After becoming familiar with the needs of the surrounding area, many students later continue their service as volunteers or interns.

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The Place

KECK

THEATER ome to Occidental’s theater department, Keck Theater features four professionally directed productions each year. It also hosts the New Play Festival, showcasing original student-written plays in which working directors and actors collaborate with student playwrights. “A paradoxical paragon of spacious intimacy and comfortable elegance,” in the words of the Los Angeles Times, Keck’s state-of-the-art stage includes adjustable Lambda platforms allowing various configurations for a total of 412 seats. Productions from recent seasons include A Little Night Music, Machinal, Rhinoceros and Measure for Measure.

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ACADEMIC PROGRAMS

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Exploring New Horizons Composing Is Believing ADAM SCHOENBERG Assistant Professor of Music It’s every composer’s dream: rave reviews for a new piece. Assistant music professor Adam Schoenberg’s new work Orchard in Fog was hailed as “something way out of the ordinary” when it debuted in San Diego in February 2018. But perhaps that’s what you’d expect for a musician who just months before received his first Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Classical Composition for the 10-part orchestral suite Picture Studies.

Schoenberg, who came to Occidental in 2015 as a specialist in composition and film scoring, wants to build on Oxy’s reputation for providing an outstanding music education, and he’s making believers in the classroom. “He’s doing commissions and working with students and trying to get them to really explore their creative side,” says composition major Jonah Propp. “He seems like exactly who I want to be as an adult.”

FACULTY

AUGUST BARRINGER Art and Art History major Hometown: Norwalk, Conn.

Student August Barringer believes in leaving no opportunity unexplored. The Admission tour guide, O-Team member, Glee Club alto, TRANScendence club founder and president, Bengal Bus driver and undergraduate research participant from Norwalk, Conn., is pursuing STUDENT a double emphasis in studio art (focusing on sculpture with professor Mary Beth Heffernan) and art history. “Professor Heffernan is an adviser, a professor, a friend and an inspiration,” August says.

“She’s really amazing in suggesting ways to take your work and make it better.”

ARTS OFFERINGS ART & ART HISTORY Emphases: Art History Studio Art

MEDIA ARTS & CULTURE Emphases: Critical Media Media Production

MUSIC “There’s a kindred spirit being among other art majors. It is really just more about doing what you love to do and finding ways to express yourself.”

AUGUST BARRINGER

Walking the Walk ANGELA KANG ’98 Theater Angela Kang ’98 arrived at Oxy with the intention of pursuing marine biology, but quickly pivoted toward theater and English, she says, attributing the switch to a change of heart: “Oxy was where I solidified that love for writing.” Now, as the showrunner for AMC’s “The ALUMNI Walking Dead,” the complex plot arcs, dramatic character feuds and prescient theme of survivalism that she weaves into the series spring from her rigorous liberal arts education. “It has helped in terms of coming up with story ideas, and it was very helpful that I took a class in Gothic Romanticism,” says Kang, who wrote two one-acts while at Oxy for the College’s New Play Festival. “Having classes that talked about politics in different eras was beneficial to me and was valuable in thinking about the world, people and characters.”

Emphases: Composition Ethnomusicology or Popular Music Instrumental Performance Musicology Music Production Music Theory and Analysis Vocal Performance

THEATER INDEPENDENT PATTERN OF STUDY

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LET’S DANCE Dance Production, aka Dance Pro, is perhaps our most popular campus event. Although the actual production takes place in March, planning is a year-round endeavor. Each fall the student executive board for Dance Pro holds auditions for choreographers, who subsequently hold auditions for dancers. You don’t have to have any experience, and each student who auditions is guaranteed a spot in at least one number. More than 200 students regularly participate in this dance phenomenon in a sold-out Thorne Hall.

Not only does Dance Pro feature a wide variety of dancing abilities, past shows have featured styles from across the spectrum—K-Pop, Bollywood, bellydancing, Polynesian ... you name it.

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ance Production is representative of our community’s egalitarian impulse and eclectic student body. Our students aren’t cookie cutter: They come from different backgrounds and places and have different interests, but they come together to live and learn from each other. Our campus has a reputation of openness and collaboration, not cross-student competition. This distinct sense of community is both organic and by design. The Oxy spirit is rooted in inspiration: students, faculty and staff sharing their passions and forging lifelong relationships. Learn more about a handful of campus institutions that typify our spirit.

THE OCCIDENTAL The official, independent student publication of Occidental since 1893, The Occidental covers the College community and surrounding neighborhood. In 2017, The Occidental was the only small college newspaper honored with the Associated Collegiate Press’ Online Pacemaker award in its annual competition. “This goes to show how important and useful the liberal arts education can be,” says former editor Flora Adamian. “We have the critical thinking, creative and interdisciplinary skills to compete with huge schools that have extensive journalism programs.”

GLEE CLUB

APOLLO NIGHT

Since 1906, the Occidental Glee Club has played a central role in the life of the College, drawing musicians of the highest caliber and giving voice to our Oxy spirit.

From CDs to Soundcloud, and both at home and internationally (including a recent tour of Austria and the Czech Republic), the group’s reputation for sonic excellence has carried the Occidental banner far.

The Occidental Glee Club is dedicated to superb music making and to fostering ties that unite generations of singers.

During Black History Month, a piece of New York thrives at Oxy on Apollo Night. The Black Student Alliance sponsors a talent show modeled after Harlem’s iconic original amateur night at the Apollo Theater. One of Oxy’s most attended events, Apollo Night fills Thorne Hall with an enthusiastic audience eager to watch Oxy students— vocalists, dancers, musicians, poets, comedians—show off their talents.

SPRINGFEST A daylong extravaganza of food, fun and live music, SpringFest is sponsored by Oxy’s Student Programming Board. From established musical acts to up-and-coming sensations, Oxy has hosted concerts by the likes of Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, Common, Snoop Dogg, T-Pain and Tinashe. Pre-concert activities include a rockclimbing wall, a bouncy house, a henna tattoo station, an obstacle course and a selection of popular food trucks to feed the hungry masses.

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HUMANITIES

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uilding on the concept of the library as a place where knowledge is created and stored, the Academic Commons helps integrate spaces, resources, tools and support for teaching, learning and studying at the College. Students can talk freely on the main floor, making it an ideal setting for group work and study sessions. The Ahmanson Reading Room on the other side of the building provides ample space for focusing on individual work.

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HUMANITIES

ACADEMIC PROGRAMS

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nurturing through nature CLAIR MORRISSEY Associate Professor of Philosophy Thanks to a $10,000 Graves Award in the Humanities, associate professor of philosophy Clair Morrissey and her students can return to La Selva Biological Station in the Costa Rican rain forest to continue their exploration of how scientific knowledge is related to valuing nature.

Rather than working from her desk, Morrissey, a specialist in practical ethics, believes “that to have something worth saying, you have to be immersed in the world.”

There’s no formula, she adds, for how to mentor her students, regardless of their major: “I think of myself as a facilitator— somebody who can find resources, help you put yourself in the best position to acquire them.

In a way we’re trying to figure out how to live meaningfully.”

FACULTY

HUMANITIES OFFERINGS

blazing new trails

CHINESE STUDIES JACQUELINE NGUYEN ’87 English

Jacqueline Nguyen ’87’s family was one of the last to flee Vietnam after the fall of Saigon in 1975. She worked in the family’s doughnut shop while earning an English degree at Oxy and her UCLA law degree. Known as “the Smiling Assassin” while serving as a federal prosecutor, Nguyen became the first Vietnamese-American ALUMNI woman to serve as a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge in 2002, as a federal district court judge in 2009 and as a federal appellate judge in 2012. “Judge Nguyen has been a trailblazer,” President Barack Obama ’83 said in nominating her as an appellate judge in 2012.

“I initially took a bunch of Chinese language courses, but my sophomore year I started taking classes like the Rise of the Martial Arts Novel. That was the one class that really did it for me and was the “light bulb switch” that told me I really enjoyed this major.”

CHASE HOLLIDAY

CLASSICAL STUDIES* COMPARATIVE STUDIES IN LITERATURE & CULTURE CRITICAL THEORY & SOCIAL JUSTICE EAST ASIAN STUDIES ENGLISH Emphasis: Creative Writing FRENCH GENDER, WOMEN & SEXUALITY STUDIES* GERMAN* GROUP LANGUAGE INTERDISCIPLINARY WRITING* JAPANESE STUDIES LINGUISTICS*

bridging cultural gaps

PHILOSOPHY CHASE HOLLIDAY Chinese Studies major Hometown: Canoga Park, Calif.

Prior to his senior year at Oxy, Chase Holliday interned at the MercedesBenz Arena in Shanghai, working in international marketing while taking classes at Donghua University. It gave him the opportunity to help plan the marketing for the NHL’s first STUDENT hockey game in China (between the Los Angeles Kings and Vancouver Canucks). “It was exciting to meet people who are doing sort of what I want to do, which is bridge the cultural gap between Chinese society and Western cultures,” says Chase. Initially, the world’s largest city “was definitely a bit overwhelming,” he says.

But eventually “I felt like I was right at home and I was completely immersed in the Shanghai culture.”

RELIGIOUS STUDIES RUSSIAN* SPANISH Emphases: Cultural Studies Linguistics Literary Studies INDEPENDENT PATTERN OF STUDY *minor only

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HUMANITIES

EXPERIENTIAL

LEARNING earning and knowing are rooted in doing. Oxy faculty and students take this idea to heart. They seek ways to link theory to practice, to provide realworld applications to the ideas and notions discussed in classes. And “classrooms” are not narrowly defined as desks and chairs; they may be downtown Los Angeles, an open body of water, an interactive digital setting or some distant country. What they have in common is the capacity to empower students to think and act, to lead and collaborate, in an array of settings. This philosophy is prevalent across the curriculum and in student-led initiatives.

CAMPAIGN SEMESTER Every two years, more than a dozen Oxy students are in the trenches of political campaigns as participants in Campaign Semester. Living and breathing nothing but politics, students spend 10 weeks in battleground states across the country.

While receiving a full semester’s worth of college credit for their internships—still the only program of its kind in the nation—they have front-row seats to the electoral process.

“These students learn a lot about themselves, they learn a lot about democracy and its laws and strengths, and they learn a lot about America,” says Peter Dreier, the E.P. Clapp Distinguished Professor of Politics, who organized the program with politics professor Regina Freer.

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Campaign Semester participants Estrella Lucero, left, and Nick Dodani on the campaign trail with Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

Among the many lessons from Campaign Semester? Grassroots politics can truly make a difference. “I did a lot of phone calls and knocking on doors,” says Mackenzie Bretz, a politics major from Edmonds, Wash., who campaigned for Florida House of Representatives candidate Dan Horton. “When you have that moment when you see someone understand what your candidate is trying to do, it makes every other moment when someone slams their door in your face worth it.”

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COSTA RICA CLASSROOM Biology major Hannah Hayes spent two weeks in Costa Rica studying grasshoppers as one of eight Oxy students who explored the Central American ecosystem up close with professors Beth Braker, Gretchen North and Clair Morrissey. “I originally was planning to study neurobiology,” she explains— but after taking a marine biology class at Oxy, “I realized that you can be a scientist and be outside and still ask important questions.” Inspired by a fellow student’s experience at La Selva Biological Station in Costa Rica—through one of many courses at Oxy that incorporates a study-abroad component into the curriculum—Hannah wound up making two trips to the region, discovering the wonders of the tropical rainforest while photographing 22 varieties of grasshoppers (and researching an additional 15) for a series of field guides.

OXYPRENEURSHIP

TEDx AT OXY

Empower yourself. That’s the message of Oxypreneurship, a collaboration of students and business leaders dedicated to sharing the entrepreneurship spirit. From problem-solving exercises to weeklong academic programs, Oxypreneurship events expose participants to the foundations of entrepreneurial thinking. The results are long-lasting and will help you build hard and soft skills that are the key to successful entrepreneurship.

“Shifting Ecosystems of Power” was the theme of Occidental’s third TEDx conference, a biennial student-run event on the Oxy campus. Seven student leaders representing a variety of majors—including American studies, art and art history, critical theory and social justice, diplomacy and world affairs, and economics and mathematics—worked with three professors in the diplomacy and world affairs department to create a dialogue on one of the most pressing issues of our time. Previous TEDx conferences have addressed sustainability and global development and the American Dream.

“ Oxypreneurship has given me the confidence to go after my passions.”

SNIGDHA SUVARNA, an economics major from Troy, Mich.

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The Place

JOHNSON STUDENT

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he heartbeat of campus social life is the JSC—home to the Marketplace (the main dining hall), the Green Bean Coffee Lounge, the bookstore, the mailroom, student-run radio station KOXY and the Office of Student Life.

The Rose Hills Student Activities Center features the Bengal Room, a 1,200-square-foot multi-purpose programming space for performances and social gatherings. The main corridor of the JSC hosts student government offices and like-minded organizations dedicated to community engagement and social justice, underscoring the College’s relationship with the city of Los Angeles.

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iving on campus is a huge part of the Oxy experience. Each residential community is an extension of the classroom, giving students opportunities to trade insights about their research or simply continue a classroom conversation. It’s also a home and a place for social connections. The residence hall lounge serves as a living room, perfect for game nights or catching up on the latest Netflix offerings.

In the first year, students live in one of the First-Year Experience (FYE) halls. This community of 115-150 students offers the unique opportunity to build relationships in an intimate, close-knit environment, providing a built-in group of people to study with and rely on as peers. All students live in College housing through their junior year, and many choose to stay on campus for their senior year. With 13 residence halls and numerous themed housing options focused on specialized interests, the Oxy residential experience offers something for everyone.

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FOOD JUSTICE HOUSE The Food Justice House creates a community within Occidental that fosters the development of sustainable food practices and instills awareness of the possibility of an environmentally conscious and socially aware lifestyle outside of a campus setting.

NORRIS HALL Norris Hall allows students to live together in groups of six to 16, in themed communities of their own creation. Recent examples include Art Engagement, Asians in Media, Combating Hyper Masculinity in Greek Life and Collegiate Athletics, Cultures From Around the World, Healthy Living, Urban Environmentalism and Water Conservation.

NEWCOMB HALL Newcomb Hall consists of three floors that are single gender by wing, with men and women living on the same floor. Its location is adjacent to Booth Hall, home to the music department, and close to Campus Dining facilities. All residence halls have DirecTV in the lounge, a computer lab and laundry facilities.

BERKUS HOUSE An all-female living option that focuses on developing a strong sense of community among women who want to live with and be surrounded by other women, Berkus House is a closeknit community that provides space for discussion, communal living and personal development.

PAULEY MULTICULTURAL HALL Pauley is a space in which students may openly discuss their differences and pluralistic identities with neighbors of different identities and backgrounds so that they may learn about their differences and celebrate them. By no means is Multicultural Hall intended to be an exclusive community, but rather a space open to all who wish to engage in dialogue, serving as a living and evolving embodiment of the four cornerstones of Oxy’s mission statement: excellence, equity, community and service.

QUEER SCHOLARS: GUEST HOUSE Located at 1480 Campus Road, the Queer-Themed Living Community aims to create a space for queer, LGBT+, non-heterosexual and non-cisgender students to explore their identity, foster intragroup solidarity and create intentional programming for the Occidental community. Any individual who does not align with hegemonic and normative sexual and gender identities is welcome to live here.

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Forwards Zach Baines, an economics major from Stamford, Conn., and Austin DeWitz, a biology major from Oregon City, Ore., recently led the Tigers to their best finish in a decade. And when basketball season was over, DeWitz—the defending conference champion in the high jump—recruited Baines to join him on Oxy’s track team.

OXY All In for

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xy’s commitment to excellence doesn’t end in the classroom. With 21 varsity teams and a host of other activities—from club sports and intramural leagues to wellness and fitness classes—the College engages the mind as well as the body with a wealth of opportunities at every level of play. Approximately 25 percent of all students compete at the NCAA Division III level, and nearly half of all students participate in all athletics activities combined. “All in for Oxy” is more than a slogan—it’s a way of life. Go Tigers!

VARSITY SPORTS Oxy fields 21 varsity teams as a member of NCAA Division III and the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC).

MEN’S VARSITY SPORTS INCLUDE:

Sienna Slack, center, helped propel the women’s lacrosse team to the SCIAC playoffs. She and teammate Ciara Byrne, center rear, led the conference in scoring as well.

• • • • • • •

Baseball Basketball Cross Country Football Golf Soccer Swimming & Diving • Tennis • Track & Field • Water Polo

WOMEN’S VARSITY SPORTS INCLUDE: • • • • • • • • • • •

Basketball Cross Country Golf Lacrosse Soccer Softball Swimming & Diving Tennis Track & Field Volleyball Water Polo

CLUB SPORTS

Austin Lashley set five new school swimming records en route to winning NCAA Division III All-American honors.

Lashley was also named to the College Swimming Coaches Association Scholar All America team.

• • • • •

Women’s golf team co-captain Katy Uchiyama, an economics major from Cerritos, Calif., was honored with SCIAC’s Sportsmanship award.

Cheerleading Dance Team Men’s Lacrosse Men’s & Women’s Rugby Men’s & Women’s Ultimate

INTRAMURAL SPORTS • 3-on-3 and 5-on-5 Basketball • Flag Football • 5-On-5 Soccer • Doubles Volleyball • Wiffle Ball

WELLNESS AND FITNESS CLASSES • • • • •

Cardio Tennis Circuit Training Karate Spin Strength Training • Yoga • Zumba

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EAT @ FIG AND YORK Food trucks can often be found around Oxy. Each Tuesday night brings a lineup of different vendors to this Highland Park location—from classic taco trucks to Korean BBQ, there’s never a shortage of options.

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THE LIST SCOOPS ON YORK

THE EAGLE ROCK The diverse, quirky, livable neighborhood in which Oxy is located is named after the local rock formation that resembles an eagle in flight. According to historian Eric Warren ’69, the name dates back to the 1880s, just before Oxy’s founding.

Offering a refreshing twist on traditional ice cream (made on the premises), Scoops serves up a rotating array of fun daily flavors such as Brown Bread, Banana Oreo, Lavender Goat Cheese Honey, Olive Oil Marscapone and Chocolate Almond.

SECOND SATURDAY GALLERY NIGHT

(Image courtesy of artist Andrew Covell)

On the second Saturday of each month, art galleries and shops in Northeast L.A. (including Highland Park and Eagle Rock) open their doors for a free art walk. Many artists and nonprofit organizations feature self-guided tours and artist meet-andgreets.

CACAO MEXICATESSEN

A hidden gem with beautiful views of downtown L.A., this popular local park offers plenty of trails to choose from and a small lake at the top of the hill.

EAGLE ROCK FARMERS MARKET

CaCao “has a fairly open mind on what might go into a taco,” Los Angeles Times critic Jonathan Gold wrote in his list of 101 Best Restaurants in L.A. “They make carnitas out of duck, for one thing, neatly splitting the difference between the classic Mexican preparation and French duck confit, and sometimes they make chicharrones out of duck cracklings just to mess with your mind.”

Farm-fresh produce and specialty food vendors (great empanadas!) combine with local artists, musicians, dancers and the occasional magician or Elvis impersonator on Friday evenings at the Eagle Rock Farmers Market.

HIGHLAND THEATRE

PERMANENT RECORDS

An institution in neighboring Highland Park since 1925, the Highland Theatre today boasts three screens and some of the cheapest first-run movies in Los Angeles. Less than three miles from campus, it’s a Los Angeles HistoricCultural Monument and home to the Highland Park Independent Film Festival.

One of many highly regarded record shops in Highland Park, and part of the reason why the L.A. Times calls the neighborhood “dense with genrespanning musical creativity.”

SPITZ Spitz is the endeavor of two Oxy alumni, one of whom fell in love with döner kebabs while studying abroad and vowed to bring the deliciousness back to L.A. Spitz is a campus favorite for its tasty kebabs, wraps, salads, falafel and fries.

ERNEST E. DEBS REGIONAL PARK

ZWEET CAFE Zweet is a great study spot, cafe and coffee boutique just two blocks from campus. When you need to get away—but not too far away—life can be Zweet, indeed!

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The Place

HA MEETMAN

CAREER CENTER

very student has unique career aspirations, and the College’s Hameetman Career Center is committed to ensuring that each one will leave Oxy ready to embark on a path of their choosing. Experts in career services, pre-health advising and national and international fellowships help students clarify professional goals and develop strategies to achieve them. They will leave Oxy successfully prepared to navigate the demands and complexity of an ever-changing global economy and to make a difference in the world.

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CAREER

OPPORTUNITIES What kind of college graduates are employers looking for today?

Our experience shows that Occidental graduates are in demand because they possess the liberal arts skills that employers value: the ability to work well on a team, synthesize information, solve problems and communicate effectively.

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Whether you’re going out into the job market or applying to graduate school, a versatile Oxy education gives you the best possible preparation to succeed in a rapidly changing world—and the Hameetman Career Center is the hub where it all comes together. The Career Center offers a wide range of services to Occidental students, including individualized career and graduate school advising; career-education training; structured internship programs, including donor-funded opportunities; oversight of enrollment for credit-bearing internship courses; more than 200 career-education and on-campus recruiting events annually; academic department career events with faculty; and industry-specific professional seminars by experts in the field. The Career Center’s experienced team also offers career assessments to help students better understand their interests, personality type and values.

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One Year After Graduation:

TOP EMPLOYERS AMAZON

HOULIHAN LOKEY

QUALCOMM

BEL AIR INVESTMENT ADVISORS

JET PROPULSION LABORATORY

RAYTHEON

BROAD MUSEUM

L.A. COUNTY MUSEUM OF ART

BUNIM MURRAY PRODUCTIONS

L.A. OPERA

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA EDISON

CBS

TEACH FOR AMERICA

CITI

LIEBERMAN RESEARCH WORLDWIDE

CITY YEAR

LINKEDIN

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

DINEEQUITY

LUCASFILM

EDELMAN

MGM

U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

ENTERPRISE

NIELSEN

XEROX

FEDERAL RESERVE

PARAMOUNT PICTURES

YELP

TESLA MOTORS

78% 16%

PAYDEN & RYGEL

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OFF-CAMPUS OPPORTUNITIES THE AMERICAS • • • • • • •

Argentina Bolivia Brazil Chile Costa Rica Cuba Dominica Republic

• • • • • •

Ecuador Nicaragua Panama Paraguay Peru Uruguay

• • • • • • • •

The Netherlands Poland Russia Serbia Spain Sweden Switzerland United Kingdom

EUROPE • • • • • • • • • •

Austria Czech Republic Denmark France Germany Greece Hungary Iceland Ireland Italy

AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST • • • • •

s the world figuratively shrinks, Oxy’s imprint around the world spreads.

Our extensive study abroad and research programs foster intensive crosscultural learning and collaboration through language and cultural immersion, independent fieldwork and community-based learning projects.

Three-quarters of Oxy students will study abroad for up to a semester during their time in college. Oxy offers multiple routes to global leadership across all seven continents. Students come to Oxy from all over the world, each contributing their unique perspective to our ongoing conversation. And the city of Los Angeles is its own international enclave, with 130 different languages spoken within the city limits.

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Botswana Ghana Madagascar Morocco Rwanda

• • • •

Senegal South Africa Tanzania Uganda

• • • • • •

New Zealand Samoa South Korea Taiwan Thailand Vietnam

ASIA & OCEANIA • • • • • • •

Australia China India Indonesia Japan Mongolia Nepal

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Occidental offers many pathways to global citizenship—from a semester-long residential internship with the United Nations in New York City to a world of opportunities for international research and travel through the John Parke Young Initiative on the Global Economy and the Richter Trust. Choose your own adventure.

THE KAHANE UNITED NATIONS PROGRAM Every year, up to 16 highly qualified upperdivision students receive an in-depth education on our 21st-century global community by directly participating in it. The Kahane U.N. Program, under the guidance of seasoned staff—including former U.N. personnel—is one of the few programs of its kind for undergraduates. During the fall semester, when the General Assembly is in session, students head to New York City, where they take two courses in international issues and an independent study seminar, all while interning full time at a U.N.-related agency.

“ Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that I would one day be interning with the United Nations as an undergraduate student. Living and thriving in the melting pot that is New York City, working along the political boundaries of Permanent Missions and U.N. agencies through my tasks of coordinating diplomatic training courses—while also taking engaging academic courses in the field of international relations—has allowed me to grow professionally, socially and academically.”

GAEA MORALES Kahane U.N. participant

THE JOHN PARKE YOUNG INITIATIVE ON THE GLOBAL ECONOMY The John Parke Young Initiative on the Global Economy supports the study of the global political economy and global affairs practice.

The fund provides grants for independent research projects developed by students under faculty supervision. The endowment funds the John Parke Young Chair in Global Political Economy together with programs and research designed to promote national or international economic, social, financial or political policies or actions of general public and social benefit. The John Parke Young Initiative on the Global Economy supports the study of the global political economy and global affairs practice. The fund provides grants for independent research projects developed by students under faculty supervision.

R E C E N T J O H N PA R K E YO U N G P ROJ E CT S B Y D I P LO M ACY & WO R L D A F F A I R S M A J O R S: INTERNSHIP WITH THE INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY IN VIENNA, AUSTRIA Jayne Wixtead, New Canaan, Conn.

CHINA’S SOFT POWER CAMPAIGN IN THE TRUMP ERA IN SHENZHEN, CHINA Maya Mei, China INTERNSHIP WITH THE CITY OF LOS ANGELES: MAYOR’S OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS Snigdha Suvarna, Troy, Mich.

INTERNSHIP WITH ONWARD ISRAEL GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS PROGRAM IN JERUSALEM, ISRAEL Mason Hurlocker, Santa Fe, N.M. RESEARCH ON TRANSNATIONAL ANTIFEMICIDE MOVEMENTS AS AGENTS OF SOCIAL CHANGE IN LATIN AMERICA IN BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA Kiera Cox, Everett, Wash.

MORGAN BENNET T- SMITH

THE RICHTER TRUST The Richter Trust funds student summer research virtually anywhere in the world and across all disciplines. Students develop projects of scholarly merit that promote crosscultural engagement. Students present their projects to the Occidental community at the Research Abroad Conference held in the fall.

R E C E N T R I C H T E R P ROJ E CT S: ANALYZING THE EPIDERMAL MICROBIOTA OF FOUR SPECIES OF GALAPAGOS MOCKINGBIRDS Samantha Herdman, Mill Valley, Calif.

Biology major UNDERSTANDING THE IMPACT OF MATERNAL AND CHILD HEALTH PROGRAMS IN UGANDA Atnasia Mekonnen, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Undeclared major (ANTI)BLACKNESS IN CONTEMPORARY JAPAN: TRACING THE PERCEPTIONS (AND RECEPTIONS) OF AFRO-JAPANESE IDENTITIES Robertia Reid, Los Angeles Critical theory and social justice major CHILD MALNUTRITION INTERVENTIONS EVALUATION RESEARCH (ARGENTINA) Luis Torres, Pomona, Calif.

Biology and Spanish studies double major WA KAHIA, A DOCUMENTARY (KENYA) Agnes Waithira, Fort Lee, N.J. Biology major

“ I gained many valuable skills and insights conducting research in the Caribbean. I cannot emphasize enough how much this experience meant to me; it firmly solidified my stance as a scientist, reaffirming my passion for research and fieldwork, and is a fantastic stepping stone on my path to entering a Ph.D. program in biological oceanography. By facilitating international undergraduate research, the Richter Trust lays a framework that provides students with invaluable experiences conducting research.”

MORGAN BENNET T- SMITH Biology major

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LA S T H U R R A H

The Place

REMSEN

BIRD

ore commonly known as the Greek Bowl, this outdoor amphitheater hosts Commencement every May. Imagine it—just you, your classmates and 3,500 of your closest family and friends. SpringFest, Oxy’s largest annual concert, also draws a sold-out crowd. And for more than 20 summers, the Occidental Children’s Theater has woven its wacky adaptations of folk stories and fairy tales here.

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O CC I D E N TA L CO L L E G E

59

LA S T H U R R A H

Occidental was founded in 1887 under the leadership of the Presbyterian Church in neighboring Boyle Heights. The College (which has been nonpartisan since 1910) moved to its Eagle Rock home in 1914. Our College motto, “Occidens Proximus Orienti,” translates as “The West is nearest the East.”

OCCIDENTAL HAS ALWAYS BEEN COEDUCATIONAL.

Our campus reach is galactic. Trekkies feel at home here.

in a nutshell

The Gilman Fountain is frequently referred to as the “STAR TREK” FOUNTAIN because it was featured in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock as a landmark on the planet Vulcan.

THE BENGAL BUS is a student-run service that provides transportation off campus. Destinations include the cultural (museums), the practical (Trader Joe’s and Target) and the purely fun (SoCal beaches and Old Pasadena).

Renowned architect MYRON HUNT (1868-1952) designed the campus and its original buildings. He also designed the Rose Bowl, the Huntington Library and the original Caltech campus.

IO TRIUMPHE! (pronounced Yo Try·um·fee) is the first line of a cheer that 1907 Oxy graduate Frank Beal brought from his hometown of Albion, Mich., to Occidental as a sophomore.

Soon thereafter, the cheer was required learning for first-years.

The cheer is mostly gibberish.

In the last decade, almost 200 Oxy students have been invited to present at the NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH.

Occidental is one of the top producers of PEACE CORPS volunteers among the country’s small colleges—a reflection of its long tradition of global engagement. A total of 259 Oxy alumni have traveled abroad to serve as Peace Corps volunteers since the agency was founded in 1961.

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T H E P O W E R O F P LA C E

O CC I D E N TA L CO L L E G E

2,050

91%

in

los angeles

STATES,

56

WASHINGTON, D.C. and

FOREIGN

COUNTRIES

925 BEVERAGES

35 including an option for a self-designed course of study

Location matters. It doesn’t define your college education, but it informs it.

Occidental’s place in Los Angeles will extend the scope of your opportunities far beyond the College’s 120-acre campus.

4

Place is not narrowly defined at Occidental. Our historic setting is tucked between the evolving, eclectic neighborhoods of Eagle Rock and Highland Park.

The picturesque campus defies the stereotype of an urban college, yet we are undeniably in one of the world’s most dynamic cities.

Our location serves as a springboard for putting theory into practice and ideas into perspective. An Oxy liberal arts education has no geographic boundaries. You might find yourself diving into the Pacific for marine research, interning at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, living in New York as a Kahane U.N. Program participant or studying abroad in South Korea.

Oxy also inspires community. Uncommonly inclusive and consciously collaborative, our students forge close-knit relationships and embrace differences, even if their conversations are sometimes challenging. They develop the skills to live in an increasingly diverse world and to succeed in a global economy.

Oxy alumni who have played in the NFL

41%

filmed on campus recently (“Here and Now,” “NCIS: Los Angeles,” “The Romanoffs,” and “Sweet Vicious”)

During his two years of study at Occidental, Barack Obama ’83 first began to take the world of books and ideas seriously, and was awakened to the notion that he could make a difference in the world. The classes he took, the lasting relationships he formed with professors and friends, and his experiences outside of the classroom all helped shape the person he was to become. Oxy “started giving me a sense of what a purposeful life might look like,” he said.

Honoring the president’s legacy, the Barack Obama Scholars Program at Occidental College will empower the next generation of leaders in active pursuit of the public good by providing a comprehensive experience for exceptional students of all backgrounds who seek the opportunity to create lasting and meaningful change.

For more information, visit obamascholars.oxy.edu.

demonstrated financial aid met

The power of place

Occidental College is not just in Los Angeles. It’s of Los Angeles, Southern California and beyond.

FACULTY RATIO

poured daily in the student-run coffee lounge, the Green Bean

come from

liberal arts

9:1

STUDENT-

THE BARACK OBAMA SCHOLARS PROGRAM

in the nation according to The Daily Meal

domestic students of color

OXY

alumni have won Academy Awards (so far), including two-time honoree Ben Affleck ’95 (Best Original Screenplay for Good Will Hunting in 1997, and Best Picture for Argo in 2012)

Oxy is home to some sociable (and well-fed) squirrels, including “Chubby,” who lives on the Office of Admission patio. (Many of his friends

(according to architectural firm StructureHub)

are dumpster divers.)

O C C I D E N TA L C O L L E G E

1600 Campus Road Los Angeles, CA 90041-3314 oxy.edu

OCCIDENTAL COLLEGE

LIBERAL ARTS IN LOS ANGELES

LIBERAL ARTS in LOS ANGELES