Whittier College Undergraduate Summer Courses

Whether you need to stay on track or get ahead for graduation, lighten the load of your regular semesters, or you just want to take a really interesting class during the summer, Whittier College offers online courses during the summer.

This is a great opportunity for you to continue your Whittier education during the summer, at a fraction of the cost, from anywhere in the world. In addition, these courses may be used to satisfy Lib. Ed. and/or major/minor requirements.

Members of Whittier College faculty teach Summer Program courses. All courses satisfy requirements for Whittier College academic credit and may be applied toward degree requirements. The maximum number of credits for which a student may register during the summer is 13. All courses are transcripted using semester credit hours.

Enrollment Information

Whittier College students

  1. Summer registration opens on May 2, 2022. 
  2. Register using My.Whittier.edu, Registration tab, Add and Drop Classes link, unless otherwise noted.
  3. Use the Registration Fee Assessment link at the bottom of the Add or Drop Classes page to see your balance due.
  4. Use the Credit Card Payment link at the bottom of the Registration Fee Assessment page to pay your fees. Alternatively you may submit payment to the Business Office located in Mendenhall.

Students Visiting from other Institutions

  1. Complete an Application for Non-Degree Admission which is available at the Registrar’s Office front desk in Mendenhall.
  2. You will be notified of admission via email and provided additional registration instructions.

Add/Drop and Withdrawal Schedule for Summer Undergraduate Enrollment

Instructors may drop students for non-attendance through 25% of class duration. It is the student's responsibility to drop classes before published deadlines. Classes not dropped by the deadline are subject to grading and full fee liability.

Add/Drop Schedule

1st day of class: Last Day to Add/Drop without “W"
6th day of class: Last Day to Drop with a “W"

No withdrawal or leave of absence is granted during the last week of any course

Fee Payment and Refund Schedule for Summer Undergraduate Enrollment

Fees

Online courses: $683 per credit

On-campus courses: $1,004 per credit

Fees must be paid in full before the class Start Date unless otherwise noted above. Some classes have early registration and payment deadlines. Enrollments are canceled for non-payment of fees by the deadline. Late payment and registration reinstatement incurs a $100 penalty.

Refund schedule

  • 100% of fees are refunded for classes dropped on the 1st day of class
  • 90% of fees are refunded for classes dropped on the 2nd day of class
  • 80% of fees are refunded for classes dropped on the 3rd day of class
  • 70% of fees are refunded for classes dropped on the 4th day of class
  • 60% of fees are refunded for classes dropped on the 5th day of class
  • 50% of fees are refunded for classes dropped on the 6th day of class
  • After day six (6) 0% of fees are refunded

Transcripts for Summer Classes

Please refer to the Registrar's Office Transcript page for information on how to order an official transcript of your Whittier College coursework.

Summer 2022 Course Descriptions

BSAD 309/INTD 309: Finance and the Brain

Instructor: Fatos Radoniqi

4 Credits
Satisfies CON 2 Lib Ed requirement

This course explores how individuals make financial decisions. We study how to minimize financial decision-making errors by examining various psychological biases that we are susceptible to. Biases and simplifying "rules of thumb" are ever-present in our real‐life decisions, whether we're choosing which car to buy or deciding whether to gamble. We also learn about financial decision-making through the lens of neuroscience, examining the role of emotion, the reward system, and reinforcement learning. The course focuses on personal finance and is intended to guide students towards better spending, saving, and investing decisions. We aim to answer two questions: What are the deep “irrational” forces driving financial behavior, and what can be done to better manage them.

ECON 290: The Bitter Side of Chocolate

Instructor: Alma Bezares Calderon

3 Credits
Satisfies CUL 6 Lib Ed requirement 

Cocoa and chocolate have a long history. Considered by some as a healthy food and by others as a sinful but exquisite experience, chocolate is one of the most beloved treats. Still, chocolate production has a bitter side that few people recognize: exploitative practices and child labor abuse, wars originated by the control of cocoa plantations, asymmetrical trade practices, and dubious marketing campaigns. In this course, we will use a multi-disciplinary approach to explore the role of chocolate in human history, its economic and cultural importance across time, and the complex structure of the global cocoa-chocolate value chain, with particular emphasis on its governance, its environmental impact and the local effects for the producers, located mostly in the African continent. The students will be able to develop their writing, analytical and research skills by exploring the broader issues related to the production of chocolate and will be able to translate their knowledge to a wider setting, identifying general issues in economics and in the political-economy of other value-chain structures that exist across the world. 

FILM/THEA 290: Performing for Social Media

Instructor: Gil Gonzalez

3 Credits
Satisfies the COM 3 Lib Ed requirement

Performance, be it on stage or in front of the camera, is rapidly evolving as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. This course will help students understand trends, various [social media] platforms, and provide opportunities to experiment and develop content creation for the booming virtual performance age.

FILM/THEA 285: Documentary Cinema

Instructor: Jennifer Holmes

3 credits
Satisfies COM 2 (WIC)

A survey of the history, aesthetics, and theory of the documentary film/video tradition. Lectures and discussions are supplemented by class screenings.

GEN/PHIL 190: Decolonizing Sexuality

Instructor: Michelle Switzer

3 Credits
Satisfies the COM 2 Lib Ed requirement

This course studies contemporary work in Philosophy of sexuality on the racialization of black and brown masculinity, the sexual objectification of women, the burden of queer explanation, transphobia, and the history of blackness and transness.

GEN/PSYC 262: American Media and Sexuality

Instructor: Christina Scott

3 credits
Satisfies the CUL 4 Lib Ed requirement

This course will focus on the influence that media has on our sexual identity and culture. Students will explore how sexuality has been portrayed in North American media, including films, television shows, and print media over the past three decades, with a primary focus on contemporary media. Students will come to understand how cultural expectations of sexuality are generated, shaped, and reinforced by the media and the psychological effects associated with these social comparisons.

INTD 279: Disasters

Instructor: Ralph Isovitsch

3 credits
Satisfies the CON 2 Lib Ed requirement

This course will explore the scientific and human dimensions of disasters. Topics will include modern disasters such as Hurricane Katrina and the San Francisco Earthquake, historical disasters like the explosion of the Krakatoa volcano in 1883, and potential disasters like global warming.

INTD 390: The Beatles: Transatlantic Culture, Society, and Politics  

Instructor: José Ortega 

3 credits
Satisfies CUL 6 Lib Ed requirement 

This course will evaluate, analyze, and historicize The Beatles as artists, cultural symbols, and musical icons.  Their career spanned the turbulent 1960s, providing us with a unique opportunity to gauge the articulation between music, society, and politics during a critical decade in recent history. By examining the diverse origins of their music we will consider how transatlantic communities and cultures influenced the development of “Beatlemania” in an increasingly globalized world.  

 

PLSC 206: The Media and the Political Process

Instructor: Sara Angevine

3 credits.  
Satisfies CUL 4 Lib Ed requirement

We will examine the U.S. media landscape, looking at the role of media in a democracy. Additional topics include media consolidation, media bias, war coverage, the rise of the internet as an alternative media source, and media coverage of elections.

ART 204: Digital Photography Workshop

Instructor: Danny Jauregui

3 credits
Satisfies the COM 3 Lib Ed requirement

This course will acquaint students with the fundamentals of Digital Photography including traditional and experimental uses of Adobe Photoshop. Emphasis will be placed on visual communication of ideas through the medium of digital photography. Instruction will cover topics such as manual camera operations, basic image correction, digital image manipulation, and will also cover fundamentals of composition and 2-D image organization. The assignments will include consideration of the cultural/political impact of digital manipulation, the relationship between subject and photographer, and the historical implications of photographic objectification. 

CHDV 290: Children’s Creative Expressions

Instructor: Nora Obregon

3 credits

How do children develop creative narratives? Why is pretend play important to cognitive and social development? This course will explore children’s creative expressions in narratives, fairytales, dramatic play, art, music, and drawing. You will have the opportunity to learn concepts related to children’s creativity and explore theories of young children’s creative development. In addition, you will learn how factors such as individual differences, gender differences and ethnic differences play a role in children’s creativity.

FILM/THEA 170: Fundamentals of Cinema

Instructor: Patti McCarthy

3 Credits

This course surveys the major films, filmmakers, themes, and issues of a major film genre. The genres will vary from semester to semester and during any given term, the genre might be the musical, gangster, western, film noir, or horror films. Lectures and discussions are supplemented by class screenings. 

INTD 190: Professional Communication

Instructor: Kristen Smirnov

3 Credits
Satisfies the COM 2 Lib Ed requirement

This class prepares students of all majors to communicate professionally as they seek and begin their careers. Along with different formats (job applications, LinkedIn profiles, team communications, and more), students will appreciate the differences in business communication types (upward, downward, lateral, and external). 

INTD 265: Nanotechnology and Society

Instructor: Serkan Zorba

4 credits
Satisfies the CON 2 Lib Ed requirement

Nanotechnology is by its nature an interdisciplinary subject. It is where different fields of science and technology converge: physics, chemistry, biology, and engineering. This course will lay down the technical background of nanotechnology, and discuss its potential implications for society. This exciting field is projected to bring about profound changes in our lives: ultra-fast computers, disease-fighting nano-robots (nanites), self-cleaning, and color-changing car/window surfaces, to name a few. The course will also emphasize how ethics and societal considerations have enormous transforming power over science and technology, and how this is a very healthy interaction for both. Throughout the course, we will draw on the ideas and writings of an eclectic group of scientists, philosophers, and futurists. 

INTD 290: Disease and Immunity

Instructor: Sylvia Vetrone

Satisfies the CON 2 Lib Ed requirement

During this five-week course we will learn and discuss how our immune system develops and works, how our unique genetic makeup plays a role in that development, and the ways in which our immune system recognizes and protects us from invading pathogens. Understanding the unique interactions between our bodies and disease, will allow us to begin to explore how this unique relationship has impacted the development of human society over history, and into our present day, and how we are harnessing this information to help us better fight diseases from within our own bodies and prepare for fights against new and emerging diseases.

INTD 299: Internship

Instructor: German Aguilar Tinajero

0-3 Credits

INTD 299 is intended to support the core learning that takes place while a student participates in an academically-related internship. Course content and assignments will enable students to reflect on their day-to-day, hands-on experience, enhance existing skills, acquire new skills, apply content and theory learned in coursework (major, minor and liberal education), create professional contacts, strengthen their resumes, and learn from professionals in the field.

MATH 080: Elementary Statistics

Instructor: Jordan Hanson

3 credits
Satisfies the COM 1 Lib Ed requirement

Descriptive Statistics: descriptive measures, probability concepts, discrete random variables, normal distribution. Inferential Statistics: sampling distributions, confidence intervals, hypothesis testing, Chi-square procedures, linear regression. Emphasis on methodology rather than theory. Not open to students who have taken MATH 315. MATH 080 does NOT satisfy the prerequisite for MATH 085.

PSYC 085: Psychology in Film

Instructor: Margo Kaatz

Through films, primary- and secondary-source readings, and in-class lectures and discussions, this course is designed to help students with little or no background in psychology understand and appreciate the connections between American culture as expressed in early and contemporary film and the field of psychology. American cinema provides the backdrop for an exploration of the influence and interdependence between American culture and the study of human behavior and mental health during the mid- to late-20th and early 21st centuries.  While focusing on psychological constructs as presented in film, students will be exposed to differing perspectives and interpretations of human behavior and mental illness at different historical time periods. 

SPAN 190: Spanish for Health Professions

Instructor: Doreen O’Connor-Gomez

Satisfies the CUL 7 Lib Ed requirement

This course is designed to help provide the first step for health professionals and their patients to communicate effectively with each other. We will cover in four weeks about half of our textbook and a good chunk of the essential information about the Spanish language that the health professional needs in order to work toward proficiency: vocabulary, grammatical structures, and cultural information.  At the completion of this course, you will not suddenly be proficient in Spanish.  You will, however, have made important strides along the road toward proficiency. You will have learned how to engage in conversation with your Hispanic patients on both medical and non-medical topics; how to give instructions and make appointments; how to ask about symptoms; how to talk about treatment; and how to negotiate your way through misunderstandings that may arise during such conversations and ascertain that such misunderstandings have been cleared up. Key to our course will be basic cultural knowledge that all medical personnel should have about Latin America and their Spanish-speaking patients.