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 March 24, 2023. 
  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 2023 Course Descriptions

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.
 

BSAD 190: Design Your Own Business

Instructor: Kristen Smirnov

3 Credits

How do pop-up stores draw consumers' attention during their limited lifespan? Do you make snap judgments after visiting a website for the first time? In a world where Amazon reliably offers cheaper books, how has Barnes & Noble stuck around? The design of a store or website shapes our opinions about that business. It signals who the store is for, what sort of products they offer, and the experience you'll get inside. It can even offer unique features that make you want to go to that business more! In this class, you'll put on your walking shoes, fire up your browsing fingers, and visit real in-person and online businesses to analyze their design choices. By the end, you'll propose your own ideas for a business design.
 

BSAD 290: Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Instructor: Setayesh Sattari

3 Credits

This course focuses on the foundations of innovation and entrepreneurship and is designed to introduce students to the innovative entrepreneurial process and help students expand their innovative thinking skills. This course allows them to gain an understanding of innovation and entrepreneurship by the act of doing. Accordingly, the course includes experiential entrepreneurship-related activities where they work in a group to test ideas, practice entrepreneurship, and develop a business plan. This course is open for students in any discipline and not limited to the business administration majors. It will help students in various majors understand how they can develop an idea in their discipline into a business plan.
 

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.
 

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 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.


PLSC 201/GEN 201: Women and Leadership

Instructor: Sara Angevine

3 Credits
Satisfies CUL 4 Lib Ed requirement

This course analyses the connections between gender, power, and leadership. Women are underrepresented in positions of leadership across all fields of structural power: science, arts, politics, and business. Why? The course introduces students to theories of feminism, leadership, and knowledge to best analyze this phenomenon. In this course, students will gain a deeper understanding of the complex relationship between social, political, and economic institutions and the construction of individual identities. We will explore how gender interacts with nationality, race, age, socio-economic class, religion, and sexuality to shape the way in which communities define, promote, and advance leaders. Students will also formulate their own definition of women’s leadership. The course draws upon the fields of psychology, political science, business, women and gender studies, history, communications, and economics. Truly interdisciplinary, students will gain a richer understanding of why the gender gap in leadership positions persists, how to apply gender as a category of critical analysis, and their own potential to act as agents, as leaders.

FILM/THEA 170: Fundamentals of Cinema

Instructor: Patti McCarthy

3 Credits

The purpose of this course is to inform and excite you about the art of cinema. We will try to outline, explain, and draw connections among artistic, technological, socioeconomic forces, which have shaped and are reflected in the world of cinema. We will concentrate on important films and directors from around the world in order to comprehend their contribution to the evolution of film form and content.
 

SPAN 120: Elementary Spanish I

Instructor: Doreen O’Connor-Gomez

4 Credits
Satisfies the CUL 7 Lib Ed requirement

This class is an introduction to the essentials of the Spanish language: reading, listening, speaking and writing skills. Various facets of Spanish-speaking cultures will be analyzed via cross-cultural comparisons. The overall goals of SPAN 120 are seen in terms of students performing linguistic tasks successfully, gaining self-confidence, relying on themselves and classmates, expanding their risk-taking in real-life communicative situations, and gaining an awareness of Latino cultures. The language students practice is realistic - what they would speak in a Spanish-speaking environment. Our online platform will present vocabulary and grammar in action through culture. This class is designed for students who do not have Spanish language background who wish to learn to begin to speak Spanish on a proficient level.