Consortium on Quality Education Campus Statements

Hampshire College

A. Campus description

Size

• Private institution; 1,209 students
• 1,162 continuing students (includes new first-year students plus all returning students from previous years)
• 47 transfer students (transfer includes only new transfer students)

  Structure

• Five interdisciplinary schools: the School of Cognitive Science; the School of Humanities, Arts, and Cultural Studies; the School of Interdisciplinary Arts; the School of Natural Science; and the School of Social Science
• Each school formed around broadly related areas of knowledge in the liberal arts
• Intersecting fields all grouped within a School; some disciplines, moreover, may be found in more than one school
• Arts not isolated into one school but are prominent in two: Humanities, Arts, and Cultural Studies, focusing on critical interpretation; and Interdisciplinary Arts giving students and faculty opportunities to work across/within the boundaries of such art forms as theatre, sculpture and writing
• Complete requirements for Bachelor of Arts in three levels or "divisions" of rigorous academic work
• Division I (basic studies)
• Introduce a range of subject matter
• Acquaint students with methodological and critical tools necessary for independent study
• Division II (the concentration)
• Prepare a written statement of proposed learning activities that together comprise an interdisciplinary concentration
• Seek approval of prospectus of a faculty committee charged with evaluating and critiquing the evolving work
• Fulfill the college's community service and Multiple Cultural Perspectives requirement, both of which are fundamental to the academic experience
• Division III (advanced studies)
• In-depth exploration of a specific aspect of the students' Division II work
• Culminates in an independent project involving significant and original research
• Every student carries out a Division III project
• Written evaluations from professors received for courses, independent study, field work, community internships, and other educational activities, also used internally as a vehicle for student advising and critique, and ultimately become the student's official external portfolio, or transcript

  Students served
  Students of color, domestic and international 14%

  • Blacks 4%
  • Hispanic 4%
  • Asian 5%
  • Native American 1%
  • Male 40%
  • Female 60%

  Freshman to sophomore retention rate - 78.5%

  After graduation

• Careers in entrepeneurship, teaching, medicine, law, the arts (particularly film), non-profits
• Half pursue graduate or professional school education within 5 years of graduation

B. Innovative practices related to Greater Expectations

A flexible curriculum with no fixed course requirements and ability to introduce new courses quickly to match the teaching interests of the faculty and the needs of the students.

• Hampshire College is committed to a flexible, [multi]disciplinary-based view of how intellectual work itself is organized, both in the curriculum and in the wider academic world. We want our students to be able to transcend conventional categories of academic discourse and to appreciate the value (and the difficulty) of pursuing problems from multiple perspectives. Towards these ends we want our faculty to be able to teach and work within as well as beyond their own disciplinary areas, and (where appropriate) to challenge traditional compartmentalization of knowledge.
• Multidisciplinary schools rather than departments
• Hampshire College's academic structure consists of five interdisciplinary schools: the School of Cognitive Science; the School of Humanities, Arts, and Cultural Studies; the School of Interdisciplinary Arts; the School of Natural Science; and the School of Social Science. See description A under structure.
• across the five schools, including sustainability (the development of sustainable technologies and agriculture, and making the campus itself a sustainable environment); K-12 pedagogical innovation and teacher preparation; feminist studies and issues of gender, race, and class; peace and world security studies; digital design and technology; and invention and entrepreneurship (including the Lemelson Assistive Technology Design Center).
• Active co-teaching, often by professors from different disciplines (co-teaching as opposed to serial team teaching)
• Co-teaching by faculty within each school is a given, and there is extensive collaboration among faculty across the different schools. When we refer to "multidisciplinary work," we are not really thinking, for instance, of a chemist and a geologist co-leading a research seminar on trace metals in rock formations-this kind of collaboration happens as a matter of course. Rather, "multidisciplinary" at Hampshire means a biologist in Natural Science and a cultural anthropologist in Social Science teaching a class together on health issues, the environment, and social implications for Native Americans in the Southwest, as but one example. This perspective has fostered a remarkable degree of cross-disciplinary teaching and research, and has had a profound impact on students' appreciation for the ways in which different disciplines inform each other.
• From the beginning there has been a requirement for community service
• One of Hampshire's highest priorities is that student learning occur in the context of and address issues of pressing social concern. Hampshire has been in the forefront with its convictions about academia's obligation to the local and global community, and from its very beginning has had students fulfill a community service requirement-Hampshire was the first college in the nation to do so. Hampshire remains on the cutting edge in this regard: in the early 1990's we expanded the concept of community service to "service learning," meaning that students engage in reflective thinking and writing in tandem with volunteerism; and we have recently received a grant from the Teagle Foundation that will enable us to bring community members to campus as collaborative teachers and learners.
• Our Third World/Multiple Cultural Perspectives requirement that all students include an examination of their work from more than one cultural perspective.
• A fundamental part of Hampshire's curriculum is the Multiple Cultural Perspectives requirement, which was revisited, revised, and strengthened this past year. This expectation guides both the design and execution of the Division II project, and students are expected to demonstrate a substantial engagement with one or more of the following themes: non-Western perspectives; race in the United States, and relations of knowledge and power.
• Hampshire's system of progress by examination and portfolio evaluation, narrative evaluation instead of grades, and an honors thesis or production required of all students.
• See description in part A under structure.
  Active participation of students at all levels of governance and curriculum development. This includes voting participation on the committee which recommends reappointment and promotion.

C. Institutional learning goals and a brief description of the process followed to determine them

The institutional learning goals for Hampshire College are listed below followed by a brief description on how these goals are met with our Divisional process.

• Develop skills and perspectives needed for understanding and participating responsibly and creatively in a complex world
• Develop close student-faculty collaboration
• Encourage self-initiated and individualized programs of study
• Promote a strong multidisciplinary understanding of the world
• Encourage critical inquiry at all stages
• Advance an understanding of the multicultural nature of our world.

  1. Introduce students to a broad range of subject matter before choosing a concentration.

  This is achieved through the Division I process. Division I acquaints students with the methodological and critical tools necessary for independent study. Complete Division I by passing an exam in Humanities, Arts and Cultural Studies or Interdisciplinary Arts, Cognitive Science or Natural Science, Social Science and by choosing one of the following: two semesters of language, two semesters of quantitative skills or by completing a Division I in one of the school the students has not passed an exam in.

  2. The Division II process allows the student to begin formulating their concentration, along with developing a student's capability of fostering concern for others, and engagement with multiple cultural perspectives.

In Division II the student selects a committee of at least two faculty members who together with the student discuss the student's interest and the goals that will be addressed in this process. The student then drafts a concentration statement-a description of the various learning activities to be undertaken over the next two or three semesters-that reflects both the student's interest and goals and the faculty's concern for breadth and intellectual rigor. The final Division II is a portfolio consisting of papers written for courses or independent projects, course and field work or internship evaluations, artistic products which the student presents to their committee.

3. The last year, students explore in depth a specific aspect of the students Division II work in their Division III.

With the guidance of a faculty committee which should include at least two Hampshire faculty member, one whom is the chairperson, students undertake a major independent project. Students devote the major part of their time to the project, however, they must also take part in two advanced educational activities. At least one activity must be an advanced-level course or a teaching activity which may involve assisting a faculty member or serving as a second reader on a Division I exam.