THE CURRICULUM

At every step, there’s research and lab work and a collegial working relationship with our maniacally gifted professors. Start with core courses in the field: structure and function, ecology and environmental biology, evolutionary biology, molecular biology, car- bon compounds, organic chemistry—your essential toolkit. Choose your electives: step up to the buffet and see what looks good—or order a la carte, designing a personalized concentration. We offer a formal con- centration in molecular biology, but, hey, surprise us: make one up in genetics, ecology, plant biology, whatever makes sense. Interested in ecology and environmental biology? We’re part of a consortium that allows you to apply for the Semester in Environmen- tal Science at the Ecosystems Center of the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Mass. And right across the street, you’ll find a 75-acre field station for student research, including an artificial lake. Want to go to medical school? Arrange a pre-medical program through any of the majors; it’ll require some effort, but you’ll reap the benefits later. You can also take cours- es at The Claremont Colleges (sample: conservation biology, immunology, genetic analysis); and of course we have joint majors in mathematical biology, and chemistry and biology (see “Special Programs”).

BIOLOGY

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THE PROGRAM

This will sound vaguely conspiratorial, but we’re guided by the rule of seven. Maybe it’s better to say that we’re guided by seven principles. One: Education is a relationship. You will know your professors as real human beings. And like them. And they will know you. And so on. Two: Biology is interdisciplinary. You can’t (and won’t) study it in isolation. Three: The best answer is the next question. You’ll be expected to solve open-ended, hypothesis-driven problems. Four: Education is

active. We learn by doing. You’ll be part of the process by which discoveries are made—i.e., you’ll do original research. Often. Five: Clear speak is good. If you want the world to understand your work, you have to know how to explain it clearly. So you will. Six: Biology is part of a web of larger concerns: social, political, cultural, ethical. You’ll study and practice it in this context. Seven: The practice of science is fun. You will be required to have several hours of fun per day, pending departmental review. The preceding sentence was both a joke meant to provoke quiet, knowing laughter—and a serious statement of purpose.

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