The Curriculum
Hiram College has adopted an innovative academic program which is designed to strengthen the educational partnership between faculty and students that has always defined a Hiram education. The Hiram Plan combines the best aspects of a traditional semester calendar with the benefits of the intensive educational opportunities offered through concentration on a single course.
Through the Hiram Plan, each academic semester is divided into two sessions: one of twelve weeks and one of three weeks. During the twelve-week session, students usually enroll in three courses of four semester hours each. The longer session provides a suitable format for courses which cover a broad range of material, allows students to integrate what they learn in their concurrent classes, and provides opportunities for substantial research and writing projects.
During the three-week session, each student enrolls in one three- or four-hour seminar or course, each of which will have a limited enrollment. Each faculty member will teach only one course or seminar during the three-week session. These intensive classes provide students and faculty with numerous special opportunities that are not possible in the twelve-week sessions. The students and faculty participating in a seminar can, for example, meet at any time or location mutually agreeable. Faculty have developed special topic courses which include field trips, experimental learning, and numerous study abroad opportunities. The three-week sessions provide students with an intensive learning opportunity, which is useful preparation for work or graduate and professional studies after Hiram. Perhaps most importantly, the small class sizes and daily class meetings experienced in the three-week session enable students and faculty to form close, educationally meaningful relationships that often last a lifetime.
The Transition to College Learning and Living: The First-Year Program
We pride ourselves on easing the transition from high school to college and begin this journey with Summer Orientation. Students and their families are invited to campus during the summer, where students will get together with one another, meet with staff and current students, and advise with a faculty member who will assist students in choosing and registering for their fall classes. New students will then arrive about a week before classes begin for "Institute," where they will discuss a common reading as an introduction to college discourse, participate in social events, engage in community service, and gradually adjust to living away from home. In addition, during institute week, each student has another opportunity to discuss with their advisor academic interests and college graduation requirements, with the ability to adjust class schedules.
One of the students' three classes during their first 12-week term will be a Colloquium. The Colloquia are a series of seminars on special topics across the liberal arts and sciences, designed to introduce students to college-level writing and oral communication. Each Colloquium group consists of 12 to 16 students, an upper classman teaching assistant, and a professor. This Colloquium group, formed during the Institute, serves as the first step in the transition to college life.
Following their Colloquium, students will enroll during the 12-week spring semester in a First-Year Seminar. This course continues the students' introduction to the examination of substantial intellectual issues. Students grow their ability to acquire and integrate new knowledge with roots in one or more of the disciplines taught in the College. The First-Year Seminar seeks to improve the students' college-level writing and analytical abilities by emphasizing research across disciplines. Colloquium and First-Year Seminar descriptions
Hiram's Core Curriculum
The College's graduation requirements constitute the general education component of a student's liberal arts education at Hiram, known as the Core Curriculum. Each student explores the breadth and diversity of the liberal arts through engaging in a series of eight discipline based course distributed throughout the college. They will learn about the interrelatedness of knowledge through their interdisciplinary requirement. All students will enroll in two interdisciplinary experiences, which focus on both contemporary and timeless questions of intellectual relevance to humankind. In these courses, students explore and experience the interconnectedness of knowledge. The Core Curriculum comprises approximately one-third of a student's course work at Hiram. Each Hiram student, upon completion of the graduation requirements, will have an education in the depth, breadth, and interrelatedness of knowledge that is the liberal arts tradition. Core Curriculum description
Education In-Depth: Majors
Through the process of completing the Core Curriculum, students acquire a foundation of experience to guide their decision about a major. Students will usually declare a major after exploring the opportunities available and discussions with their advisor, other faculty, and the Career Center . The student's decision about a major is most often influenced by a genuine enjoyment of the department's faculty and course work. Hiram’s small classes foster a mentoring relationship between professor and student, which is strengthened by the depth of study in a student’s major.
The completion of a major at Hiram will likely occupy most of the student’s junior and senior years; majors in the natural sciences and Education need to begin earlier. Most majors require the student to take a minimum of 40 semester hours within the department along with correlative course requirements in related areas. Generally about one-third of students' course work is devoted to their major.
Majors are offered in many different disciplines as indicated below:
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Accounting and Financial Management Economics, Management, and Accounting |
Individualized Majors
A student may also choose to propose an individualized major that combines coursework from two or more departments. These are designed in consultation with academic advisors in each department. Anyone interested should consult with the Associate Dean of the College. Recent examples include Entertainment Media Studies and Asian Studies.
Minors
Students may also choose a minor at Hiram. Minors are offered in almost every department. Some minors offered are interdisciplinary in nature. Usually a minor consists of 18 to 20 semester hours. Most minors cannot be taken in the same academic department as the major. Information about the requirements for both majors and minors is available from either the department chair or the program coordinator.
Minors not directly associated with a Major program:
Exercise Sport Science
Gender Studies