A.) Pokerfest—Professor Anna Ahn

Anybody want to learn how to play poker? We will not discuss science nor will I teach you how to count cards.  The point of this workshop is simply to have fun and play cards without losing any money.  I will provide chips, cards, and instruction to some of the more popular games (Draw/Stud games, Texas Hold’em, Acey Ducey, Follow the Queen, Black Jack, Baseball, Pai Gow etc.)  This workshop is for novice poker players only.

B.) Monopoly 105—Professor Zach Dodds

Lizzie Magie invented Monopoly in 1904 as a vehicle for encouraging tax reform. Whether or not her broader purposes were served, Monopoly has enjoyed 105 years of popularity as a board game. We will continue in her footsteps with our own friendly - and non-taxing - start-of-the-semester game.

C.) Skateboarding—Professor Dagan Karp
As you may know, skateboarding is the primary mode of transportation around HMC campus. Roughly 70% of professional skateboarders in the US live in Los Angeles. Do you skateboard? Are you interested in learning how to skateboard? Are you not interested in the act of skateboarding, but interested in learning more about the music and art of this subculture? This group of girls and guys will meet to learn about skating, practice skating, watch skate videos, listen to music and maybe visit local skateshops and so forth.

D.) Circus Arts—Professor Rachel Levy

This advisee group will practice circus arts for fun. One of the oldest circus schools in the country is only a couple of hours away. This past Spring a group of Mudders went to circus school for the day and had a great time! Some of the skills we can try include unicycle, trapeze, hoop, fabric, rope, trampoline, juggling and tumbling. No prior circus skills are required. However, if you have skills you are willing to teach others, that's great! We'll also go see a professional circus if one comes to town.

E.) China 101—Professor Qimin Yang
This group is for anyone who wants to learn something about China or Chinese. If you are interested in traveling to China in the future, it is nice to know something about Chinese food, language/simple characters, culture, and maybe talk about old poems and philosophy.

F.) Pandemic—Professor David Vosburg
We will play a board game in which you are specialists at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) where you watch several virulent diseases break out simultaneously all over the world. The team mission is to prevent a world-wide pandemic outbreak, treating hotspots while researching cures for each of the plagues before they get out of hand. Good luck!

G.) Musical Theatre—Professor Art Benjamin

The group will attend at least one show (and hopefully more) among the outstanding professional and semi-professional theatres in the Los Angeles area. Hopefully, we will attend at least one or two musicals and maybe a straight play too. Professor Benjamin especially loves musicals by Stephen Sondheim, but please don’t ask him to sing!

H.) Environmental Sustainability in Claremont—Professor Dick Haskell

The community of the Claremont Colleges and the larger community of the City of Claremont have become increasingly aware of the rising levels of carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere and the rising average global temperature.  These trends have compounded environmental concerns over the depletion of fossil fuels, the availability of clean water, threats to biodiversity, and the earth’s growing human population.  Over the past two years, there has been an exponentially growing movement on the part of students, faculty, staff, trustees, and alums to find local solutions to these global problems.  Our advising group will discuss the highlights of the sustainability audit of the Claremont Colleges conducted during the summer of 2007 and the study of solar technology during the summer of 2008.  We will examine ways in which we can contribute to a sustainable conservation program and to a reduced carbon footprint by transforming the infrastructure of the Claremont Colleges into one based on renewable energy resources. 

This is an enormously ambitious effort, but in the afternoon of Monday, August 31, we will view the progress we have made thus far:  real-time monitoring and display of electricity consumption, replacement of water-thirsty turf with native and drought-tolerant plants, and the exploitation of Claremont’s precious resource – the SUN! – through photovoltaic cells and solar thermal technologies.  We will also tour the rapidly-growing number of LEED-certified buildings on the 5-C campuses.  Representatives of the HMC student sustainability group ESW/MOSS (Engineers for a Sustainable World and Mudders Organizing for Sustainability Solutions) will join us!

I.) A Cappella Jam Session—Professor Theresa Lynn

In this group, we'll join voices and see what music we can make together in an afternoon's session of a cappella singing. I'll be ready with simple selections of gospel, motets/madrigals, and contemporary music -- you are welcome to teach us your favorites too. This group will work best for you if you enjoy singing (in the shower or elsewhere) and can easily hold your own part in a round or simple harmony.

J.) Introduction to the Balinese Gamelan—Professor Bill Alves

The gamelan is a dynamic and lively orchestra of bronze instruments from the island of Bali, Indonesia. The music is characterized by intricate rhythms, interlocking parts, and sudden turns of tempo that can be both thrilling and startling to Western ears. In this workshop, we will have a hands-on session with the gamelan owned by Pomona College, and will even learn a short piece. We will also listen to recordings and discuss how the gamelan fits into the larger society of Bali and what music means in the lives of people. Though no musical background or ability to read notation is require, musicians may find it an experience that challenges their abilities in new ways.

K.) Visual Art—Professor Chang Tan

Not only paintings and sculptures but also multimedia and video art (the cool stuff). We will take at least one trip to the wonderful museums and galleries at LA or Pasadena. You are probably not an artist (neither is Prof. Tan), but you will be delighted by what you see.

L.) Jazz Improvisation Workshop—Professor Robert Keller (for credit)

The Jazz Improvisation Workshop is a freshman advising group for jazz musicians. You should read on and consider applying for this group only if you have either played jazz before and wish to continue, or have a very strong inclination to learn jazz. Member ship in this group is limited and requires a commitment to stay in the workshop for the entire semester. Members meet weekly as part of a larger group, Music 84, 8:30-10 p.m. Wednesday evenings. Because members are taking this as a graded course, 1.5 units of credit are given. Meetings discuss theory as well as playing, and all members participate in a final performance. The course can be repeated for credit, and each semester the focus is on a different composer. For this fall, the focus is on the music of the late trumpet player and composer, Freddie Hubbard. If you are interested in this advising group, please read the letter linked here (.doc; opens in new window) and submit the Jazz Improvisation Workshop Application by email to mary_cardenas@hmc.edu

M.) Basketball—Professor Adam Edwards

We're playing basketball; we're playing basketball... We'll play this physical game of chess outdoors amongst the elements of SoCal's beautiful weather. During the game, we'll learn a lot about each other, and hopefully something about ourselves too.

N.) Basketball—Professor Steve Adolph

Do you like basketball and probability?  We'll shoot a bunch of free throws, then analyze our results for hot streaks and cold streaks using several statistical techniques.

O.) Scrabblefest Mendelssohniana—Professor Peter Saeta

Do you enjoy word games? Are you unembarrassed to find that some of your best words in Scrabble and Bananagrams don't actually appear in the dictionary? No worries. Come enjoy some friendly word play accompanied by the music of Felix Mendelssohn, as we celebrate the 200th anniversary of the musical prodigy's birth.

P.) Huntington Botanical Gardens—Professor Chih-Yung Chen

We’ll take a trip to Pasadena’s Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens. If you are plant lover, you will love this activity.  There are a variety of themed gardens, including the desert garden, Japanese garden, Australian garden, lily ponds and Chinese garden.

Q.) Rockets—Professor Sam DiMaggio

It is an exciting time for the space launch industry with NASA developing a new family of Ares rockets and smaller start-up firms like Space Exploration Technologies entering the market with their Falcon 1 and follow-on Falcon 9 vehicles. We will discuss the current state of the industry as well as the growing need for exceptional young engineers to enter this challenging field.

R.) Bouldering—Professor Nancy Lape

Whether you've never been bouldering before, or are an experienced climber, come "hang out" with us on a climbing wall, practice free-body diagrams, and learn to balance forces in equilibrium. We'll go to Hangar 18, a climbing gym in nearby Upland.  No experience needed. We're sure you'll have a rocking good time.

S.) Vegetarian Delight! —Professor Talithia Williams

This group will visit at least two restaurants that specialize in vegan and vegetarian dishes.  We will explore vegetarian cuisine from various cultures including Thai and Indian. Bring your appetite!

T.) Puzzles and Simple Games of Strategy—Professor Ran Libeskind-Hadas

Our group will explore various puzzles and two-player games that have extremely simple rules but have surprising and ingenious strategies.  This will be a friendly and non-competitive exploration in which we will see some profound connections between puzzles and games and the fields of mathematics and computer science.  No previous background is necessary.

U.) Capsaicin: Culture, food, and a molecule—Professor Hal Van Ryswyk

Capsaicin is the active ingredient in wide range of chili peppers. We will explore capsaicin through cooking and field trips.

V.) The End of Oil—Professor Ziyad Duron

By some estimates, peak oil recovery will occur in 2015. At our current rate of consumption, it is possible that oil shortages may cause significant shifts in geopolitical strategies around the world. This workshop invites you to join a group of environmentally conscious individuals who also happen to enjoy running on the beach. We will drive from Claremont to El Segundo, California where we will jog along the beach and then picnic there as we talk about the potential impact of oil shortages on our planet.

DESSERT-BASED GROUPS

W.) Various professors from all departments.

Do you like dessert? We do too. Our meetings will revolve around getting dessert and eating it.