HSA Blog

The Caryll Mudd and Norman F. Sprague Jr. Gallery located in the R. Michael Shanahan Center for Teaching and Learning is the main art gallery of Harvey Mudd College. Adjacent to Drinkward Recital Hall, which hosts the College’s concert series and lectures, the gallery experiences considerable foot traffic and is frequented by both students and […]

Inevitably Toxic: Historical Perspectives on Contamination, Exposure, and Expertise is a collection of essays examining the exposure of humans to radiation, industrial waste and pesticides, often in spaces where these toxic agents are invisible or appear innocuous. My colleagues Brinda Sarathy (Pitzer) and Janet Farrell Brodie (Claremont Graduate University) and I wrote the book in […]

I am passionate about bringing research discoveries into the classroom with students of HMC and the other Claremont Colleges. I especially enjoy drawing out connections among the Abrahamic faith traditions in courses like Islam, Christianity and Judaism. My students and I have been discussing how we can better understand the cultural connections between the Greek […]

Harvey Mudd College is known for being a bit unconventional, so it’s not unusual for its concert series to follow suit. The lineup for the 2019–2020 Ken Stevens ’61 Founding Class Concert Series promises more engaging and eclectic performances that support the College’s humanities programming, enhance the music scene among The Claremont Colleges and give […]

Alfred P. Flores, assistant professor of Asian American studies at Harvey Mudd College, writes about his Asian American History course, in which he encourages students to rethink how they understand history. – Inspired by the teaching and pedagogy of historian Jean-Paul deGuzman, I have students conduct historical research to excavate their family’s or a specific […]

Isabel Balseiro, professor of humanities and comparative literature in the HSA department, describes digital humanities and how this field is impacting her teaching. What is digital humanities, and how have you utilized this within your courses? The digital humanities (DH) integrate computing or digital technologies and traditional disciplines of the humanities, such as history, literature […]

Karen Morrison ’08 (chemistry), assistant director at the California Department of Pesticide Regulation, describes her career path and why she wouldn’t change a thing. Could you describe your career path and how it and your interests intertwine? I graduated from Harvey Mudd in 2008 (chemistry) and went from there to grad school to get my […]

When the movie Hidden Figures, which tells the story of three African American women working for NASA in the 1960s, debuted about two years ago, I joined a friend one Saturday to watch it on the big screen. During a pivotal scene, one of the women—Katherine Goble Johnson—and a team of white, male engineers are […]

In December 2018, less than three hours’ drive from Harvey Mudd College, 400 religious leaders were arrested during a demonstration at the U.S.-Mexico border, where San Diego meets Tijuana. Representing numerous faith and spiritual traditions, these activists marched in solidarity with the caravan of migrants from Central America traveling through Mexico and seeking refuge in […]

Among the most popular shows in American history, Star Trek and its many iterations have left an indelible mark on modern American culture, largely because of the show’s remarkable ability to convey culturally important messages. For my research paper in HSA 10 (the first-year seminar at Harvey Mudd), I explored the ways in which Star […]