For more information about the history of the Colleges, visit HWS History.
To learn more about HWS faculty members, check out Meet The Faculty.
If you'd like to pick up a printed and bound 8 1/2 x 11 copy of the 2008-2010 Catalogue, limited copies will be available in the Provost's Office and the Office of the Registrar, as well as the Hobart Deans Office and the William Smith Deans Office, starting Monday, September 8.
The 2006-2008 catalogue is still available online as a PDF. To browse it, click here.
If you have questions or comments about the new online catalogue, please send us your feedback.
Hobart and William Smith Colleges are a student-centered learning environment in Geneva, N.Y.—the heart of the Finger Lakes region. The Colleges, which have a combined enrollment of approximately 2,000, offer a remarkably broad array of majors and minors, a rich interdisciplinary program and limitless opportunities for self-discovery. Hobart and William Smith are also noted for an ambitious emphasis on international study and for programs in community engagement and service-learning.
When John Henry Hobart, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New York, visited Geneva in 1818, he knew that the bustling lakeside village was the perfect place to build what he called an, "outpost for civilized and learned behavior." He founded Geneva College, and its first building, Geneva Hall, was completed in 1822.
Known as Geneva College until 1852, when it was renamed in memory of its most forceful advocate and founder, Hobart College offered a classical education, requiring that students pass courses in geometry, Latin grammar and Roman history. After 1834, students were also able to earn a medical education.
Notable 19th-century graduates included Albert James Myer, Class of 1847, a military officer who created the United States Weather Bureau; General E. S. Bragg of the Class of 1848, who was a commander in the Iron Brigade, served one term in Congress and later was ambassador to Mexico; two other 1848 graduates, Clarence Steward and Thomas M. Griffith, who were assistant secretary of state and builder of the first national railroad across the Mississippi River, respectively; and Charles J. Folger, Class of 1836, who was U. S. Secretary of the Treasury from 1881 to 1884.
Amid the many distinguished male graduates of the 19th century was one woman. In an era when the prevailing wisdom was that no woman could withstand the intellectual and emotional rigors of a medical education, Elizabeth Blackwell applied to and was rejected - or simply ignored - by 17 medical schools before being admitted to the Medical Institution of Geneva College in 1847.
The medical faculty, largely opposed to her admission but unwilling to take responsibility for the decision, decided to submit the matter to the students for a vote. The men of the College voted to admit her. She graduated two years later, on January 23, 1849, at the head of her class, the first woman doctor in the hemisphere.
Blackwell went on to found the New York Infirmary for Women and Children and had a role in the creation of its medical college. She then returned to her native England and helped found the National Health Society and taught at England’s first college of medicine for women. She was a pioneer in preventive medicine and in the promotion of antisepsis and hygiene, and was responsible for the first chair of hygiene at any medical college.
A new chapter in the history of the Colleges opened with the dawn of the 20th century. As Geneva philanthropist and nurseryman William Smith was determining how to best transform his wealth into opportunity for others, he befriended a number of suffragettes and activists including Elizabeth Smith Miller and her daughter Anne Fitzhugh Miller. The two had a deep impact on him, encouraging him to become a part of the women’s movement, and Smith became committed to found a nondenominational, liberal arts institution dedicated to educating women broadly, not just vocationally.
On December 13, 1906, Smith formalized his intentions, and two years later, William Smith School for Women enrolled its first class of 18 students, although there were 20 by the end of the year.
Despite sharing facilities and teachers, Hobart College and William Smith College remained quite separate. Classes were conducted in duplicate, and women students were not allowed on the Hobart campus. The strict separation eroded gradually as it became increasing impractical to enforce. In 1922, the first joint commencement was held, though baccalaureate services remained separate until 1942. By then, coeducational classes had become the norm, and the curriculum centered on the idea of an interdisciplinary education, encouraging students and faculty to consider their studies from multiple perspectives.
In 1943, during the administration of President John Milton Potter, William Smith College was elevated from its original status as a department of Hobart College to that of an independent college, on equal footing with Hobart. At President Potter's suggestion, the two colleges established a joint corporate identity, adopting a "family" name: The Colleges of the Seneca, which remains the legal name of the Colleges to this day.
As Hobart and William Smith matured and grew during the mid-20th century, students and faculty challenged the old rules and developed an increasingly innovative approach to education. To keep up with changing attitudes, the curriculum changed significantly during this time, moving from an intensive study of Western Civilization toward increasingly open-ended and goal-oriented requirements.
The focus on interdisciplinary education remained and strengthened, and HWS became one of the first colleges in the country to introduce a First-Year Seminar program. HWS saw the dawn of several other ground-breaking additions to the curriculum, including robust programs in Far Eastern Studies, Russian Studies, Black Studies, Women’s Studies and Men’s Studies. In fact, Hobart and William Smith was the first in the nation to offer a degree in men's studies.
It was also during this time that the international HWS campus was founded. In 1975, Professor of Art Elena Ciletti accompanied 30 students to Italy for the first HWS abroad program. Today, HWS students study on every continent except Antarctica.
In 1999, Hobart and William Smith inaugurated Mark D. Gearan as the 26th president of Hobart College and 15th of William Smith College. Two years after his appointment, Gearan and the Board of Trustees began HWS 2005, a planning initiative that expressed Hobart and William Smith's commitment to providing an environment where students experience education without boundaries as they are piloted through a rich interdisciplinary curriculum and given the tools to be a force for change in the world.
The campus community further cemented its commitment in 2006, when Gearan introduced HWS 2010, a series of affirmations designed to propel Hobart and William Smith community members to live lives of consequence. Through the boundless interdisciplinary curriculum and community- and global-enhancing initiatives, HWS students are immersed in the ideas, issues and experiences they will encounter in the future as professionals, leaders and citizens.
Hobart and William Smith Colleges are a student-centered learning environment, globally focused, grounded in the values of equity and service, developing citizens who will lead in the 21st century.
The Colleges’ commitment to these principles was solidified in 1999 when they appointed the then director of the Peace Corps as president of Hobart and William Smith. President Mark D. Gearan has since reinforced the Colleges' commitment to global understanding and study abroad opportunities, community service, and service learning, with the goal of providing these elements through contemporary facilities and state-of-the-art technology.
In maintaining this environment, the Colleges create opportunities to engage faculty and students with other languages and diverse cultures. The majority of students participate in a study-abroad experience during their four years here. These experiences enhance what takes place on campus in the academic and social lives of students and also allow the community to delve into the broader intellectual world.
The academic program at Hobart and William Smith Colleges keeps this highly interactive environment alive. Education takes place not only inside classes, but also outside in off-campus programs and service projects. The Colleges view civic responsibility, community engagement, and international education as integral components of a liberal arts education. This rigorous academic program challenges students’ minds while expanding their horizons to new worlds.
The Colleges’ programs of interdisciplinary instruction function because of the unusual faculty that has been built over the past half century. Other institutions may prize specialists whose interests are confined to specific subjects within one discipline. Hobart and William Smith Colleges have instead sought professors whose interests span many fields. This breadth of interest is a widely developed, solid expertise. It is not unusual for professors to teach interdisciplinary courses across fields. Those who succeed at Hobart and William Smith are scholar/teachers in the best sense, experts in one or more fields who are devoted to teaching as an art and to active scholarship. In addition to writing books and articles, many professors engage in a wide variety of creative activities, such as concerts, theatrical performance, painting and sculpture.
Hobart and William Smith Colleges are accredited by the Commission on Higher Education of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools and by the Regents of the University of the State of New York. The Commission on Higher Education is an institutional accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation.
The following is Hobart and William Smith Colleges’ inventory of registered programs approved by the New York State Education Department. The listing contains program title, degree awarded, and HEGIS code number.
Adolescent Education, M.A.T., 0803
Africana Studies, B.A., 0305
American Studies, B.A., 0313
Anthropology, B.A., 2202
Anthropology and Sociology, B.A., 2208
Architectural Studies, B.A., 4902
Art History, B.A., 1003
Arts and Education, B.A., 1099
Asian Studies, B.A., 0301
Biology, B.A., B.S., 0401
Chemistry, B.A., B.S., 1905
Childhood Education, M.A.T., 0802
Classics, B.A., 1101
Comparative Literature, B.A., 1503
Computer Science, B.A., B.S., 0701
Critical Social Studies, B.A., 2299
Dance, B.A., 1008
Economics, B.A., 2204
English, B.A., 1501
Environmental Studies, B.A., B.S., 0420
European Studies, B.A., 0310
French and Francophone Studies, B.A., 1102
Geoscience, B.A., 1999.20
Geoscience, B.S., 1999.10
History, B.A., 2205
Individual Studies, B.A., B.S., 4901
International Relations, B.A., 2207
Latin American Studies, B.A., 0308
Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Studies, B.A., 2299
Mathematics, B.A., B.S., 1701
Media and Society, B.A., 0699
Modern Languages, B.A., 1101
Music, B.A., 1005
Philosophy, B.A., 1509
Physics, B.A., B.S., 1902
Political Science, B.A., 2207
Psychology, B.A., B.S., 2001
Public Policy Studies, B.A., 2102
Religious Studies, B.A., 1510
Russian Area Studies, B.A., 0307
Sociology, B.A., 2208
Spanish and Hispanic Studies, B.A., 1105
Special Education: Childhood, M.A.T., 0808
Studio Art, B.A., 1002
Urban Studies, B.A., 2214
Women’s Studies, B.A., 4903
Writing and Rhetoric, B.A., 1599
The Colleges do not offer a major in education but rather a broad and innovative program that combines extensive classroom experience in local schools with a broad grounding in the study of education as a liberal art.
Students can be certified (initial) to teach grades 7-12 in the following areas:
Biology, B.A., B.S., 0401
Chemistry, B.A., B.S., 1905
Earth Science, B.A., B.S., 1999
English, B.A., 1501
French, B.A., 1102
Greek, B.A., 1110
Latin, B.A., 1109
Mathematics, B.A., B.S., 1701
Physics, B.A., B.S., 1902
Spanish, B.A., 1105
Students can also be certified (initial) in the areas listed below:
Art (P-12), B.A., 1002
Childhood (1-6)
Special Education: Childhood (1-6)*
Social Studies (7-12)
*Certification in special education is available only in conjunction with certification to teach in the elementary grades.
The graduation retention rate for Hobart students entering in the fall of 2001 and graduated by 2007 (six years later) was 66 percent. The graduation retention rate for William Smith students entering in the fall of 2001 and graduated by 2007 (six years later) was 76 percent. The overall graduation retention rate for both Colleges was 72 percent. Additional information on graduation rate and student retention is available from the Office of the Registrar.
