Summer Session Course Information

Last updated on February 8, 2024.

Contact Information

For additional information or questions, email us at: summersession@holycross.edu

Summer Session 2024 Information

2024 Announcements

Major Changes to the Summer Session Program in 2024!

  • A new and interesting slate of courses.
  • All courses are online-only.
  • Most courses are held in the evenings.
  • There are 6 hours of instruction per week, for 7 weeks.

Most courses have 2 hours of asynchronous learning (replacing 2 hours of synchronous meetings) per week. The amount of homework and other out-of-class assignments have not changed.

2024 Quick Facts

  • Summer Session runs for 7 weeks: June 3 - July 19, 2024.
  • Enrollment opens for Holy Cross students on March 13, 2024.
  • Class sizes of 24 or less.
  • Courses taught, with office hours, by Holy Cross faculty.
  • Courses have the same standards/expectations as seen during the academic year.
  • Tuition: $2,700 per 1.0-unit course (plus additional lab or art fees, where appropriate).
  • Financial aid will be available to eligible current Holy Cross students with demonstrated need or extenuating circumstances. All HC students unable to pay the full tuition are encouraged to apply, starting on April 28, 2024 (Financial Aid Application Form).
  • Permission to take two courses requires the approval of a class dean.
  • Courses can be taken Pass/No Pass at same cost (but do not count toward 32 course requirement unless grade is uncovered before graduation).
  • Course grade factors into Holy Cross GPA if taken for letter grade.
  • Each course must have a minimum number of students enrolled to run. If enrollment does not reach the necessary minimum by mid-May, the course will be canceled and all payments will be refunded.

2024 Enrollment

Enrollment opens on March 13, 2024 and remains open until June 1, 2024. All students need to submit an Enrollment Form ( Enrollment Intent and Agreement Form) to be term-activated. You will then be notified when you are cleared to self-enroll in an open summer course through STAR. 

Accepted Holy Cross students in the Class of 2028 with a compelling academic reason to take one of our online courses through fully remote access from off campus in summer 2024 need to first contact their class dean (classdean2028@holycross.edu). Other current high school seniors should first contact the Director (summersession@holycross.edu) if interested in taking one of our online courses through fully remote access from off campus in summer 2024.

In addition to the Enrollment Form (Enrollment Intent and Agreement Form), students from other Colleges/Universities will also need to submit a completed Authorization Form from their home institution; this form will need to be approved by Holy Cross before enrollment is permitted. Full tuition payment of $2,700 is due at time of enrollment (seeGuest Payment Instructions).

Enrollment by applicants who are not currently matriculated students at Holy Cross is subject to acceptance by the College, available seating in courses, and approval by the individual professors.

2024 Financial Aid

Financial Aid is available for eligible current Holy Cross students.  Eligibility levels are established in part by the student's Holy Cross demonstrated financial need as determined by the Financial Aid Office. Additional aid is available for students with extenuating circumstances. All HC students unable to pay the full tuition are encouraged to apply.  Financial Aid Application Form.

2024 Important Dates and Deadlines

2024 Tuition

Payment of tuition charges ($2700, plus art fee where applicable, less any awarded financial aid) is due when course enrollment is billed to your account (usually within two business days of course enrollment) - see Holy Cross Student Payment Instructions or Guest Payment Instructions.  As of April 28, 2024, students showing an unpaid summer tuition balance due for two days will be dropped from the course (and charged a processing fee - See 2024 Tuition Refunds).

2024 Tuition Refunds

If the College cancels a course, you will receive 100% of the tuition at time of cancellation, if you do not wish to enroll in a different open course.

Withdrawals by April 28, 2024 will not incur any fees.

PLEASE NOTE: The College will charge you a processing fee equal to 10% of tuition if you withdraw from May 2 - June 4, 2024, 50% of tuition if you withdraw on June 7, 2024, and 100% of tuition if you withdraw after June 5, 2024. This schedule applies in lieu of the College's Refund Policy.

2024 Costs/Fees

Tuition - $2,700 per 1.0-unit course (plus additional lab or art fees, where appropriate)

Optional summer housing (and/or meal plans) carry additional charges and requires the completion of a separate application. Summer Session does not award financial aid toward housing/meals. Students with questions about staying on campus during the summer session should contact either Ed Coolbaugh (ecoolbau@holycross.edu) or Luke DiCiccio (ldicicco@holycross.edu) in the Residence Life & Housing Office (summerhousing@holycross.edu).

2024 Courses 

ACIP 370 Leadership in the Sports World

Leadership in Sports Summer Course

Instructor Name: Dr. Robert Prior
Common Area Requirement(s) fulfilled: N/A
Program(s) Requirement(s) fulfilled: N/A
Prerequisite(s)/Permission of Instructor: Permission from ACIP
Meeting Times: Mondays and Thursdays, 6-8pm EST, plus 2 hours of unscheduled asynchronous time per week.

Course Description/Notes: This course examines the qualities and skills necessary to lead a successful sport organization.  Students will research the sports industry and identify current and past leaders of sport organizations who have made a lasting impact on the industry with their respective leadership philosophies.  Strategic planning, goal setting, motivation, creative problem solving, effective communication and teamwork will be examined and practically applied through sports industry focused projects and activities.
 
Note: Students will participate in a required internship for 8-10 hours per week; 30% of the final grade for the course will be based on internship evaluations.  Students should apply to the AIP Program via this link https://www.holycross.edu/aip, in order to receive a permission code for the course. It is not necessary to have an internship lined up before you sign up for the program. 

ANTH 254 Reproductive Justice

Reproductive Rights

Instructor Name: Clarissa Carvalho
Common Area Requirement(s) fulfilled: Social Science
Program(s) Requirement(s) fulfilled: Major and Minor in Anthropology; Sociology Major; Latin American, Latinx, and Caribbean Studies; and Gender, Sexuality, and Women Studies Concentration
Prerequisite(s)/Permission of Instructor: None
Meeting Times: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 6-8pm EST, plus 2 hours of unscheduled asynchronous time per week.

Course Description/Notes: This course examines the concept of Reproductive Justice, understood as the complete physical, mental, spiritual, political, social and economic well-being of women and girls, based on the full achievement and protection of women’s human rights. More than focusing solely on the pro-choice issue, the Reproductive Justice framework addresses the social reality of the inequality of opportunities available to women to control their reproductive destinies. In that sense, this framework attempts to analyze how the ability of any woman to determine her own reproductive destiny is linked directly to the conditions of her community. The course draws on various theoretical and analytic tools to explore the social, legal, and economic barriers for accessing reproductive health care domestically and internationally, specifically in Latin America. Three areas of focus are included in this framework: (1) the right not to have a child; (2) the right to have a child; (3) the right to parent children in safe and healthy environments.

BIOL 114: Stem cells in embryos, evolution and aging - the science of becoming

Stem Cells Summer Course

Instructor Name: Julia Paxson
Common Area Requirement(s) fulfilled: Natural Sciences 
Program(s) Requirement(s) fulfilled: none
Prerequisite(s)/Permission of Instructor: none
Meeting Times: Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 6-8pm EST, plus 2 hours of unscheduled asynchronous time per week.

Course Description/Notes: What are stem cells and how do we study them? In this course we will explore the biology of stem cells, in embryonic development, in the adult and aging organism, and during the processes of repair and regeneration. We will discuss why scientists use model organisms to study stem cells and how this affects what we know about them. We will develop tools to assess scientific and popular media claims about stem cells, and to enhance our abilities to think critically and evaluate scientific evidence in scientific research. We will discuss the beneficial and malevolent roles of stem cells in medicine, and we will examine the ethics surrounding the study and use of stem cells in biomedical research and medical therapies. The readings in this course will be a combination of textbooks, scientific articles, and popular media.

CISS 150 Introduction to Global Health

Global Health Summer Course

Instructor Name: Love Odetola
Common Area Requirement(s) fulfilled: Cross-Cultural Studies
Program(s) Requirement(s) fulfilled: Health Studies Major Requirement 
Prerequisite(s)/Permission of Instructor: N/A
Meeting Times: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 6-8 pm EST, plus 2 hours of unscheduled asynchronous time per week.

Course Description/Notes: It is recognized that poverty plays a central role in many preventable diseases. With the development of nations have come improvements in health. The linkages between health and development can only be understood within the broader context of socio-political and economic factors. In the landscape of globalization and international development there has emerged a vast international health regime. This course focuses on these linkages in the context of this international political economy of health. Key aspects are critically examined including the concepts and architecture of global health, the global burden and epidemiology of disease, health and development of nations, and political-economic determinants of health and development. This foundational course in global health will use a variety of analytical perspectives including social, economic and epidemiological. It will highlight public health and entrepreneurial approaches to health challenges and improvements in "resource-constrained" and "emerging nations".  

CLAS 233 - Nature in the Classical World 

Nature in the Classic World Summer Course

Instructor Name: Timothy Joseph
Common Area Requirement(s) fulfilled: Philosophical Studies or Literature 
Program(s) Requirement(s) fulfilled: Environmental Studies, Classics Major
Prerequisite(s)/Permission of Instructor: none
Meeting Times: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 6-8:30 pm EST, plus 1 hour of unscheduled asynchronous time per week.

Course Description/Notes: In this course we will explore how the ancient Greeks and Romans engaged with the natural world surrounding them. We will consider several themes, including philosophical treatments of the natural world; the role of the environment in literature; and the conceptualization of the universe and its origins. We will base our discussion of these themes on our analysis of evidence from antiquity. Looking back at early philosophy and poetry, we will read selections from authors such as the pre-Socratic philosophers, Hesiod, Sappho, Aristotle, Lucretius, and Lucan. Alongside our study of the ancient world, we’ll read contemporary writing on humanity’s relationship with the natural world, including selections from Pope Francis’ Laudato Si’. 

ECON 149 Statistical Analysis

Economics Statistics Summer Course

Instructor Name: Robert Baumann 
Common Area Requirement(s) fulfilled: Mathematical Sciences
Program(s) Requirement(s) fulfilled: ECON, PSYC, SOCL, STATS, Health Professions 
Prerequisite(s)/Permission of Instructor: None
Meeting Times:  Mondays and Wednesdays, 10am-noon EST, plus 2 hours of unscheduled asynchronous time per week.

Course description/Notes: This course introduces probability and statistics. After covering the basic summary statistics, the course transitions into the construction and the rules of probability. This knowledge is necessary for the study of random variables, which is the focus of the remainder of the course. Within random variables, topics include probability distribution functions, expected values, variances, sampling, and the Central Limit Theorem. The course concludes with introductions of analysis of variance and least squares estimation. 

EDUC 167 Educational Psychology 

Education Psychology Summer Course

Instructor Name: Ericka Fisher
Common Area Requirement(s) fulfilled: Social Science
Program(s) Requirement(s) fulfilled: Education Minor introductory course, Psychology Major elective
Prerequisite(s)/Permission of Instructor: NONE
Meeting Times: Mondays and Thursdays, 6-8pm EST, plus 2 hours of unscheduled asynchronous time per week.

Course Description/Notes: How do people think and learn? What is the relationship between learning and forgetting? Why do some students dislike school? How do psychologists account for racial and socioeconomic disparities in educational achievement? Theories on learning and human development can provide insight into these and many other critical questions of education. We will examine the strengths and critiques of various learning theories. In addition, we will consider a variety of individual and sociocultural factors that impact cognitive, socioemotional, identity, and moral development. Throughout the course, we will reflect upon the ways in which teacher planning, management, and assessment can create learning environments that promote student success.

HIST 122-01 Food, Power, and the Environment 

Food Power and the Environment Summer Course

Instructor Name: Chris Staysniak
Common Area Requirement(s) fulfilled: Historical Studies
Program(s) Requirement(s) fulfilled: Environmental Studies, Peace and Conflict Studies, History Major
Prerequisite(s)/Permission of Instructor: None
Meeting Times: Mondays and Thursdays, 8-10pm EST, plus 2 hours of unscheduled asynchronous time per week.

Course Description/Notes: The story of the American food system Is fundamentally an environmental one. Over the past several centuries food production has evolved from a process that was bound by seasonal, regional, and other ecological limitations, to a highly industrialized and astoundingly productive system that defies these earlier limitations. For most Americans, food exists in the abstract. We find it at restaurants and in grocery stores with little sense of how it came from the earth and to our tables. Indeed, we expect to eat whatever we might desire regardless of what time of the year, which is an astoundingly new reality in the grand scope of human history!

MATH 135 Calculus 1

Calculus summer course

Instructor Name: Christopher Benestad
Common Area Requirement(s) fulfilled: Mathematical Sciences
Program(s) Requirement(s) fulfilled: Majors: ECON, BIOL, CHEM, PHYS, ACCT, and Health Professions
Prerequisite(s)/Permission of Instructor: high school precalculus or equivalent
Meeting Times: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 6-8pm EST, plus 2 hours of unscheduled asynchronous time per week.

Course Description/Notes:
This is the standard version of Calculus at the College. Considers the calculus of real-valued functions of one variable for students who are planning further coursework in mathematics, a major in the social or physical sciences, or a premedical program. Emphasis is placed on a conceptual understanding of calculus, presenting material from symbolic, numerical, and graphical points of view. The concepts of limit, continuity, and derivative are developed and applied to algebraic, logarithmic, exponential, and trigonometric functions. Applications of the derivative are explored. 

PHIL 223 Trauma & The Troubled Mind: The Ethics of Trauma 

Ethics of Trauma Summer Course

Instructor Name: MaryCatherine McDonald 
Common Area Requirement(s) fulfilled: Philosophical Studies
Program(s) Requirement(s) fulfilled: Philosophy major/minor, PCON concentration
Prerequisite(s)/Permission of Instructor: None
Meeting Times: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 6-8pm EST, plus 2 hours of unscheduled asynchronous time per week.

Course Description/Notes: After trauma, we can find traces of the past in the way we see the world, in our behavior as we relate to others, and even in our genes. But what, exactly, is trauma? And what does it mean to be traumatized? This course examines the very nature of trauma from the perspectives of philosophy, psychology, and neuroscience. While looking critically at the history of the study of trauma, we will turn our focus on the ethical dimensions of understanding and treating trauma. What can we - and what ought we - to do about trauma and our troubled minds? Students pursing all majors are encouraged to take this course.

POLS 199 Race and Ethnicity Politics

Race and Ethnicity Summer Course

Instructor Name: Sydney Carr
Common Area Requirement(s) fulfilled: Social Science 
Program(s) Requirement(s) fulfilled: Political Science Major
Prerequisite(s)/Permission of Instructor: no prerequisites needed 
Meeting Times: Mondays and Wednesdays, 4-6pm EST, plus 2 hours of unscheduled asynchronous time per week.

Course Description/Notes: The primary purpose of this course is to introduce students to the most pressing political issues of our time in the context of race in U.S. politics. This course will cover a broad range of topics which examine the ways in which race intersects with the American political system including but not limited to: the social and legal construction of race, the effects of political redistricting, voting rights among minority groups, immigration, the factors that influence voter mobilization among minority groups, the intersection of race and gender, race in the context of public policy, as well as race in the context of media and news coverage. By the end of this course, the goal is for every student to leave with a more well-rounded understanding of the critical role that race plays in the U.S. political system.

PSYC 221 Physiology and Behavior

Physiology Behavior Summer Course

Instructor Name: Ruth McLeod
Common Area Requirement(s) fulfilled: Natural Sciences, Category A Core Course Requirement
Program(s) Requirement(s) fulfilled: Psychology Biological Process requirement, Neuroscience Additional Neuroscience Course requirement, Biology Cognate Course requirement, Health Studies Natural Sciences and Statistics requirement
Prerequisite(s)/Permission of Instructor: PSYC 100 or NEUR 110. Students without prerequisite should consult instructor.
Meeting Times: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 6-8 PM EST, plus 2 hours of unscheduled asynchronous time per week.

Course Description/Notes: This course will cover physiological perspectives on the biological basis of behavior, rooted in a combination of concepts and experimental methods drawn from psychology, physiology, and the field of behavioral neuroscience. We will explore how behavioral neuroscience informs us about motivation, emotion, and cognition. As the nervous system plays a central role in the integration of behavior, the first part of the course will introduce the fundamentals of neuroscience, including basic functional neuroanatomy, neurophysiology, and neurochemistry. The second part of the course will give an overview of genetic influences on the brain, neurodevelopment, and sexual differentiation, and begin to look at how vertebrates interact with the world, movement and sensation and perception. The third portion of the course will cover the neuroendocrine control of behaviors such as sleep and hunger.  This section will also cover more complex psychological phenomena like learning, memory, and responses to stressors. Finally, the fourth part of the course will address clinically defined states such as brain injury, mood disorders, schizophrenia, and developmental disorders, as well as altered states of consciousness (and intro to neuropsychopharmacology).

PSYC 314 Science, Medicine, and the Holocaust 

Science Medicine Holocaust Summer Course

Instructor Name: Daniel Bitran
Common Area Requirement(s) fulfilled: N/A
Program(s) Requirement(s) fulfilled: Psychology major, peace and conflict studies concentration
Prerequisite(s)/Permission of Instructor: N/A
Meeting Times: Mondays and Thursdays, 7–9pm EST, plus 2 hours of unscheduled asynchronous time per week.

Course Description/Notes: How did a healing profession justify its murderous actions? Were physicians mere pawns of a totalitarian regime? Were they indifferent or ignorant of the oppressive Nazi policies? Or were they active contributors to the racial Nazi ideology and genocidal program? Is the study of genetics susceptible to the same political forces that corrupted the field of eugenics? How did the Holocaust come to shape our code of ethics in human experimentation? What can be learned of biomedical ethics from a study of the Holocaust? This seminar will seek answers to these and related questions. By the completion of this course, you will be able to:

  • Understand how eugenics promoted the Nazi's racial ideology.
  • Describe the relationship between the Nazi regime’s euthanasia program aimed at the “feeble-minded” and other infirmed people to the eliminationist antisemitism of the Holocaust.
  • Articulate the factors that are used to explain the motivation of the perpetrator, from dispositional factors nurtured by long-standing hatred of the “other” to situational factors that serve to exculpate the individual from their actions.
  • Illustrate how the Nuremberg doctors’ trials served as the forerunner to our current code of ethics in the treatment of human participants in research.
  • Analyze how lessons from the Holocaust can be applied to current biomedical ethical issues.
  • Differentiate primary sources from secondary sources of historical information.

RELS 238 Christian Ethics and Mental Illness 

Ethics and Mental Illness Summer Course

Instructor Name: Peter K. Fay
Common Area Requirement(s) fulfilled: Studies in Religion
Program(s) Requirement(s) fulfilled: RELS major/minor requirements
Prerequisite(s)/Permission of Instructor: none
Meeting Times: Mondays and Wednesdays, 6- 8pm EST, plus 2 hours of unscheduled asynchronous time per week.

Course Description/Notes: This reading and writing intensive seminar studies the ways in which the discipline of Christian ethics challenges, is challenged by, enriches, and is enriched by contemporary conversations about mental illness.  Using schizophrenia and bipolar disorder as test cases, this seminar gives special attention to contemporary scientific and empirical studies about mental illness, first-person narratives of people with mental illness, and Roman Catholic and Protestant theological ethics, including, for example, those that specialize in social ethics, bioethics, fundamental moral theology, and disability ethics. One unit.

RUSS 299 Imagined Worlds: Exploring Science Fiction and Fantasy

Imagined Worlds Summer Course

Instructor: Diana Dukhanova
Common Area Requirement(s) fulfilled: Cross-Cultural Studies or Literature
Program(s) Requirement(s) fulfilled: STL major requirements
Prerequisite(s)/Permission of Instructor: No
Meeting Times: Mondays and Thursdays, 5:30-7:30pm EST, plus 2 hours of unscheduled asynchronous time per week.

Course Description/Notes: What is the true nature of reality? Are Earthlings alone in the universe? How are individuals and societies impacted by technological advancements? What should be the limits of surveillance? Is it possible for human beings to transcend illness, aging, death, or embodiment as a whole? Can humanity evolve beyond traits like selfishness, greed, and desire in order to achieve greater social harmony? Do supernatural powers and beings really exist, and can humans communicate with them? How can different sentient species coexist and thrive? All of these questions are at the center of the science fiction and fantasy novellas, short stories, and films that we will read and watch in this interdisciplinary, discussion-centered course. With a special focus on the globally influential science fiction and fantasy literature of Russia, the Soviet Union, and Eastern Europe, we will examine the cultural history of these overlapping genres, the questions they ask about humanity and existence, their contributions to technological progress and its discontents, their predictive tendencies, and the implications of their massive global popularity. Class meetings will be about 40% instructor-led presentations and 60% student-centered discussion. Students will write weekly short reflections, contribute questions for class discussion, and will have the option of writing either a short literary analysis of an SF story of their choice or a creative short story as a final project. Authors include Asimov, Borges, Gogol, Bulgakov, Lem, and LeGuin. 

SOCL 263 Medical Sociology 

Equality and Equity Summer Course

Instructor Name: Renee Beard
Common Area Requirement(s) fulfilled: Social Science
Program(s) Requirement(s) fulfilled: Sociology Major
Prerequisite(s)/Permission of Instructor: none
Meeting Times: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 5-7pm EST, plus 2 hours of unscheduled asynchronous time per week.

Course Description/Notes: This class explores the Sociology of Health & Illness at the micro, mezzo and macro levels. We will examine questions like: How do individuals experience and narrate illness or disability? How do social interactions and roles shape perceptions and subjective accounts of various ailments? How do social structures, such as the medical, pharmaceutical and insurance industries, influence understandings of and approaches to health, illness, difference and disability? How is climate shaping our health? How is housing a public health issue? Through engagement with the social determinants of health, the Immigrant Paradox, and the health-wealth gradient, this course asks students to interrogate our deeply held assumptions about health in America. Designated “sociology in action” time will be used to investigate current social issues, such as policing/capital punishment/the prison system, the Black Lives Matter or #MeToo movements, the overturn of Roe v. Wade, organ transplantation, health care reform, and “designer babies.” The impact of mass media and the Covid-19 pandemic will also be examined to understand the social construction of health and illness, stigma, and disparities across social variables such as race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, gender, age, nationality, and sexual orientation. Anyone interested in working in a medical field, studying health or health policy, or utilizing healthcare services will benefit from this course.

SPAN 100 Elements of Spanish

Elements of Spanish Summer Course

Instructor Name: Elizabeth O'Connell-Inman
Common Area Requirement(s) fulfilled: Language Studies
Program(s) Requirement(s) fulfilled: none
Prerequisite(s)/Permission of Instructor: 0-2 years of previous high school Spanish or permission by instructor. If students have previous experience with the language, a placement score must be on record. Spanish Background Questionnaire required.
Meeting Times: Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays, 5-7pm EST

Course Description/Notes: Elements of Spanish begins a comprehensive presentation of the basic structures and vocabulary of Spanish fully integrated within a cultural framework. This is a communication–oriented course.  Activities are designed to practice all language skills: listening comprehension, speaking, reading and writing.  Class time will be devoted to oral communication as well as acquiring the learning techniques necessary to improve your language skills. This course counts as the equivalent of SPAN 101 and serves as a prerequisite for SPAN 102.

VAHI 100 Introduction to Visual Art

Intro to Visual Art Summer Course

Instructor: Annie Storr
Common Area Requirement(s) fulfilled: Arts
Program(s) Requirement(s) fulfilled: Required for the Major or Minor in Art History; fulfills an art history elective required for the Major or Minor in Studio Art.
Prerequisite(s)/Permission of Instructor: No prerequisites
Meeting Times: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 6:30-8:30pm EST, plus 2 hours of unscheduled asynchronous time per week.

Course Description/Notes: Introductory course in art history and visual culture, both two- and three-dimensional. Acquisition of basic looking and visual analysis skills is central (and can later be applied to working with visual material in other subject areas as well).  The course has two intersecting axes of approach: 1) We chart the chronology and major periods in the history of art from prehistoric times to the 19thC, and 2) We compare and contrast core themes that recur in art across time and geography, such as depictions of Leaders, Sacred Places, War and Peace, Human Beings and the Land, Personal Relationships, and the Human Individual. In lieu of visits to The Worcester Art Museum, students will make informal personal “field trips” to museums or cultural sites of their choice near their summer location(s), to practice looking skills and bring impressions back to the class. Asynchronous time will be devoted to sampling diverse video treatments of major eras of world art and recent discoveries in the field. This course is adapted for a summer intensive format, covering the same core material as VAHI 100 during the academic year.