Every Olin student must complete a minimum of 28 credits of academic coursework in “AHSE”—i.e., AHS plus Entrepreneurship (henceforth abbreviated as “E!”).
If you want information about E! at Olin please refer to this E! guide, or contact Steve Gold.
There are six full-time faculty members at Olin who work either full-time or part-time in AHS disciplines, as well as a writing consultant affiliated with AHS. Any one of them can answer questions about AHS at Olin. The AHS faculty and consultants are:
| Jonathan Adler | Psychology |
|---|---|
| Diana Dabby | Music |
| Helen Donis-Keller | Visual Art |
| Caitrin Lynch | Anthropology |
| Rob Martello | History of Technology |
| Lynn Stein | Cognitive Science |
| Gillian Epstein | Writing Consultant and Literature |
Olin uses the term “coloring” to describe the fields in which credit is given (i.e., math, science, engineering, AHS, E!). See the CSTB list at http://arb.olin.edu/documents.html, where entire departments have been approved for their courses to be colored as AHS.
Courses with a primary emphasis in scientific, technical, or E! fields do not count as AHS. Some departments have not received blanket approval (for example, economics, psychology, and others), but individual courses within those departments might be AHS. Consult the CSTB list to see if a particular course has already been designated AHS. If it’s not on the list, apply to CSTB to have it colored AHS. See http://star.olin.edu/Forms.cfm for CSTB policies and deadlines.
The AHS education begins with an AHS Foundation, described in more detail here. Students must complete the AHS Foundation course in their first semester at Olin and can choose one of approximately six options.
Note that all Olin students must also complete an E! Foundation, currently embodied in the course "The Entrepreneurial Initiative." But that is a story for another day, my friend.
All Olin students will choose to follow either the AHS path or the E! path. This choice is made in the spring of the sophomore year and determines the coursework each student will emphasize during her/his AHSE trajectory.
The E! Path
Note: AHS (and E!) Concentrations are not to be confused with the different concentrations within the “E” (Engineering) major.
Students who decide to pursue the E! path must also complete a minimum of 12 AHS credits in order to graduate. The AHS Foundation counts as four of these credits, meaning that each student on the E! path must also complete eight additional AHS credits, or about two additional AHS courses, beyond the Foundation. If you want additional information about E! at Olin please refer to this E! guide, or contact Steve Gold.
The AHS Path: AHS Concentrations, and the Capstone Option
Students who elect to traverse the AHS path must complete an AHS Concentration, i.e., a 12-credit sequence of coursework in a coherent area of study (typically in a single discipline).
Students have great flexibility in deciding how to select courses that complete an AHS Concentration and that meet the requirement to complete at least 28 AHSE! credits. Students who complete a four-credit AHS Foundation, four-credit E! Foundation, and 12-credit AHS Concentration still have eight additional AHS or E! credits to use however they see fit: one student might decide to undertake more depth in her/his concentration area, and another might elect to explore other AHS or E! fields.
AHS Concentrations are described in more detail here.
Effective September 2012, the AHS Concentration is now being called a twelve-credit sequence with Capstone as an optional path for the final four credits. This is effectively the same as the past system's inclusion of a “Course Capstone” option.
Students may choose to undertake an AHS Capstone as a part of their AHS Concentration. Capstones are four-credit projects in the student’s Concentration area, and these credits can be included within the 12-credit AHS Concentration, i.e., students can take eight credits of AHS Concentration coursework and four credits of AHS Capstone work to complete the 12-credit concentration requirement. The AHS Capstone must be preceded by the one-credit Capstone Preparatory Workshop (AHSE 3190), a.k.a., "The Prepstone." Once a student completes the Prepstone she/he may register for the AHS Capstone (AHSE 4190) which can only be completed at Olin College.
The AHS Capstone is described in more detail here.