Areas of Study
At Ripon College, you choose your path. In fact, Ripon offers students the chance to develop a self-designed major (listed below) with the guidance of a faculty advisor. Recent self-design majors have included: Film Studies, Criminal Justice and Journalism. So, if you’re undecided, maybe this is the choice for you!
A student’s main area of focus in a chosen academic discipline. If all required courses are achieved, an undergraduate degree is issued.
A secondary area of focus in a chosen academic discipline that either complements a major or satisfies other interests of the student. A minor requires fewer courses than a major.
A pathway of study that prepares students with the courses needed to enter graduate or professional school within the scope of a specified academic focus.
Teacher education programs are approved by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction and prepare students for licensure in the specified areas.
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Develop your proficiency in physical education programming for students with mild through severe disabilities from preschool through 21 years of age.
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Minor
Examine major texts, theories and concepts of culture and society to deepen your understanding of the American experience.
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Study the diverse peoples and cultures of Western civilization during ancient, medieval and early modern eras from multiple angles: art, music, philosophy, religion, and women's and gender studies.
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Major Minor
Understand the human condition from a cultural, biological, linguistic and archaeological perspective.
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Major Minor
Study objects of art in their historical development and stylistic contexts, including genre, design, format and style.
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Major Minor
Explore the diverse and complex visual world through an engaging, personalized learning environment.
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Major Minor
Understand the foundations and diversity of life through hands-on experience in the laboratory, field and classroom to prepare for a range of careers or advanced professional programs.
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Major Minor
Gain the skills you need to be a socially responsible business leader in career and volunteer settings.
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Major Minor
Work closely with faculty to deepen your laboratory and theoretical skills in the field of chemistry.
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Major
Prepare for fields like the health sciences, molecular and cell biology, and environmental disciplines such as toxicology with this interdisciplinary program.
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Minor
Discover the languages, literature, philosophy, history, art, archaeology and other culture of the ancient Mediterranean world.
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Minor
Develop your coaching skills for various levels by learning coaching theory, skill development, strategies, organization and management of practices and games, and safety.
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Major Minor
Become an agent of change by deepening your understanding of the communication field and refining your ability to apply theories of communication to real-world situations.
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Combine technical skills with the liberal arts to hone problem-solving skills that may be used in a wide array of professional settings.
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Develop disciplinary expertise and technical skills specific to chemistry.
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Craft a personalized approach to computer science, data science and the liberal arts by working with an academic adviser to select a sequence of courses from other disciplines that combines technical skills and liberal arts inquiry.
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Develop disciplinary expertise and technical skills specific to mathematics.
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Develop disciplinary expertise and technical skills specific to physics.
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Minor
Gain an interdisciplinary perspective on deviance, crime and the criminal justice system.
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Major Minor
Prepare to inform and lead organizations in making and executing effective decisions, such as resource use in business, nonprofit organizations and government.
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Minor
This minor is designed for students who are interested in educational issues or working with children. This minor does not lead to teacher licensure.
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Teaching Certification
Prepare for or achieve your teaching licensure for early childhood education (Grades PK-5).
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Teaching Certification
Prepare for or achieve your teaching licensure for middle childhood and early adolescence (Grades 1-8).
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Major
This major will lead to licensure in regular education in kindergarten through ninth grade.
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Major Minor
Study literature and deepen your understanding of the discipline to shape how you express your own ideas and respond to others.
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Minor
Learn how to develop, organize and manage a business venture, grow your business instincts, identify goals and learn strategies for opening a successful business.
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Minor
Understand the interaction between human impacts on the environment and biological systems.
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Major
Customize your major in this interdisciplinary program as you study human interaction with the environment.
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Learn the fundamental concepts of prevention, recognition, care, evaluation and rehabilitation of common athletic injuries to prepare for graduate school or a number of therapeutic health fields.
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Prepare for continuing your education in strength and conditioning, occupational therapy, physical therapy and entrepreneurial endeavors such as opening a fitness gym and providing personal training.
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Prepare for or achieve licensure to teach physical education in K-12 schools.
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Learn the planning, organizing, managing and budgeting aspects of a department or organization whose main purpose is related to sports or physical activities, and be introduced to law and its relationship to sport, physical activity and sport business.
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Major
Sharpen your problem-solving skills by working through quantitative and qualitative problems, developing a broad skill set that is applicable to many areas of work and life.
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Major
Compare the structure and function of different languages and enrich your liberal arts experience by communicating in two languages while learning transferable skills that span to many different languages.
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Minor
Expand your cultural competency through courses taught in French and/or English that focus on the Francophone world — including French-speaking Africa, the Caribbean, North America, Europe, the Middle East and East Asia.
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Minor
Round out your skill set to communicate with native speakers of French, learn critical and theoretical approaches to texts and build cross-cultural perspectives from which to evaluate global issues.
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Minor
Prepare for or achieve licensure to teach health in K-12 schools.
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Major Minor
Examine the complete scope of history and delve into every time frame and era to arrive at your own view of events.
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Pre-Professional Advising
Get pre-professional advising in journalism while completing your major in a relevant area of study such as English, political science, history, economics or philosophy, or a particular interest areas such as music, theatre or art.
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Discover the history, culture, contemporary affairs and the diversity of people in Latin America and the Caribbean.
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Minor
Explore the role of law and legal structure in a human community.
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Major Minor
Acquire technical skills, cultivate general problem-solving strategies and develop the ability to communicate solutions clearly.
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Minor Pre-Professional Advising
Participate in the Army ROTC program to prepare for a variety of careers in the military service.
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Minor
Gain an interdisciplinary appreciation for the ways that museums collect, preserve, interpret and document our world.
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Major Minor
Choose from three areas of concentration: music education, performance and history/literature-theory.
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Major
Prepare for or achieve licensure to teach music in K-12 schools.
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Complete a focused study of national security issues such as security policy, intelligence, energy security policy, economic-trade security issues, terrorism, weapons of mass destruction and politico-military affairs.
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Minor
Explore the world of philanthropy, including history and current practices, the world of nonprofit organizations, and the application of business and entrepreneurial models to solve community problems.
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Pre-Professional Advising
Receive pre-professional advising in nursing to prepare for graduate nursing programs.
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Pre-Professional Advising
Earn your Bachelor of Arts degree from Ripon College and a PharmD from the Medical College of Wisconsin in only six years with this joint program.
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Minor
Pursue your own path to wisdom by encountering the best that has been thought and said about basic human concerns throughout civilization.
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Major
Explore the dynamic field of material science, where new materials are continuously being prepared or discovered, to further prepare you for fields like material science, engineering and science teaching.
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Major Minor
Interact with, measure and explain systems in the universe from subatomic particles to galactic clusters as you learn how to apply the principles of physics to concerns of society.
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Major Minor
Engrain yourself in the timeless debates of politics while also becoming conversant with the actual functioning of the political systems of the United States and countries around the world.
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Pre-Professional Advising
Choose from three paths to receive pre-professional advising in engineering to prepare for further education while also earning your bachelor's degree in a related field.
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Pre-Professional Advising
Accelerate in a unique fast-track program to earn your law degree one year sooner through our partnership with four accomplished law schools in the country.
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Pre-Professional Advising
Receive pre-professional advising and a well-rounded education to accelerate your preparedness for medical school and the health professions in the areas of medicine, dentistry, optometry, podiatry, chiropractic medicine or sports medicine.
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Pre-Professional Advising
Receive pre-professional advising to prepare you for continued education in physical therapy while receiving your bachelor's degree.
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Pre-Professional Advising
Receive pre-professional advising and a well-rounded education to accelerate your preparedness for veterinary school.
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Major
Explore your interest in fields like animal behavior, behavior genetics, cognitive or behavioral neuroscience, physiological psychology, psychopharmacology, neurobiology and developmental psychobiology.
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Major Minor
Gain proficiency in the psychology field to prepare for a variety of graduate programs, both at the master's and Ph.D. levels.
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Major
The secondary education major leads to teacher licensure in the middle and high school content areas (grades 4-12) of English Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, or Social Studies.
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Major Minor
Forge your own path with a self-designed major that is curated from courses in different academic departments or disciplines.
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Pre-Professional Advising
Receive pre-professional advising in the field of social work as your prepare for a career or graduate study.
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Major Minor
Dissect the structure of technologically advanced societies, their related social problems and the many ways these problems affect the individual, to shape your understanding of social behavior.
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Major Minor
Round out your skill set to communicate with native speakers of Spanish, learn critical and theoretical approaches to texts and build cross-cultural perspectives from which to evaluate global issues.
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Specialize in the area of strength and conditioning to enhance various careers, such as personal training.
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Major Minor
Explore all aspects of theatre, from onstage to backstage, from drama to technology, to nurture your artistry or pursue teaching.
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Uncover and understand the effects of gender categories and sex roles on our history, knowledge, cultures and individual experiences.