Sophie David ’26
I majored in history because of the incredible faculty and the option to design my own concentration. The History major offers five concentration areas which are all geographic regions. There is also a sixth option to design your own concentration, organized either thematically or transregionally. I designed a transregional concentration in U.S. and Latin American history. This incorporates both my U.S. history coursework at Pomona and the history classes I took while studying abroad in Chile. The major reflects how my interests have changed over the course of my time as a student, providing amazing flexibility.
When I arrived at Pomona, I was excited about pursuing a humanities major, but wasn’t sure which one. In my second semester my first year, I took All Power to the People!, a history elective taught by Profe Tomás Summers Sandoval. The class centers around social movements in the ’60s, ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s, and builds skills in analyzing primary and secondary sources. Profe TSS began every class with a song that was somehow connected to the movement we were studying. I have never been a student who responds well to lecture-based classes, but his lecturing style is captivating. Profe TSS is now my advisor and thesis reader and has become an invaluable mentor throughout my four years at Pomona.
Some of my favorite history classes I have taken otherwise are Themes/Methods African History at Scripps with Amy Alemu, LGBTQ History of the U.S. with Diana Selig at Claremont McKenna, and Latinx Oral Histories with Tomas Summers Sandoval at Pomona. The History Department at Pomona offers a diverse range of classes and some of the most passionate and accommodating professors I have met at the 5Cs. Walking through the History hallway at Mason Hall, you will find open doors and professors constantly engaging with their students, willing to do anything to provide support and feedback. I am grateful to have found such an incredible major at Pomona, and have built confidence in my analytical writing skills throughout my time here.