The unique and selective Pacific Humanities Scholars program at Pacific — the only program of its kind in the country — allows high-achieving students to explore and diversify their passions among like-minded students and faculty. The curriculum does not sacrifice the breadth requirements of Pacific's nationally acclaimed General Education program, giving students a well-rounded liberal arts education while enabling them to study a particular area of interest in more depth if they so choose.

Choice of Majors

The Pacific Humanities Scholars program encompasses the following majors:

  • Art and Graphic Design
  • English
  • Exploratory in College of the Pacific
  • History
  • Media X
  • Modern Languages (French, Spanish, Japanese Studies, Chinese Studies)
  • Philosophy
  • Religious Studies

In addition, students have the opportunity to self-design their major, drawing from a combination of disciplines within or outside of the humanities. The advantage of a self-designed major is that it requires fewer units than a traditional double major, while allowing students to delve into the themes and topics that interest them the most. Examples of previous self-designed majors include: 

  • Theater arts, international relations and physics
  • Art and computer science 
  • Animation and storytelling
  • Philosophy and business
  • History, English and communication


Think Tank for the Humanities

We like to think of the Pacific Humanities Scholars program as a living laboratory of ideas. Through the program, Pacific Humanities Scholars enjoy the community of students and faculty who are passionate about the humanities disciplines. Classroom learning is supplemented with a range of extracurricular events, activities and projects that allow deeper exploration of the humanities disciplines than a traditional degree program affords.

Cohort Experience

Each Humanities Scholars cohort is comprised of eight to 12 students, allowing for a tight-knit community of high-achieving, like-minded classmates. Smaller classes facilitate more dynamic discussions and multifaceted analysis of topics across disciplines. Additionally, the community-based nature of our program has allowed many of our scholars to collaborate with one another on creative projects and network within the program to further their career goals. Students can also expect to have close interaction with their professors that will keep them engaged in learning and participate in scholarship that can be tailored to their particular interests or needs.

Contact Information

All inquiries can be directed to our program email: humanitiesscholars@pacific.edu

Direct inquiries can also be addressed to: 

Dr. Jeffrey Hole
Program Director
Phone: 209.946.2026
Email: jhole@pacific.edu