Accordions
Thank you for your interest in the Wrigley Institute’s Catalina Residential College Julymester at the Wrigley Marine Science Center (WMSC). In this program, we run several exciting Julymester classes within a residential college model on Catalina Island. The purpose of a residential college setup is to provide a unique living-learning community for students as they expand their understanding of the environment and sustainability. Students are given a place for self-discovery through diverse experiences, educational support networks, exchanges with peers from different backgrounds, and close relationships with mentors in an interdisciplinary academic environment.
Catalina Residential College Julymester courses offer a month-long immersive learning experience, bringing together students from across academic domains to learn from the faculty and each other. The program includes undergraduates, graduate TAs, and faculty members living and learning as one community.
This FAQ will answer many of your questions, and it provides contact information for faculty so you can get more specific information about the course that interests you.
Note: Some of the information below is specific to the 2024 Julymester. Details may change in future programs. Complete our interest form to be notified when registration opens for Julymester 2025.
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A: There are 3 courses in this Julymester.
ENST 320a: Water and Soil Sustainability (taught by Scott Applebaum, sappleba@usc.edu)
ENST 320b: Energy and Air Sustainability (taught by Victoria Petryshyn, petryshy@usc.edu)
ENGL 499: Writ in Water: A Creative Writing Lab on Catalina Island with Katie Ogle (taught by Katie Ogle, kathario@usc.edu)
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A: All Julymester classes are part of the fall semester as far as units and tuition are concerned. Classes run Monday, July 15, 2024 through Friday, August 9, 2024. Class sizes are small (about 15 students maximum) to provide ample interactions with faculty and individual academic attention. Required class activities take place Monday-Friday on Catalina Island. Students are encouraged to stay on the island during the week; however, the Wrigley Institute runs a daily Monday-Friday boat between Catalina Island and the mainland, and classes and labs are scheduled around boat times.
All classes are a mix of classroom/lecture time, research, and fieldwork or other experiential learning. Note that ENST classes may also help fulfill core requirements of ENST majors and minors. Generally speaking, ENST 320a will focus on sustainability aspects of soil and water and will require diving, while ENST 320b will focus on sustainability aspects of air and energy and will be land-based. ENGL 499 is a humanities course focused on water-themed creative writing. Contact the instructors for more specific information.
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A: The Catalina Island Julymester is not a vacation. Classes are academically rigorous. Because they condense an entire semester’s worth of work into a single month, the pace can be challenging. One day of instruction is roughly equal to a week’s worth of instruction during a normal semester. However, the small class size and close contact with faculty mean that students who want good grades usually earn them.
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A: Yes, it is possible to enroll in this Julymester as a rising sophomore. Julymester faculty spend the full month on the island and are highly accessible to and supportive of our students, so this is a good environment in which to challenge yourself. Please contact the individual professors for details.
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A: Tuition is covered under normal USC fall tuition as long as you don’t go into credit overload (no more than 18 total units INCLUDING the Julymester). For the 2024 program, there is an additional cost of roughly $1,840 for room and board (21 meals/week) for the 4-week program. However, financial assistance is available from the Wrigley Institute. So that we can provide aid to as many students as possible, we ask that you apply for SOAR funding before applying for Wrigley Institute financial aid.
Note: To register for Julymester, you will need to make a NONREFUNDABLE $500 deposit. This is required by the Office of Faculty Led Programs and cannot be waived.
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A: Students live in dormitories at the Wrigley Marine Science Center with 2 or 3 students to a room and 2 dorm rooms sharing each bathroom. The dining hall serves three meals each day, and the food is typically better than normal cafeteria food. Due to our remote location, please note that we are limited in our ability to accommodate certain dietary restrictions. Please see our dietary policy for full details. Read the full WMSC Dietary Policy >>
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A: While students are encouraged to stay on the island Monday-Friday, USC runs daily Monday-Friday boats to and from WMSC, and we schedule classes and labs around the boat schedule. Students are welcome to return to L.A. over the weekends. However, most students choose to stay on the island and take advantage of recreational activities like snorkeling, hiking, kayaking, trips to Avalon, etc.
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A: Baywatch paramedics are based in the town of Two Harbors, and they can reach the lab in just a few minutes. We also have a first-aid team on site at the Catalina Hyberbaric Chamber. For minor issues requiring a doctor’s attention, Catalina Island Medical Center is roughly 30 minutes away by boat in Avalon. Additionally, our campus has a helipad for medical evacuations to the mainland, which usually take about 30 minutes. Note that there is no pharmacy nearby, so students should plan to pack a full month’s supply of all necessary medicines.
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A: WMSC is a satellite campus of USC. As such, we have a fully approved COVID restart plan that largely mirrors the one used on the University Park Campus, with some small differences to account for our remote location and the fact that many of our staff live in close proximity on the island. Because WMSC is a USC facility, the full USC Student Code of Conduct, including alcohol and drug policies, also applies and will be enforced.