Each Hamilton student must fulfill the college’s social, structural, and institutional hierarchies (SSIH) requirement. You can find official language about the requirement, as it applies to computer science students, in the concentration’s masthead in the college course catalogue. The text below expands on the details in the course catalogue.

The SSIH requirement focuses on the social, structural, and institutional hierarchies that impact historically disadvantaged people. In general, it must grapple with issues about people, structures, or institutions impacting people in ways that are relevant for the student.

Students concentrating in Computer Science satisfy the SSIH requirement by completing the following three steps. This requirement must be fulfilled by the end of the student’s junior year.

1. The student will, in consultation with his/her academic advisor, identify and register for a course from any department that addresses relevant SSIH issues. The student should register for that course and CS 200: Social, Structural, and Institutional Hierarchies, which is a zero credit bookkeeping course. Any course listed in this spreadsheet has been approved previously and will automatically be approved, but many courses not listed on the spreadsheet are likely to also be approved.
2. Students will have completed the SSIH requirement after the department assigns a grade of CR (credit) to the CS 200 bookkeeping course.

Common questions

• Is there anything I have to do besides talk to my advisor about my course selection, take the course, and register for 200? No.
• I’m a double concentrator. Do I have to take two different SSIH courses? Yes.
• Can an SSIH course for another department satisfy this requirement? Maybe. You still have to follow the procedure above.