Weinberg adds 2 new programs, will consider approving 2 others

Student interest prompts faculty to explore studies in wide-ranging subjects

By Mike Cherney

The Daily Northwestern

The Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences could offer up to four new majors and minors starting Fall Quarter, ranging from film studies to international health.

School officials approved a materials science major and a minor in global health studies and discussed two other possible minors at a faculty meeting on April 21.

Faculty could approve a minor in film and media studies and a minor in environmental policy and culture at an upcoming meeting on May 26.

Professors have supported all the initiatives and the next two minors should be approved without a problem, said Mary Finn, a Weinberg assistant dean, in an e-mail to The Daily.

The new additions are aimed at students majoring in different fields but who have expressed interest in exploring other areas. The programs will allow the university to respond to students’ interests and desires, planners said.

“We have been contacted over the years with students interested in a material sciences degree, but we weren’t able to accommodate those interests and this allows us to do that,” said Prof. Peter Voorhees, chairman of the materials science and engineering department in the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science. “It gives us great flexibility.”

Weinberg’s materials science degree will differ from the one currently offered in McCormick by focusing on the science of constructing new materials, rather than engineering design.

It will incorporate classes in chemistry, physics and biology with some engineering classes, Voorhees said.

The new health minor also is a response to student interests, said Prof. Bill Leonard, chairman of the anthropology department.

Leonard said he has been teaching a well-received introductory course on international health for the past few years. Interest has been growing in the topic as more students choose to study abroad, he said.

“There are many students from many different majors who seem to be interested in international perspectives on health,” he said. “Given the potential demand, we decided to put together this minor.”

Leonard has been working on the minor in conjunction with political science Prof. Devora Grynspan, director of NU’s Office of International Program Development.

“It’s partly looking at public health systems in other countries, and also partly looking at how social and economic factors in other parts of the world influence health,” Leonard said.

The new minor in film and media studies also would be geared toward students with a demonstrated interest in the field.

Students would apply for the minor at the end of their second year of school, said German Prof. Stefanie Harris, who has worked on the project.

The majority of the classes would be offered through the School of Communication’s radio-TV-film department, but some courses would be offered in other departments, such as history.

“It’s a way of announcing to students who have an interest in film and media that there is a breadth of courses for them to take,” Harris said. “We anticipate a very large interest based on the number of inquiries that R-TV-F gets from students in (Weinberg) every year to take a course there.”

The environmental policy and culture minor is also a result of large student demand. Associated Student Government recommended the program two years ago, and both students and faculty began working on the new program, said political science Prof. Paul Friesema.

The minor will focus more on the humanities and social sciences rather than natural sciences, Friesema said.

“There has been a real explosion of courses and teacher and student interest in history, religion and philosophy, so a significant part is the humanities emphasis of it,” he said.