Sports Communication and Environmental Studies lead slate of new programs.
Environmental Studies, Sports Communication, and Creative Technology are new academic programs at Berry that someday could turn into majors.
Courses in Environmental Studies will be offered as soon as this fall, and the Evans School of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences is conducting a faculty search for an environmental studies professor.
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Jim Watkins, chair of a committee
tasked with developing an
environmental studies program.
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Courses that could be offered in Environmental Studies include environmental literature, environmental history, environmental design and the anthropology of food, according to Jim Watkins, associate professor of English and chair of a committee charged with developing an environmental studies program.
The addition of environmental studies programs is a trend at colleges and universities all over the country, Watkins said. The field looks at, among other things, the interaction between humans and the environment.
“It deals with people and their behavior as much as scientific factors,” Watkins said.
As the program develops, it could someday become a major. Students graduating with a degree in environmental studies could be employed by regulatory government agencies or private companies required to comply with the government’s environmental regulations, Watkins said.
Sports Communication
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Bob Frank, chair of the
deparment of
Communication.
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Courses in Sports Communication are expected in the Department of Communication’s course offerings as early as Spring 2014, according to Bob Frank, associate professor and chair of the department. Beginning with an introductory sports communication program, the program will likely add courses sports journalism, sports administration, and sports in contemporary society on its way to becoming, perhaps, a minor, Frank said. It has been approved as Communication’s fourth concentration. The major already offers journalism, public relations, and visual communication concentrations.
Sports communication is a rapidly growing field, even in the topsy-turvy world of communication, Frank said. The addition of a football program at Berry also encouraged the department to move forward with its plans to add the new subject area.
“During the recession, many job opportunities decreased, but the number of people employed in the various sports communication fields increased,” Frank said. These fields include sports marketing, sports information, college sports administration, and professional sports public relations.
Creative Technology
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John Grout, dean of the
Campbell School of Business.
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The business school is giving a relatively new field, creative technology, a hard look, according to John Grout, dean of the Campbell School of Business.
Creative technology is a subject that combines technology with creativity, analytic and problem solving skills, mathematical and scientific reasoning, collaborative abilities, aesthetic sensibilities, project management skills and strategic insight, Grout said.
A report on the field by Grout proposes a timeline that has a creative technology program implemented by the 2016-2017 school year.
The new program, which also could develop into a major, would supplement the enterprise efforts at Berry, Grout wrote. “New communication media could be developed. Scientific instrumentation could be created. Low-cost versions of expensive scientific equipment could be built,” his report states.
The new programs are being pursued on the heels of the College adding a School of Nursing, where courses will be offered beginning in Spring 2014.
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