Pacific University’s College of Arts and Sciences may welcome a few new minors to the curriculum this April including one for the Media Arts Department and one for the Environmental Studies Department.
Forensics Director Dan Broyles and Environmental Studies Chair Rich Van Buskirk proposed communications and sustainability minors respectively, both of which will be voted on at a faculty meeting in April.
According to Van Buskirk, his goal for the sustainability minor was to bring sustainability to students with a wide range of interests across campus.
“I would like students with different backgrounds to see how sustainability relates to them,” he said.
The minor would focus on input from a wide range of departments, including political science, anthropology, economics and more.
“Environment, equity and economy, or people, planet, profit. Within each of those different realms we need to recognize the limits on the natural resources and how we value those resources, people can be involved in that change in various disciplines,” said Van Buskirk.
He added that art professor Terry O’Day, who has joint positions in art and environmental studies, put the original draft of the minor proposal together.
Broyles was unavailable for comment at the time of publication as he and the forensics team were away participating in the annual International Forensics Association tournament in Budapest, Hungary.
According to Dean of Arts and Sciences John Hayes, the College of Education has proposed a Communications Sciences and Disorders minor that it would offer to Arts and Sciences students, but the faculty meeting has not officially looked at the proposal yet.
“We might get to it at the March 17 meeting as an item to be “received,” he said.
Hayes said that the faculty meeting also “received” a Dance major, which will go for approval at the next faculty meeting on March 17.
“We will have a vote to “approve.” If it is approved, then it would go to the university president and provost for final approval,” said Hayes.
The unofficial minutes from the College of Arts and Sciences faculty meeting March 3 suggested that dance is a discipline that supports and enriches pursuits in theater, music, exercise science, education and other areas.
The continued growth of the program since the addition of the minor in 2004 has allowed students the opportunity to work closely with choreographers, has increased participation in the Dance Ensemble and concerts and has spurred interest and enrollment in the dance program.
The minutes also stated that the addition of a Dance major would help Pacific develop stronger relations with artists and companies throughout Portland and the Pacific Northwest.
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