Three new, highly-awaited academic programs are launching at Pacific this Fall. The three new undergraduate programs, Sports Leadership and Management, Sports Communication, and Outdoor Leadership completed their induction into Pacific’s academic catalogue this summer. Each program incorporates elements from existing curriculums within Pacific in order to offer versatility.
Mike Geraci, Associate Professor of Media Arts and Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, was part of the team that shaped the curriculum for Sports Communication and hopes it will present a unique opportunity for specialization in the Media Arts department.
“If you look at the other Media Arts programs, they’re great, but they don’t have a [sports] specialization,” Geraci said. “This is the first time Media Arts has a program that is about an industry.”
According to Geraci, the program, while offering unique and new material, builds off of preexisting courses and skills from the Media Arts programs like content production.
“It really pulls from what we already have in the Media Arts, which is some really strong production skills,” Geraci added, “[But] we have classes in there on politics, we have classes in there on gender and sexuality studies.”
The new curriculum will focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion to create a well-rounded Sports Journalism education.
Dr. Jennifer Bhalla, Associate Professor and Chair for the Department of Kinesiology, helped to develop both programs.
“We’ve got classes in risk management, we’ve got classes in outdoor leadership theory,” said Dr. Bhalla, “Some of these we had before, but some of them are added on.”
The program allows students to travel to other areas of Oregon for hands-on outdoor training.
“You’ll be able to take at least 12 credits of academic classes away from campus, which is really a cool thing and something that makes this major unique to this area,” Bhalla said.
She and others who worked on the major hope that this will make Pacific’s Outdoor Leadership Program attractive to potential students.
SLAM, like the Sports Media major, will introduce students to the ins and outs of the managerial sports world while borrowing skills from Media Arts and Pacific’s athletic programs.
“We have partnerships with other departments,” Bhalla said of the program. She anticipates registration will grow quickly in the coming semesters.
Students who are interested in any of the four new academic programs can find more information about major requirements and registration at Pacific’s webpages for Sports Leadership and Management, Sports Communication, and Outdoor Leadership. — Isabelle Williams
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