Creating an area major at Rice University is a difficult process that requires students to design their own curriculum with the help of tenured faculty advisors. Only a few students pursue area majors at Rice, partly because many are unaware of the option to design their own major. However, area majors offer flexibility and the ability to combine disparate fields of study, making it an excellent opportunity for students to pursue their unique interests. Students should only propose an area major if they cannot achieve the same thing through the curricular structures already in place. Creating an area major can be a good option for students who want to pursue their unique interests and help Rice grow and change its curriculum. Despite the challenges, the best area majors can forge a new path and even give faculty ideas for new programs.
Area Majors: Design Your Own Curriculum
When browsing through Rice University’s list of majors, a prospective student might overlook Computer Science and the Arts. This is because it is not listed as a major, but rather as an area major – a unique program designed by students to create their own curriculum.
Brown College senior Bria Weisz, for instance, created the Computer Science and the Arts major when she found that the curricula lacked the flexibility she needed to pursue her intended double majors. She said she wanted to “make Rice work for me” and decided to combine her interests in computer science and visual and dramatic arts.
An area major, according to Weisz, offers students flexibility in designing their own program of study. This allowed her to combine two very different majors into a more streamlined program, focusing on the aspects that interested her most.
Alison Maniace, a senior at Martel College, said that her area major in Bioethics and Biotechnology allowed her to adapt her education to her developing interests, making space for them in her academic career.
To pursue an area major, minor or certificate, a student must first gather tenured faculty advisors and then make a proposal to the Committee on the Undergraduate Curriculum (CUC). Jeffrey Fleisher, the CUC Chair, said he typically meets with four or five prospective area majors a year, although only one or two usually complete the proposal process.
Fleisher asks students a lot of questions to help them refine their ideas and make sure they have explored all their options. He said that the main reason why students pursue area majors is that the proposed course materials are not offered by other aspects of the Rice curriculum.
According to Fleisher, area majors are rare, with only two students currently pursuing them at Rice University. Weisz believes that this is due to a lack of common knowledge about the possibility of designing your own major. Even many of the professors she met with were unfamiliar with the concept.
In conclusion, area majors are an excellent opportunity for students to design their own curriculum and pursue their unique interests. They offer flexibility and the ability to combine disparate fields of study. However, they require students to take the initiative to gather faculty advisors and propose their ideas to the CUC.
Pros and Cons of Creating an Area Major
Creating an area major is a difficult process that requires a lot of work from students. According to Jeffrey Fleisher, the Chair of the Committee on the Undergraduate Curriculum (CUC), students need to create a piece of curriculum that is normally created by a whole department of faculty. Therefore, students should only propose an area major if they cannot achieve the same thing through the curricular structures already in place.
One possible pitfall of proposing an area major is course timing. Core courses for institutional majors are usually offered most semesters, so courses necessary for area majors are more likely to conflict with each other. This means that there is less of a guarantee that courses will be offered or won’t overlap with each other as with an institutional major, according to Alison Maniace, an area major studying Bioethics and Biotechnology.
Despite the challenges, the best area majors can forge a new path and even give faculty ideas for new programs. Fleisher said that the best area majors are ones that actually help Rice think about what future interdisciplinary majors or new majors could look like. Sometimes area majors point the way forward for creating a new interdisciplinary major. Therefore, proposing an area major can be a good option for students who want to pursue their unique interests and help Rice grow and change its curriculum.
Don’t miss interesting posts on Famousbio
