Three New Academic Programs Added for 2022-23
May 20, 2022
BLOOMINGTON – In an effort to continue preparing students for meaningful careers in diverse fields, Illinois Wesleyan University will offer three new academic programs in addition to more than 80 majors, minors and concentrations currently available.
Starting in the fall of 2022, students can select to study any of the following new academic programs:
Focused on equity in the criminal justice system, this interdisciplinary minor will appeal to students considering a wide variety of career paths, including law enforcement or other criminal justice work, politics, non-profit work, political science and research. The criminology minor classes will examine topics such as policing, eyewitness testimony, jury behavior, crime scene analysis, and inequity in the criminal justice system. Students will also gain first-hand experience by studying current legal cases in the Bloomington area with opportunities to speak with those involved in criminal justice.
”While criminology is a social science, many different disciplines have perspectives and contributions to the study of crime and criminal justice – and our criminology minor is uniquely interdisciplinary,” said Todd Fuist, sociology professor. “Students can, for example, take electives in business, philosophy, political science and English that will count towards the minor. We think that this breadth will give students a well-rounded point of view on the topic, taking advantage of our strong liberal arts core here at IWU.”
Rooted in the scientific exploration of public health, this program will provide the knowledge and skills needed to contribute to local, state, national and global public health initiatives in multiple settings. The interdisciplinary program involves courses in health, chemistry, psychology, sociology, environmental studies and political science. Students in the public health program have the opportunity to work directly with faculty who also serve as field clinicians, public policy makers and agents of change.
“Interest in public health is elevated with the global COVID-19 pandemic, and its ongoing relevance will sustain that interest,” said Victoria Folse, director and professor of nursing. “Several courses explore factors that contribute to health disparities, including the role of advocacy and justice in public health settings.”
In addition to the data science minor and data analysis certificate, this new major prepares students for a variety of data-related careers by providing in-depth and hands-on course work in programming, applied statistics, data management, data visualization, ethics and machine learning. Students studying data science work with local non-profits, government agencies and businesses of all sizes to develop data science projects that benefit the organizations and provide students with real-world experience.
“Eventually everyone will need to be data literate, with the ability to look at data and understand it. If data informs your work, these skills will help you do it better,” said Brad Sheese, director of data science and professor of computer science.
By Julia Perez