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Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology will add bachelor’s degree programs in
biochemistry and international studies to the curriculum, starting in the
2009-10 academic year, according to Art Western, vice president of academic
affairs and dean of faculty. The biochemistry degree will be part of the
Department of Chemistry and the international studies degree will be offered as
a second major by the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS).
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Opening Chemistry Horizons: The new biochemistry degree program
emphasizes undergraduate research that will allow Rose-Hulman
Institute of Technology to provide uniquely skilled graduates to
industry and graduate programs.
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Life sciences are a driving force for scientific discovery and economic
opportunities in the 21st century. Chemistry and biology are becoming
interdisciplinary career fields, with modern researchers using skills from both
science areas to understanding biological and chemical systems at their most
basic level.
The biochemistry degree adds a new course plan to chemistry department
offerings, along with a degree in chemistry and a second degree major in
biochemistry-molecular biology. The biochemistry degree meets guidelines
specified by the American Chemical Society, has a solid foundation in all areas
of chemistry, including biochemistry, and has a solid foundation in applied
biology. The new degree also emphasizes undergraduate research in biochemistry,
according to Michael Mueller, head of the Department of Chemistry. The
department has one professor who specializes in biochemistry, Mark Brandt, and
has hired another biochemistry professor, Ross Weatherman from Purdue
University's College of Pharmacy, to join the department faculty this fall.
Rose-Hulman has long been a leader in undergraduate-centered education, and is rapidly becoming a leader in life sciences education through
its chemistry and applied biology programs. The applied biology major was
established in 2001. These programs,
along with the new biochemistry major, will allow Rose-Hulman to provide
uniquely skilled graduates to industry and graduate programs, noted Western.
In the area of international studies, technical work has increased in the
international and multi-lingual arena during the 21st century. The international
studies major provides Rose-Hulman students with the opportunity to complement
their primary major with a second major that prepares them for an
interdependent, multicultural and transnational world. Courses in the major
focus on economic, cultural and social processes that take place among nations
and world regions. Topics may include globalization, post-colonialism,
communication, migration and environmental change.
The core curriculum for the international studies major covers courses in world
literature, international relations, humans and culture, world history, world
geography and principles of economics. There are three areas of concentration
within the major: international political economy, comparative cultures and an
individualized major.
Students can choose from a general list of courses which includes such topics as
the history of economic thought, international trade and globalization,
international finance, environmental economics, introduction to East Asia,
geography of the Middle East, European politics and government, travel in world
literature, religion and ecology, and modern China and art history: renaissance
to modern. There is also a one year requirement of foreign language study in
German, Japanese or Spanish, and a capstone project.
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