Multidisciplinary Minors

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Medieval and Renaissance Studies

Mark Barber, Ph.D., Supervisor

The Medieval and Renaissance studies minor offers students interested in these periods the opportunity to pursue a multidisciplinary course of study through the three core perspectives of history, literature and philosophy. Required courses may also be counted, with some important limitations, toward major and general education requirements. Qualified students from all academic disciplines are welcome to explore the minor program. Successful completion of the minor will enhance awareness of disciplinary perspectives and the skills to integrate them in meaningful interdisciplinary ways.

General Goals

• The minor promotes multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary studies of the period from later Antiquity to the middle of the 17th century;
• The minor seeks to advance the study of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance by offering an environment for academic exchange; and
• The minor organizes, sponsors and co-sponsors seminars to assist students, faculty and the larger community in acquiring a deeper understanding of issues rooted in the past that continue to resonate in our contemporary world. These seminars consist of presentations, colloquia and conferences open to all.

Scientific Computing

Robyn Wangberg, Ph.D., Supervisor

The multidisciplinary minor in scientific computing is a natural complement to the curriculum for majors in the natural and physical sciences, mathematics and computer science. Focused study in the area of scientific computation enriches learning in any of these disciplines, adding an applied emphasis and stressing the cross-fertilization of research methods across disciplines.

The advancement of science in many fields is becoming less discipline-specific, and nowhere is this more apparent than in the common tools used for challenging computational problems. For instance, the modeling, visualization and simulation of large-scale nonlinear systems are common to many fields of science and applied mathematics. A multidisciplinary minor in scientific computation provides students with a valuable, intellectually challenging experience and marketable skills applicable in many fields. The minor will help to stimulate collaboration and exchange among faculty in the sciences. The three departments responsible for staffing the minor are computer science, mathematics and physics. This minor may be extended to include chemistry and/or biology in the future.

Programs

• Medieval and Renaissance Studies Minor
• Scientific Computing Minor

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