At Wesleyan, one way we strive to meet the needs of our students is by continuing to expand our program offerings. With approval from faculty, administration and the board of
trustees, the College introduced several new and redesigned majors and minors in August 2020 and more new programs will begin in January 2021.
Public health is a new major at Wesleyan this fall. The interdisciplinary major is predicated on problem solving using theories, tools, and knowledge from multiple disciplines, specifically mathematics, economics, psychology, political science, chemistry, biology, and public health. Students will develop analytical and communication skills while addressing a public need for increasing numbers of health care workers.
New minors this fall include:
Visual studies - an interdisciplinary approach to art history incorporates philosophy, psychology, literary studies, communication, and art and design to gain a deeper understanding of our histories and cultures of seeing and how the visual experience constructs power, cultural beliefs, and values.
Digital marketing – this concentration will provide the student with baseline marketing skills so they understand the language of business, and are better equipped to land internships and jobs.
Healthcare administration - building on Wesleyan’s long-standing partnerships with the medical community and Middle Georgia’s growing health care industry, the program prepares students to hold. vital positions in hospitals, doctors’ offices, clinics, and laboratories in both public and private sectors
Human resources management – students receive training and experience in coordinating the administrative functions of an organization, hiring and training employees, handling inter-company disputes, working with HR software, and other skills that will be important to their job.
Strategic management – students explore the processes and models managers use to make short- and long-term strategic decisions in corporations including environmental scanning, strategy formulation, strategy implementation, and evaluation and control.
The College is also introducing the Wesleyan Leadership and Social Change Program designed to provide students with the opportunity to grow and develop leadership skills grounded in the ethos of social change.
For several years, the largest percentage of Wesleyan graduates have earned their degrees in business administration. The degree combines core business classes with a specialization of the student’s choice. Specializations include healthcare administration, strategic management, sport management, and organizational behavior with the addition of two new concentrations - digital marketing and human resources management.
The religious studies major has been revised to include philosophy and social change. The revised major prepares students to understand, analyze, and work with diverse systems of thought and practice structures that shape individual and public life across many cultures and centuries.
The politics and global affairs major has been redesigned to include history. This major includes practical, hands-on learning experiences and professional development. Students who major in this area acquire knowledge and skills that are applicable in a broad range of professional settings and prepare students for graduate study in law, politics, public policy, international affairs, political thought, education, non-profit organizations, and history.
The women’s studies major has been renamed women, gender, and sexuality. Students will learn to recognize the many ways in which our lives are shaped and limited by a variety of cultural constructions and circumstances - specifically focusing on our unique, individual identities and lived experiences across time and cultures that are steeped in historical and institutional power dynamics.
The early childhood education and environmental studies majors have been renamed elementary education and environmental studies and sustainability, respectively, to more adequately reflect the nature of the programs.
Two new graduate programs, Master of Science in healthcare administration and Master of Science in nonprofit management, are being developed for January 2021, pending approval from Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges.
These exciting changes to Wesleyan’s curriculum will remain true to the College’s commitment to interdisciplinary, personalized learning, highly collaborative small class sizes, and close student-faculty mentor relationships. Moreover, they will continue to emphasize the values of a woman’s liberal arts education, such as writing and verbal communication skills, ethical decision making skills, and global thinking.