Wesleyan is known for its diverse student body that has an equally diverse interest in education. The Argus is honoring a selection of Wesleyan’s smallest and lesser-known academic programs. Take that, Government, Economics, and English. Perhaps bigger isn’t always better.
“For last year’s graduating class, the smallest majors were University, Medieval Studies, Archaeology, Russian and East European Studies, Italian Studies, Astronomy, German Studies, Classical Civilizations, Women’s Studies, and Computer Science,” said Dean of the Senior Class David Phillips.
The Medieval Studies (MDST) Cluster is an interdisciplinary program in which students study the European Middle Ages while concentrating on one of three areas: art history and archaeology, history, or language and literature. Students concentrating in medieval studies have more than one faculty advisor, and thus have access to a great degree of faculty guidance. According to the program’s webpage, each student has a principal advisor from within their chosen concentration as well as an additional two faculty advisors from other fields of medieval studies.
“All of the [Medieval Studies and Archaeology (ARCP)] faculty belong to different departments, bringing a wide variety of perspectives into the major,” said Medieval Studies and Archaeology double major Alan Witt ’06. “As both majors are fairly small, the personal attention that the professors give to their students is that much stronger. The faculty themselves are great people, and they all seem to love their discipline, making their classes entertaining as well as enlightening.”
Current Medieval Studies majors often cite an interesting class and the wide range of classes available as reasons why they decided to participate in the program.
“Wesleyan has an exceptional collection of medievalists who teach a diverse range of courses such as Collegium Musicum, a performance group for vocal and instrumental music from the middle ages, Lambs to the Slaughter, a seminar on three political murders in the 12th century, courses on Medieval Islam, Dante’s Inferno, and many other topics,” Witt said. “I got into the Medieval Studies major through the standard Medieval History course, which I took because I was considering a History major. I’ve always loved the literature and political makeup of the period, and taking the class, in which we did our Midterm paper on Monty Python and the Quest for the Holy Grail, clinched it for me.”
The Russian and East European Studies (REES) major is sometimes confused with the Russian Languages and Literature (RUSS) major, and for good reason, as there is some overlap between the two majors. Unlike RUSS, the REES major includes Russia within a broader study of Eastern European and Soviet studies, with a wider span of coursework in history, politics, economics, and literature.
In an e-mail from a study abroad program in Moscow, REES major Lyuba Azbel ’08 gave her take on what she thought of the program and why she decided to major in it.
“I’m interested in languages and all things Russian, so REES seemed like a perfect combination,” Azbel said. “REES offers classes in Russian government/economics, history, and literature so it fulfilled my ‘all things Russian’ requirement. What I love most about [the major] is that, although it offers classes in any Russian related field I might want to study, it’s really small and provides a great community. You get to know the department and the Russophiles on campus well while taking really small, interesting classes.”
Majoring in REES requires the completion of three years of college-level Russian. REES majors must also take 7 other courses, consisting of at least one course from the three fields of Politics and Economics, History, and Economics, plus any four other courses distributed across these fields. Studying abroad in the Former Soviet Union for a semester or over a summer is highly encouraged and students who do so will receive academic credit.
The Archaeology program, which currently has just 11 majors, provides another option for students interested in history and culture.
“Wesleyan is one of the few universities of this size in the country that offer a separate Archaeology program, as most schools place it beneath Anthropology,” Witt said. “At least two professors are currently involved in digs outside of Wes, and almost all the Archaeology faculty has had field experience in locations including Pompeii, monasteries in France, and various locations in South America and the Midwest.”
Students and faculty from the Archaeology program are currently conducting an excavation on campus, which began as part of a course on Field Methods in Archaeology.
“[A]n archaeological dig on the Wesleyan campus as a class for credit is invaluable to anyone seeking a career in archaeology,” Witt said.
“It’s just like Indiana Jones,” said Archaeology Professor Douglas Charles when asked to describe what participating in the program was like.
Charles said that the program emphasizes hands-on experience with the excavations opportunities on campus and the use of the University’s Archaeology and Anthropology collections. He added that Archaeology students have a variety of postgraduate options open to them.
“[Aside from graduate school and academia, the program] can also be a pathway into heritage management and museum work,” Charles said.
Detailed information about these majors as well as other academic programs is available on the Academic Department Listing webpage, at http://www.wesleyan.edu/utilities/acad_depts.html.
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