Academic Stories

The College launches nine new minor programs

From quantum information science to quantitative social analysis, programs showcase—and expand—the diversity of academic options available to undergraduates

With almost a hundred different major and minor programs to choose from, UChicago undergraduates have the freedom to pursue the academic path that best fits their interests and goals. Beginning in the 2020-2021 academic year, students will have nine new minors to consider, introduced by the College as part of its ongoing commitment to expand and enhance the undergraduate educational experience. 

The new minors are offered across three Collegiate Divisions—Social Sciences, Physical Sciences, and Humanities—and represent a wide range of scholarly fields, from immunoengineering to romance languages, literatures, and cultures. Each was developed with the aim of enriching students’ academic experience and expanding their freedom in designing a course of study.

The new programs include:

Each tailored to a different set of academic interests, the programs respond to recent developments in their respective disciplines and the changing realities of our broader society—whether the “new, cutting-edge and uniquely University of Chicago paradigm” for undergraduate engineering or the new approaches to globalization within the “increasingly multicultural and multilingual world.”

Below, three faculty speak about what inspired the new minor programs and what they hope students will gain from them. 

Molecular engineering: 

Paul Nealey, Brady W. Dougan professor of molecular engineering and deputy dean for education and outreach

“The Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (PME) created minor degree programs that provide pathways for students to broaden and deepen their knowledge in the engineering sciences with advanced coursework - often at the level of a senior undergraduate/first-year graduate student - that build on the foundation of the molecular engineering major or other STEM majors. The minor programs are specifically designed for students who aim to excel in highly technical roles in manufacturing, technology development and research. It is our explicit intention to develop PME major and minor combinations as a new, cutting-edge and uniquely University of Chicago paradigm for the education of undergraduate engineering students.”

Quantitative social analysis:

John Brehm, professor of political science and the Committee on Quantitative Methods

“The students I see in the Core and in the departments, are quite talented at quantitative analysis, but lack information and encouragement to further those skills beyond an elementary level, which was a shame since there is such a tremendous variety of classes across the Social Science Division, in public policy, statistics and biostatistics. The idea behind the quantitative social analysis minor is to encourage students to acquire superb quantitative skills by rewarding them for sustained, empirical focus on social problems.”

Romance languages, literatures, and cultures:

Maria Anna Mariani, assistant professor of modern Italian literature and director of undergraduate studies

“This minor is designed to accommodate the needs and interests of students who would like to broaden their linguistic, literary and cultural experience beyond the scope of monolingual programs. Romance languages have never existed in isolation and, now more than ever, we live in a globalized society that traverses linguistic borders. This minor prepares students to flourish in an increasingly multicultural and multilingual world.”