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College of Liberal Arts and Sciences | Villanova University

Villanova University’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Launches Five New Majors and Minors This Fall

VILLANOVA, Pa.—A total of five new majors and minors will be offered beginning with the fall semester of 2022 in Villanova University’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the largest number ever to be introduced in the College in a single academic year.

The College is offering new majors in Public Service and Administration, Chinese Studies and Japanese Studies, as well as new minors in Laboratory Sciences and Disability and Deaf Studies. Each new offering was created in response to student interest.

  • The major in Public Service and Administration is an interdisciplinary course of study open to students in all of Villanova University’s undergraduate colleges. Through a combination of robust scholarly inquiry and hands-on assignments, the major will prepare students for a career in public service equipped with the skills and competencies necessary to manage people and resources effectively and ethically for public purposes. Graduates of the program will become responsibly engaged citizens and leaders in the field of public service.
  • With the Chinese language now spoken by over one billion people and continuing to gain global ascendency and influence, the major in Chinese Studies offers extensive instruction in the language coupled with interdisciplinary studies that position the language and culture of China in subject areas with global significance. Students will study Chinese to advanced levels, including taking courses in translation, with a required capstone thesis partially written in Chinese, and a required Study Abroad experience.
  • The major in Japanese Studies allows students to study the world’s third-largest economy and one of the US’s most important allies and trading partners. Japan’s capital, Tokyo, is the world’s largest city, and Japan occupies a prominent position on the global stage for its innovative technologies. The major will offer extensive instruction in Japanese language coupled with interdisciplinary studies that position the language and culture in subject areas of global significance. Students will study the Japanese language to advanced levels, including taking a course in translation, with a required capstone thesis written partially in Japanese, and a required Study Abroad Experience.
  • Designed for liberal arts or business majors who desire a broad understanding of science and its experimental methods, the minor in Laboratory Sciences—also open to students in the Fitzpatrick College of Nursing—trains students in careful analysis and opens potential career paths in science-intensive industries such as environmental, biopharmaceutical or medical research careers. It will require six science courses with accompanying hands-on laboratories.
  • The Disability and Deaf Studies minor reflects Villanova University’s significant history of service to individuals with disabilities; in recent years students have founded organizations to support deafness as a cultural identity. While disability-related coursework already exists on campus, the new Disability and Deaf Studies minor will provide a central hub for programming that supports students’ developing understanding of disabilities.

About Villanova University’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences: Since its founding in 1842, Villanova University’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences has cultivated knowledge, understanding and intellectual courage for a purposeful life in a challenging and changing world. With more than 40 majors across the humanities, social sciences and natural sciences, it is the oldest and largest of Villanova’s colleges, serving more than 4,500 undergraduate and graduate students each year. The College is committed to a teacher-scholar model, offering outstanding undergraduate and graduate research opportunities and a rigorous core curriculum that prepares students to become critical thinkers, strong communicators and ethical leaders with a truly global perspective.