Communication Dept. Discards Minor Requirement

By The Fordham Ram on February 12, 2014 • ( 0 )

By KELLY KULTYS
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

The department hopes that fewer requirements will allow for more flexibility.
(SAMUEL JOSEPH/THE RAM)

The communication and media studies department was the last one to require undergraduate students to pursue a minor. According to Dr. Jacqueline Reich, chair of the department, this is no longer required.

“We’ve eliminated the mandatory nature of the minor,” Reich said.

Both college councils, FCRH and FCLC, met and voted to get rid of the requirement.

Reich said that there were many reasons behind the policy change, but one of the main ones was the course load. The councils agreed that forcing students to take a minor on top of the major and core requirements allowed for little wiggle room in terms of elective courses.

“We’re releasing the obligation, to push students to study abroad,” Reich said.

Without the mandatory minor, Reich hopes students will be able to pursue a variety of courses while spending time abroad without feeling locked into regimented academic restraints.

Finally, Reich cited the fact that more and more communication and media studies students are doing internships. By getting rid of the minor, the department can encourage students to get more involved in their field.

However, Reich wants to be clear that this is not intended to discourage students from taking a minor.

“We want to encourage students to pursue passions unrelated to their major or course of studies,” Reich said. “They can embrace the spirit [a] liberal arts [education] embodies.”

This change will take effect immediately, regardless of year. Some students such as Celia Aniskovich, FCRH ’14, believe this is an unwelcome change.

“I think the loss of mandatory minors for comm. majors is an unfortunate development,” Aniskovich said. “A comm. major is such a broad and versatile one that having a minor can actually help students establish an area of focus within the major itself.”

Aniskovich believes that her required minor has given her a strong foundation for her life post-graduation.

“As a philosophy minor and an American Catholic studies concentrator myself, I’ve found the pairing helpful as I approach ethical issues across disciplines,” she said. “I’m able to study ethical dilemmas within religious and philosophical frameworks and then bring that knowledge with me into my comm. classes and internships, as I work to understand and assess the ethical demands of a world that is being redefined by new media and technologies.”

Aniskovich says that the required minor seemed to fit into Fordham’s core values.

“As a Jesuit institution, I would hope that we would encourage this sort of interdisciplinary thinking,” Aniskovich said.

However, for younger students, such as Julianne Ferriera, FCRH ’17, this is welcome news as they enter into their major discipline.

“I think that it’s a good thing that the mandatory minors are gone just because it was an added pressure of workload,” Ferriera said. “People should take a minor if they want to, not because they are forced to do so.”

Ferriera seems to echo Reich’s belief that, by getting rid of the mandatory nature, students will still decide to take up a minor.

“I’ll still probably take some sort of business minor because I think it’s a good background to have,” she said.

As of now, the communication and media studies department has no plans to restructure its major requirements.