Comparative international studies is just the latest of several new majors announced by San Diego State University (SDSU) this year. State students will have more new options this fall than in any of the last four years.
SDSU’s major in comparative international studies brings the number of new programs the university will start next fall to seven.
In addition to that program, the school will offer majors in sustainability and lesbian, gay, transgender and bisexual studies for the first time in the fall, and will start a bachelor's program in athletic training, a Master's in information systems and doctorates in physical therapy and nursing.
Most new programs are result of reorganizing existing courses and grow out of the faculty’s understanding of where their fields are headed, according to Geoff Chase, dean of undergraduate affairs.
“It’s always generated within the faculty in a given department or combination of departments. It’s always added from the bottom up, it builds on faculty interests and strengths,” he said.
The flood of new offerings doesn’t mean the school is using its depleted budget to get them off the ground.
“Any program that’s created now is really created out of existing resources and there are no new resources and everybody knows that,” Chase said.
