Centre student creates the ultimate personal education by designing her own major

RELEASED: May 1, 2008

DANVILLE, KY—What if a student's choice of majors was limited not by a standardized list, but only by his or her imagination? Bethany Pratt '10, from Richmond, Ky., came to Centre College for the personal education but couldn't decide on any of the traditional majors offered by the College. Instead, she opted to focus on her passions for sustainable resource use and humanities by creating a self-designed major.

"Many of the environmental concerns of today stem from human use and abuse of our natural resources," Pratt says. "As a student and environmentalist, I'm interested in learning about the complex relationship that humans have developed with their environment."

Using the College's environmental studies minor as a foundation, Pratt designed a comprehensive curriculum that will prepare her to address what she calls "a growing resource crisis."

Pratt says, "Science alone can't solve all the problems facing our world today; however, through blending science and elements of the humanities, a more comprehensive and lasting approach to conservation can be achieved."

Her major, titled "Environmental Studies: Sustainable Resource Use," will pull heavily from courses listed in the biology and anthropology/sociology catalog, but will integrate credits from the history and English programs, as well. The courses listed in her proposed class schedule for the next two years include "American Environmental History" (HIS 361), "Getting Back to Nature" (ENG 386) and "GIS and the Environment" (ANT 360)—a course based on learning geographic information system modeling and mapping technology. And Pratt will have plenty of time to take numerous studio art courses as well as study abroad in Mexico and Australia.

While several colleges across the country offer environmental studies majors, Pratt says that her experience designing a personalized education plan at Centre has additional benefits.

"Having to create my own major has pushed me to concisely verbalize my aspirations and have the courage to present my dreams to others," Pratt says.

Other self-designed majors include Middle Eastern Studies; Modern Languages; Ancient Mediterranean Language and Culture; Urban Development Studies; Design and Culture; Social Justice Studies; Studies in Creative Writing; Diversity Studies; European Studies: Politics, Economics, Language, Communication and Culture; and Japanese Studies

Check out Centre's homepage in the following weeks for more self-designed major student profiles!

For more information on self-designed majors, click here.

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Founded in 1819, Centre College is ranked among the U.S. News top 50 national liberal arts colleges. Consumers Digest ranks Centre No. 1 in educational value among all U.S. liberal arts colleges. Centre alumni, known for their nation-leading loyalty in annual financial support, include two U.S. vice presidents and two Supreme Court justices. For more, visit http://www.centre.edu/web/elevatorspeech/

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