Last year's addition of two majors-dance and statistical science-have allowed the Dance Program and the Institute of Statistics and Decision Sciences to expand their curricula and promote increased student interest.
So far, there is one declared dance major and one declared statistical science major, program directors said.
"As soon as Duke got the dance major, it seemed like no choice for me-I had to do it," sophomore Audrey Fenske said.
Since the Arts and Sciences Council established the dance major in December 2006, the Dance Program will offer a new capstone course-Dance, Research and Methods-and has hired a full-time staff musician to develop a new course in music for dancers, said Barbara Dickinson, director of the Dance Program and associate professor of the practice of dance.
"Part of the development of the major will be developing a couple of new courses.... But we're also creating a course on performance, in other words, examining beyond technique," Dickinson said. "You're technically facile, you're a good dancer, but how do you become a performer, what is the artistry of a performer?"
She added that having a major has helped the dance program better integrate the academic and performance aspects of dance. This allows for students to study dance in its cultural context and advances a more holistic understanding of dance, she said.
"At most other universities that have dance majors, all their courses are heavy in studio work," Fenske said. "But the dance major at Duke is different because it's very heavy in... academic courses."
Dickinson said the dance program at Duke has always been strong, even without the major. She added that when professionals and other universities' dance faculty have visited Duke, they were surprised that no dance major existed.
The new statistical science major-established in April 2006-will allow the ISDS to offer more advanced classes, said Dalene Stangl, director and professor of the practice of ISDS. But she added that it is still too early to tell how a major will affect the statistics program.
"I think it's way too early to say that it's had any impact at all," Stangl said. "I'm guessing there's going to be a lot more change down the road."
Stangl pointed to the rise in the number of high school students taking Advanced Placement statistics courses as evidence of the increased demand for a statistics major.
She added that a statistics major is useful in many industries and occupations such as law, finance and medicine.
"It's just an incredibly broad, useful degree that's going to help you in most any major or any field you go into," Stangl said.
She added that in addition to the one declared major, there are five declared minors in statistical science. But sophomore Megan Kuhfeld, the declared statistical science major, said she is planning on dropping down to a minor.
"If I had entered freshman year, I probably would have kept with it, but because it just came [last] fall, I didn't have really any time and I didn't really know I was interested in stats until sophomore year," Kuhfeld said.
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