FCLC Introduces New Programs for 2014

By NOHA MAHMOUD

Beginning fall 2014, a number of new programs will be available for students at Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC). The Gabelli School of Business will introduce a new undergraduate program at FCLC that will allow students to pursue a degree in Bachelor of Science in Global Business. Students will also have the option of choosing other new programs, such as new media and digital design, humanitarian affairs and fashion.

According to the Gabelli School of Business’ website, the business program will include four different concentrations that students could choose from: digital media and technology, global finance and business economics, management, with a focus on health care and marketing, with a focus on consumer insight.

“There is no other top-ranked business school – other than New York University (NYU) in New York City, so we thought that, given our Jesuit ethos, we could offer a different way to deliver business education in Manhattan,” Donna Rapaccioli, dean of the Gabelli School of Business, explained when asked about the motivation behind the program.

According to Rapaccioli, students that choose to pursue a major in global business will be required to complete a liberal arts core as well as an integrated business core. “Roughly, 26 courses are laid out and the other 14 the students will pursue in one of the areas of interests,” she said.

The website also states that students interested in the program will be required to hold an internship as well as study abroad. “Two of the things that are at the core [of the program] are applied learning…and we are focused on global experience,” Rapaccioli said.

In regards to new media and digital design program, according to the proposal, students can choose from three different concentrations: new media and information, new media and design and new media and commerce. Students will also have the opportunity to create their own concentration based on at least three elective courses through the new media program as well as three courses from other programs.

“We need to prepare students for the 21st century,” Dr. Gwenyth Jackaway, associate chair of communication and media studies, said in regards to the new media and digital design program. “Interdisciplinary thinking creates a bridge between theory and practice,” she said.

By fall of 2014, students at FCLC will be able to pursue both a major and minor in humanitarian affairs. According to Professor Cahill, executive director of the institute of International Humanitarian Affairs, “The minor will continue while the major will allow for one extra required course and then there will be six courses that will be chosen from an interdisciplinary list.”

According to the proposal for interdisciplinary major in international humanitarian studies, students who pursue the major can fulfill the elective requirements by taking two courses from three different areas of study: history, philosophy and anthropology area studies; humanitarian affairs, political science, sociology and economics; or women’s studies, literary studies and communications.

“Humanitarian affairs mission centric. The ideals of humanitarianism make it a useful major for those who want to study other things such as accounting and history,” Cahill said. “I hope that it becomes a magnet for students interested in humanitarianism to Fordham,” he added on.

Fashion courses were previously offered to students during the 2012-2013 school year according to Rev. Robert R. Grimes. The proposal for a minor in fashion studies at FCLC stated that the program will include three introductory courses and four elective courses that can be chosen from three different tracks: design, business and social theory.