With more than 75 academic programs to choose from, University of Mississippi students can grow professionally within their unique areas of interest.
While majors like integrated marketing communications, business and accounting have high enrollment and are increasingly popular, there are many programs with smaller student enrollment from which students can choose.
The classics major facilitates the study of the ancient Mediterranean world with an emphasis on exploring ancient languages, literature, history, art and archaeology. Students in this major can choose to have an emphasis in Latin, Greek or classic civilization.
Because the classics major generally has an enrollment of about 30 students, Professor and Chair of the Department of Classics Molly Pasco-Pranger said the students and faculty have cultivated a strong sense of community within the department.
“We all know one another, and we have all sorts of activities that sort of continue to build those connections,” Pasco-Pranger said.
One of the activities that facilitates connections is the opportunity to study abroad in Rome, Italy, at a reduced cost.
“We really encourage our students to study abroad. I think right now we’re up to about 65% of our majors who study abroad. We have a very generous endowment. It’s called the McDonnell endowment that supports study abroad, and since we don’t have a ton of classics majors, that money goes a long way,” Pasco-Pranger said.
Personal advising is one of the major benefits of being a classics major.
“Having a small major means you also get really good advising,” Pasco-Pranger said. “We just spend time individually with every single student. It’s me or one of the other tenured professors who is meeting with all of our majors. Nobody falls through the cracks.”
Many classics majors love the sense of connection between students and faculty that a smaller program offers.
“I like the fact that it’s so tight-knit … (Our professors) are always happy to talk to us about classics. Everything’s really interconnected,” junior classics major Greg Palculict said.
Although the close academic community is a positive to many students, some believe that the program would benefit from growth.
“I think it’d be good to try and show students that the classics do have a place in the modern world and that it’s not just a bunch of learning about old white guys,” Palculict said
One of UM’s newest majors, writing, rhetoric and speech communication, strives to help students become better writers and public speakers. Students are given a choice of a wide variety of speech, writing and rhetorical theory classes that examine communication in various contexts.
“Writing, rhetoric and speech communication is one of the newest majors at UM, and we are looking for students. Our major has grown almost 300% in the last two years, but we are still small,” Department Chair and Associate Professor of Rhetoric Stephen Monroe said.
Opportunities such as individualized advising, scholarships and study abroad opportunities make rhetoric a unique major with many perks.
“Students will get individual attention from brilliant faculty, practical lessons in communication, study abroad and internship opportunities and more. We also have great scholarships, like the new and substantial McCullouch-Greer Scholarship,” Monroe said.
According to the Department of Physics and Astronomy’s website, there are an average of 30 students pursuing a physics degree during any given semester. While physics is a smaller department, the program offers several courses covering diverse topics.
Senior physics and French double major Bryce Barrett gave insight into his academic experience.
“Despite being on the smaller side, the physics department offers an abundance of courses covering different topics. I have taken classes in optics, astrophysics, cosmology and even a graduate-level class about the physics of medical imaging,” Barrett said. “The curriculum for physics majors includes both classical physics courses, such as gravity, electricity and magnetism, and modern physics courses, such as quantum mechanics and particle physics.”
Barrett said that the UM physics department offers students unique opportunities for research.
“I’m a musician and have always been interested in acoustics. The National Center for Physical Acoustics is on the Ole Miss campus, and there are groundbreaking opportunities to study topics ranging from ultrasonics to underwater communications,” Barrett said. “For my honors capstone project, I’m evaluating the soundscape of the Grove by taking sound-level measurements in real time, as well as gathering people’s perceptions of sounds in different positions.”
Barrett said that while the subject can seem daunting at times, physics is both an enriching and highly applicable field to study.
“I think the most intimidating part of physics for most people is the amount of math involved, but there is free tutoring available, and the professors are available and accommodating when you have questions,” Barrett said. “Probably the most rewarding aspect is learning that physics is related to so many parts of our daily lives, and its principles can be used to explore the origin of the universe or develop new life-saving medical technology … Physics teaches problem-solving skills that can be applied to all kinds of issues.”
Given the theater and film department’s large presence on campus, hosting many events and putting on several productions each semester, it might be surprising to find that there are less than 50 students pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts in theater arts — and of the BFA students, there are only eight pursuing the design and theater production degree.
According to freshman design and theater production major Grae Goodlett, the design and theater production emphasis involves working and communicating with the theater department’s faculty and other students.
“As a design student, I work really closely with the faculty and students,” Goodlett said. “I specifically work very closely with the costume department since I work in the costume shop every week for 12 hours. And once you take a certain class, you start designing for shows. I’m excited since I’ll be able to start designing for the fall.”
Goodlett also explained that the size of the program creates a closer classroom environment.
“Especially for freshmen, there are some larger classes that all theater majors have to take. But the courses specifically for the design emphasis are much, much smaller,” Goodlett said. “It’s a really nice environment because you get to work more directly with your professors.”
While studying theater design can be time-consuming, Goodlett emphasized the benefits of being involved with the theater community.
“You have to put in more than just classroom hours or homework, like working 12 hours a week in your field of study. And you’re also working on shows. Being on the crew of a show is probably four hours minimum each night you’re there, not to mention the design work that designers put into the show,” Goodlett said. “You have to put in all these hours, but you get to tell a beautiful story at the end of it, and that’s always what I’m looking forward to.”
This article is part of a team-up week activity that the arts and culture section of The Daily Mississippian is hosting. Each arts and culture staff writer collaborated with another writer to complete an article for this week of content.
