ENC will offer Intercultural Studies as a major starting in the 2018-19 school year.
According to Julene Tegerstrand, one of the faculty members pushing this new major, there was an ongoing conversation in the Religion Department over the past few years about implementing an Intercultural Studies major at here.
Intercultural Studies will allow ENC students to get their feet wet in both missions and social justice. ENC already offers a Missions minor; now, with the addition of an Intercultural Studies major, they are starting to put an emphasis on missional careers.
The course load for Intercultural Studies is designed to qualify students to serve in missions and provide them with a broader look into the study of missions. Students are required to take five courses that are specific to Intercultural Studies, including Introduction to Intercultural Studies, Intercultural Dialogue, Intercultural Pilgrimage, Agents of Change, and Leadership, Power, and Privilege In Diverse Contents.
Tegerstrand elaborated on course content, saying, “In Agents of Change, we will touch on community development and community organizing. In Intercultural Pilgrimage, we will touch on the topic of peace. This is a spring course, and it wraps up May with a Fusion trip to Kenya, where we will partner with Nazarene students in Africa.”
Tegerstrand dove into the type of careers one can explore with a degree in Intercultural Studies. “It is a good major choice for people that want to be pastors of a more diverse church or students that hope to work alongside a Christian non-profit.”
Intercultural Studies can be paired as a double major with Psychology, Business, Social Work, Communication Arts, Journalism, and Computer Science. The courses allow for students to gain field experience through opportunities to serve in missions.
If you want to lean more about the new Intercultural Studies major, feel free to contact Professor Tegerstrand with any questions at Julene.Tegerstrand@enc.edu. Her office is located on the third floor of Angell Hall.