College To Offer Minor In Internet

Some Existing Internet Courses Only Available For Graduate Students

BOSTON, 3:04 p.m. EST February 14, 2001 -- Students at Brandeis University will be able to take courses in everything from e-commerce to e-opera when the school begins offering a minor in Internet studies this fall.

The new minor will focus on how the Web has affected society. If the courses are successful, Brandeis president Jehuda Reinharz said, the program will likely become a full major within two or three years.

"There is enormous curiosity among students on how this affects their lives," Reinharz said. "This impacts us daily, but we're not studying it yet."

Schools including Harvard, Yale and the University of Washington already have research centers that study the effect of the Internet, but they are typically for graduate students only.

Students will have to take six courses to earn the minor. Classes will include Virtual Opera and Alternative Press in the United States. Students in the minor will also examine issues like intellectual property, online pornography and the music-swap site Napster.

While most professors can remember life before the Internet, many college students grew up using it, said economics professor Anne Carter, who is helping develop the minor.

"Studying the Internet gives us perspective on the changing economy, society, earth and even how we raise our children," she said. "It's a lens through which we can more clearly see a lot of what's happening in the world."

Copyright 2001 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.