Bachelor of Science in Nutritional Sciences

Nutritional Sciences draws upon chemistry, biology, and the social sciences to understand complex relationships among human health and well-being, food and lifestyle patterns, food and agricultural systems, and social and institutional environments. The program in nutritional sciences provides students with strong training in human nutrition in the context of an understanding and appreciation of the agricultural and life sciences. The program responds to the growing and important interrelationships among human nutrition and the agricultural and life sciences. Growing public interest in health and nutrition has placed new demands upon food producers, processors, and retailers. The problems of hunger and malnutrition in the United States and abroad require that nutritionists work with specialists in areas such as agricultural economics, food production, and development sociology. Advances in biotechnology provide researchers with new ways to understand human nutritional requirements and the regulation of human metabolism. Nutritional Sciences majors complete a core set of requirements and choose elective courses in the areas of their particular interest. The core curriculum includes introductory chemistry and biology, organic chemistry, biochemistry, physiology, and mathematics. Students complete five courses in nutritional sciences: NS 1150 Nutrition, Health, and Society; NS 2450 Social Science Perspectives on Food and Nutrition; NS 3450 Introduction to Physicochemical and Biological Aspects of Foods; NS 3310 Physiological and Biochemical Bases of Nutrition; and NS 3320 Methods in Nutritional Sciences. In addition, students select a minimum of three advanced courses in nutritional sciences as well as elective courses in the broad areas of food policy, food science, biological sciences, animal and plant sciences, business and economics, and environmental sciences.