The Department of Physics at Nebraska Wesleyan University provides a full complement of courses that lay a broad foundation for further studies in physics or engineering, or employment in many diverse areas. The physics faculty member's expertise in a wide variety of fields is complemented by well-equipped science laboratories with state-of-the-art instruments and computers. Together these provide an excellent opportunity for students to do undergraduate research in electronics, optics, and teh detection of radiation, as well as applications in areas such as radon monitoring, trace element analysis, environmental radiation and pollution detection.
Nebraska wesleyan participates in dual degree programs with two outstanding schools of engineering: Washington university in St. Louis and Columbia University in New York City. After three years at Nebraska Wesleyan qualifying students may continue their studies at either institution, earning degrees from both Nebraska Wesleyan and the engineering school after a total of five years of instruction. Besides providing students the opportunity to begin their college career at a school where undergraduate education is the only mission, Wesleyan's liberal arts emphasis provides students with the skills that will enhance their careers as engineers.
In the past four years Nebraska Wesleyan has graduated 17 physics majors. Of those, eight have enrolled in dual degree engineering programs. Others have gone on to graduate studies in medical physics, material science, physics education, environmental science and musical recording technology. Still others are currently employed as a fiber optics engineer, a hospital radiation investigator and a Peace Corps volunteer in the South Pacific.
All physics majors (except for those in the dual degree program) complete two semesters of advanced research in a field of physics that is of interest to them. These students often report their results at the annual meeting of the Nebraska Academy of Sciences. In recent years several physics students have been accepted to work in a national laboratory through the U.S. Department of Energy's Science and Engineering Research Semester. In addition, some students have received grants to join research groups at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Physics faculty members strive to provide physics students with current information on graduate schools and career opportunities by maintaining contact with graduate schools and department alumni who have shared their experiences from graduate school or their career. Physics majors are involved in a local chapter of Sigma Pi Sigma (the physics honorary) and the Society of Physics Students.
Introductory physics courses are taught using the Workshop Physics format. Groups of two or three students spend six hours each week in the lab engaged in "hands-on" activities guided by a highly interactive workbook, and assisted by Macintosh computers interfaced with various probes and sensors. Rather than lecturing the instructor functions as a coach, answering and asking questions, encouraging and explaining. Second-year physics majors normally enroll in Electronic Measurements, a course that includes both analog and digital electronics, and Introduction to Modern Physics, which serves as an introduction to such theoretical topics as relativity and quantum mechanics, as well as laboratory work in atomic and nuclear physics. At the junior/senior level, the department offers two semesters of classical mechanics as well as one semester each of quantum physics, electromagnetism, optics, thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, and mathematical methods in physics and engineering. In addition the department offers courses in health physics and computer architecture/ interfacing appropriate for science majors.