Not So Different

By Colleen Flaherty. If it seems very Silicon Valley, that’s because it is. Stanford University’s Faculty Senate approved on Thursday two new joint-major programs that will allow students to study English and computer science or music and computer science starting in the fall. Nicholas Jenkins, associate professor of English and director of CS+X, as the joint major program is called, said it will likely attract humanists who want a competitive edge on the job market; computer science-minded students who want to be engaged in the humanities; and third group of students: digital natives for whom computer science and the humanities don’t seem “at opposite ends of the spectrum at all, but continuous.” Read more...