Physics
Department | Program | Courses
Department
Chairperson: A.
Lahamer
Faculty: T.
Hodge and M. Veillette
The Department of Physics provides courses, labor opportunities,
and other activities designed to: a) prepare students to enter
graduate schools or research laboratories en route to careers as
professional physicists; b) provide a liberal-arts major for students
who will not become physicists but are interested in careers in
astronomy, medicine, computer science, etc., where a background
in physics might be desirable; and c) provide service courses for
majors in other sciences, such as premedicine, mathematics, industrial
arts, and agriculture.
Physics majors begin their study with the calculus-based courses
with laboratory components. These laboratory skills are enhanced
through the advanced laboratory course, which can be taken multiple
times. The curriculum also incorporates research activities in
our Directed, Independent, and Team Initiated Study courses.
This work serves as training for the independent Senior Seminar
Project, which all Physics students must undertake. In addition,
the Department encourages research activity for Physics students
in the summer either on or off campus (via Internships or the
travel-abroad program), and make them aware of such opportunities.
Credit may be awarded for their work.
A strong background
in Physics is essential in any Engineering field. So, for those
inclined toward Engineering, the College offers a 3-2 Engineering
Dual Degree Program. In this program, a student attends Berea
College for three years, then completes the Engineering degree
requirements at either the University of Washington (Saint Louis,
Missouri), or at the University of Kentucky (Lexington). To provide
students with a major program that can lead to a career in engineering
through Berea’s Dual Degree Engineering Program,
as well as for other students, the College faculty approved the
interdisciplinary Applied Science and Mathematics
degree program,
which will first be offered in 2006-2007 and
is described in this Catalog.
The Physics Department’s
resources include a brand new, National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded
X-ray diffraction instrument; a fully equipped optics laboratory;
a digital electronics laboratory; a Mössbauer spectroscopy
laboratory; a laser-ablation setup; a Time of Flight (TOF) mass
spectrometer; a recently renovated observatory with a 16-inch Cassegrain
telescope; and a planetarium. Computing facilities also are available
to students, including laptops and a few PCs running Linux, as well
as those running Windows, operating systems.
Program
Major Requirements
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