Programs of Study
Nutritional Sciences draws upon several disciplines, including biology, to understand the relationships between food, nutrients, and human health. The Program of Study in Human Nutrition offers biology majors courses concerned with the nature and biochemical function of essential and non-essential nutrients, nutrient requirements, the role of nutrients in gene expression, and the role of diet in both risk of chronic disease and treatment of existing disease states.
Students in this Program of Study are encouraged to complete a diverse set of advanced courses affording a perspective on current knowledge of nutrient requirements and function and how this knowledge can be put to use. With the exception of a core course in the structure and function of nutrients, the course requirements are left unspecified. Faculty advisors work with individual students to develop a curriculum that fits the students' interests. The biochemical and physiological aspects of nutrition are covered in this Program of Study. Students are encouraged to obtain laboratory experience either through coursework or research. Faculty in Nutritional Sciences are engaged in a wide variety of research activities, including nutritional regulation of gene expression, nutrient function, and regulation of nutritional status, employing diverse approaches such as cell culture, animal experimentation, and human metabolic studies.
Students completing the program in nutrition most often choose to continue their education in medical or graduate school, and pursue careers in the applied aspects of nutrition (including but not limited to nutrition communication and education, clinical dietetics, community-based nutrition programs in the US and worldwide, nutrition counseling, excercise science and physical therapy) or in laboratory-based or epidemiological research.
Required Courses for the Program of Study in Human Nutrition
Total: 13
credits
2007-2008 Course Descriptions
Spring 2008 Room and Time Rosters
Department Website
- NS 3310, Physiological and Biochemical Bases of Human Nutrition
(4 credits) and at least 9 credits of additional coursework in the
biological aspects of nutrition, such as:
- NS 1220, Nutrition and the Life Cycle
- NS 3150, Obesity and the Regulation of Body Weight
- NS 3320, Methods in Nutritional Sciences
- NS 3410, Human Anatomy and Physiology
- NS 3470, Human Growth and Development
- NS 4210, Nutrition and Excercise
- NS 4410, Nutrition and Disease
- NS 6030 (alternate years), Mineral Nutrition: Metabolic, Health, and Environmental Aspects
- NS 6140, Topics in Maternal and Child Nutrition
- NS 6310, Micronutrients: Function, Homeostasis and Metabolism
- NS 6320, Regulation of Macronutrient Metabolism
- Some courses require NS 1150 Nutrition Health and Society, which may be used as part of the additional 9 credits.
Note: For students in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS), credits in NS courses count towards the required 55 CALS credits. For students in the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S), NS credits will count toward the 100 hours required in A&S if those credits fulfill major requirements.
