The Council on Academic Affairs passed a new criminology major and changed the name of the chemistry department to chemistry and biochemistry at their meeting Thursday.

Darren Hendrickson, the chair of the sociology and anthropology department who introduced the major, said the idea for a criminology major came from students asking if it was offered at Eastern.

He said while the department does not currently have the major, they do have an interdisciplinary minor. The major will also be interdisciplinary.

Hendrickson talked about a pair of new courses, Criminology Theory and Contemporary Topics in Criminology and Criminal Justice, which will be offered for the major.

Hendrickson said Contemporary Topics in Criminology and Criminal Justice will be the capstone course for the major.

Criminology Theory focuses on why suspects commit the crimes they do and their thought process.

Contemporary topics in Criminology and Criminal Justice focuses on modern topics in criminology and criminal justice.

Hendrickson also asked for the Social Movements, Crowds and Violence class to get an online option. The course analyzes social movements and their participants, as well as behavior and the violence that can come with the movements.

The reasoning behind the class having an online option is that more off-campus students and students with work schedules which would conflict with a course meeting time could take it.

Biochemistry professor Gopal Periyannan, argued in favor of the chemistry department’s name change.

Periyannan said a lot of students and potential students are interested in biochemistry, but when they look for classes or for a biochemistry major, there are none to be found, so the name should be changed to the department of chemistry and biochemistry. The name change passed unanimously.

Sally Renaud, chair of the journalism department, talked to the CAA about a revised the requirements for the journalism minor to make the amount of credit hours needed 18.

The number of hours currently needed is 25.

“So many of our minors come from student media so then the idea is they can genuinely choose the classes that fit their specific interests,” Renaud said.

Samuel Nusbaum can be reached at 581-2812 or at scnusbaum@eiu.edu.