Service science, the study of the service economy, teaches students how to increase productivity and introduce innovations. Although there are many schools that offer degrees in this emerging field, most of them are for graduate students, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education. One school that offers an undergraduate degree in service science is Michigan Tech University in Houghton. The school has created a Bachelor of Science degree in Service Systems Engineering to train students in the design and operation of processes and systems within the service sector, with the goal of producing workers for the academic, government and industry sectors of the service industry. Sample courses include introduction to service systems engineering, service system dynamics and design, human interaction in service systems and analysis and design of Internet-based services.
Nanotechnology is the emerging branch of engineering that explores micro-systems that measure one-billionth of a meter. Nanotechnology incorporates the imaging, modeling and manipulating of systems at this minute molecular scale. A number of institutions offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in this field, including Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, University of North Carolina in Charlotte and the University of Washington in Seattle. Only a few schools offer a two-year associate degree in nanotechnology, including Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Dakota County Technical College in Rosemount, Minnesota and North Seattle Community College. OSU's associate degree in Applied Science Nanoscientific Instrumentation, is a two-year program that trains students in the basics of nanotechnology, nanostructures, nanoscale devices and systems and nanomaterials. Graduating students can apply for jobs in the aerospace, biosystems, agriculture and manufacturing industries.
Narrative medicine is an emerging field that focuses on treating patients through an understanding of their symptoms as part of their life story. It's designed primarily for doctors, enabling them to use a more sympathetic and holistic approach to healing their patients by learning how to listen to them more actively. In 2009, Columbia University in New York became the first school to offer a degree in this field, a Master of Science in Narrative Medicine. The program began with 28 students, including doctors, lawyers, social workers and medical school residents. Courses cover such subjects as illness narratives, the self and other in the clinical encounter, illness and care and narratives and health and social justice.
Cultural sustainability is concerned with the preservation of customs and traditions within long-standing communities threatened by globalization, conflict and the erosion of natural resources. There are more than 28 schools in the United States that offer master's degrees in sustainability, but Goucher College in Baltimore, Maryland distinguishes itself by focusing specifically on cultural sustainability. Goucher offers a Master of Arts in Cultural Sustainability that trains students in disciplines such as anthropology, history, communications, linguistics and folklore. Graduating students will have gained the knowledge and skills to live in communities as diverse as a village in Africa or a low-income urban city and effect change within those cultures. The program of study includes classes in cultural sustainability, cultural partnership, cultural policy, community and economic development, festivals, events and performances and community organizing.