The curriculum emphasizes laboratory work in which students become independent workers formulating and solving their own problems.
Students gain the intellectual skill of moving freely to and from the concrete and the abstract.
Students assess evidence, follow complex arguments to their logical conclusions, and practice speaking and writing clearly and effectively. The major program may serve as a basis for further study in physics and allied sciences and in engineering and for study leading to professions in education, health sciences and law. Many careers are open to those who understand some physics. Graduates work as astronomers, engineers, material scientists and physicists in government, industry and universities as well as in geophysics, oceanography, computer science, medical and health physics and in patent law. The physics department is located in Collins Hall.