KGUN 9NewsLocal News

Actions

UArizona dual major dancers take center stage, help arts and humanities colleges receive number 11 ranking

Posted at 4:30 AM, Dec 26, 2019
and last updated 2020-01-03 05:27:27-05

The University of Arizona ranked Number 11 among all U.S. public institutions in the Arts and Humanities category in the latest Times Higher Education World University Rankings.

The rankings are based on five areas:

  • Teaching (the learning environment): 30%
  • Research (volume, income and reputation): 30%
  • Citations (research influence): 30%
  • International outlook (staff, students and research) 7.5%
  • Industry income (knowledge transfer): 2.5%

The UArizona College of Fine Arts and College of Humanities has many students majoring in all ranges, from foreign languages to theatre and music. Many of these students are double majoring within the colleges, as well as across campus.

One of those students in Noah Huang. He's a Biology, Dance double major with a minor in Japanese.

"For me, coming into college meant exploring everything I was passionate about," Huang said.

Huang has been dancing ballet since he was seven years old. He didn't want to give that up for his dreams to be a doctor, so he combined his two passions at the University of Arizona.

Huang's Advance Ballet Professor Autumn Eckman thinks dance and medicine can actually compliment each other.

"I think he's going to have a great understanding of how the physical body works," Eckman said. "There is definitely a connection between the medicine and science and physical aspect that helps us understand the body in dance."

For Huang, he feels like dance can be translated to a form of communication that will "ultimately help him have a stronger connection patients down the road".

"We feel sometimes that the University isn't quite as well known for the arts and humanities as it is for other disciplines," Dean of the College of Fine Arts Andy Schulz said. "In fact, the arts and humanities are real beckons of excellence at the university."

These two colleges may be at number 11 now, but Schulz said this is only the beginning.