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Los Angeles: Departments and Programs

Naval Science
The naval science department and naval ROTC unit at Los Angeles were established in September, 1938, by the Secretary of the Navy to provide for a permanent academic system of training and instruction in essential naval subjects leading toward graduate commissions in the United States Navy and Marine Corps. During the first three years the department doubled its staff and students as the program of instruction was accelerated to meet the growing threat of war. The first three naval officers trained in the department were commissioned in June, 1941. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, the unit's size and educational program were dramatically expanded.

During World War II the battalion of midshipmen was steadily increased to a maximum of 850 men. In the summer of 1943, nearly 500 V-12 Naval officer students were added to the department's responsibilities. The unit also became the largest University housing organization when it took over fraternity and sorority houses just off-campus as living quarters for its personnel. By 1946, 2,000 men received academic degrees and Navy or Marine Corps commissions under the campus program.

In the postwar period the department reconverted to a peace-time establishment. A new four-year curriculum emphasizing academic achievement was initiated. A scholarship program, featuring $6,000-$12,000 grants and regular Naval service commissions, was also offered to students annually chosen by a nationwide competitive selection system. This plan was called the Holloway Plan in recognition of Rear Admiral James L. Holloway, Jr., U.S.N., who was chairman of a national board that proposed it as one answer to needed post-World War II expansion in Naval officer training programs.

The years since World War II saw an uneven growth of the department, reflecting the tempo of the Cold War. Approximately 150 to 200 midshipmen and all interested University students were offered a four year curriculum and individual three-unit credit courses in naval history, orientation, weapons, navigation, operations, engineering, management and leadership. Upper division undergraduate students could also take specialized courses in strategy, tactics and amphibious warfare. Summer sea, aviation and amphibious cruises throughout the world balanced the unit's academic program with the essential element of practical experience. The department did not offer graduate courses on campus. Competitively selected midshipmen were ordered to the Navy Postgraduate School at Monterey and numerous civilian universities throughout the country upon graduation for continued academic work on masters and doctorate degrees covering 67 academic disciplines.

The department was organized under the Division of Physical Sciences of the College of Letters and Science, and maintained a faculty staff of seven Navy and Marine Corps officers in the mid-1960s. source

Near Eastern and African Languages
The program in Near Eastern studies was initiated at Los Angeles in 1956 for students desiring to specialize in the Near Eastern area. Hebrew and Semitics were offered in the classics department; Arabic, Turkish, and Persian in the Oriental languages department. In 1959, as a result of increasing interest in these studies, the Department of Near Eastern Languages was organized under the chairmanship of Wolf Leslau, with a faculty of six. Degree programs were offered through the M.A. degree in Near Eastern languages and literature, with individual concentration in Arabic, Persian, and Turkish; Semitics; or Hebrew. The following year the Ph.D. program was started, producing the first doctoral graduate in January, 1964.

A program in African studies was organized at Los Angeles in 1959, designed primarily for students desiring to work in African countries or in African affairs. The Near Eastern department assumed responsibilities for the African languages and literatures, with attention focused mainly on present-day spoken languages. The department name was changed in 1961 to Near Eastern and African languages and the faculty increased to 13 members. By 1964, the faculty had increased to 21 members.

The department was unique in its comprehensive programs in Hebrew and Arabic and its offerings in Ethiopics, Berber, Georgian, and a considerable number of African languages. A language laboratory was installed in 1964 to enrich teaching and research.

Not only did the department serve as a major academic framework for the Near Eastern Center and the African Studies Center, but it also contributed to the activities of the Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies and the Center for Research in Languages and Linguistics, as well as the Linguistics Program. In addition, the combined effort of the department and the African Studies Center provided a major training center for the Peace Corps, particularly in the Ethiopian and Nigerian Peace Corps training programs.

Notable in the development of the University Research Library were the contributions of specialists in the department in the acquisition of outstanding library resources in their various areas. source

Near Eastern and African Studies later separated to become the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures and the African Studies Center. See also African Studies Program.

Near Eastern Languages and Cultures
There is no history currently available for this department. See Near Eastern and African Languages.

Neurobiology
There is no history currently available for this department.

Neurology
There is no history currently available for this department.

Neuroscience Program
There is no history currently available for this program.

Nursing
The department traces its beginnings to 1937, when a curriculum for registered nurses was organized under the bacteriology department in the College of Letters and Science. Public health nursing courses had been offered through the University Extension Program as early as 1929, but it was not until the academic year 1937-38 that a curriculum leading to a certificate in public health nursing was established.

At the beginning of the academic year 1944-45, a Department of Public Health Nursing was established in the College of Applied Arts and an acting chairman was appointed. Two years later, a faculty member was added to develop courses in nursing education and by the fall of 1947, the Department of Public Health Nursing became the Department of Nursing with provision for five full-time faculty members and a chairman.

In the fall of 1948, Lulu K. Wolf was appointed professor and chairman of the department. A year later, when the Regents authorized the creation of a School of Nursing, the department was established in the school and the chairman received the additional appointment of dean. This action paved the way for the development of a baccalaureate program with a major in nursing and made possible the establishment of a graduate program leading to the master of science degree.

With the development of these new programs, enrollment increased at the undergraduate level from 50 to 110 and at the graduate level from two to 94. Faculty appointments increased from seven to 33, with provision for four teaching assistants. In addition to the regular faculty, seven full-time and three part-time staff members appointed for research and special training programs augmented the teaching, research, and service functions of the faculty this year.

The first master of science degrees were awarded in 1952 and, in the fall of that year, University students were admitted to the new upper division major leading to a baccalaureate degree. The undergraduate program covering a period of four academic years instead of the traditional five-year combined college and hospital plan was the first of its kind in the United States.

In 1965, the upper division major in nursing was opened to University students and qualified nurses who had completed a diploma or associate degree nursing program and the two-year pre-nursing curriculum offered in the College of Letters and Science. The graduate program emphasized more breadth and unity of knowledge with opportunity for specialization in one area of nursing knowledge. Curriculum study in the department was focused on the graduate program. source

The Department of Nursing no longer exists as such. See also Colleges and Schools, School of Nursing.

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The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
Last updated 06/18/04.