Manhattan University, on Manhattan College Parkway in Riverdale, has added six new undergraduate programs this fall, four full majors and two minors, aimed at fields being reshaped by technology. The new majors are a Bachelor of Science in Cybersecurity, a Bachelor of Science in Data Science, a Bachelor of Science in Computational Neuroscience and a Bachelor of Science in Integrated Marketing Communication. The two new minors are in Artificial Intelligence and in Sustainability Studies. For Riverdale and Kingsbridge families with high school juniors and seniors, the first chance to see the programs up close is the university's Fall Open House on Sunday, October 25.

The four new majors

Cybersecurity sits in the Computer Science Department of the Kakos School of Arts and Sciences and runs 128 credits. Students start with programming and math, then move into cryptography, web and network security, blockchain, and cyberlaw and ethics, with lab work on how real systems are attacked. It ends with a senior capstone in which teams build and test a full security solution. The university says the major is open to both first year and transfer applicants, and that it sits alongside an existing cybersecurity concentration in Computer Engineering that focuses on hardware.

Data Science draws on all three of the university's schools. The coursework covers mathematics, statistics, programming and machine learning, with electives in data mining, big data technology and data policy. The senior capstone applies data and AI methods to problems in health care, finance and public policy, and looks at the privacy and bias questions those uses raise.

Computational Neuroscience is a 123 credit major built from biology, psychology, mathematics and physics, computer science and electrical engineering. It studies how the brain produces perception, thought and behavior, pairing lab work with modeling and simulation, and closes with a senior seminar and capstone. The university lists graduate study in neuroscience and psychology, health professions and neurotechnology among the paths it prepares students for.

Integrated Marketing Communication is a 132 credit major offered jointly by the O'Malley School of Business and the Department of Communication, Sound and Media Arts. Students pick one of two tracks: Content Creation, centered on production work in the campus's George I. Alden Trust Creative Media Hub, or Artificial Intelligence in Marketing and Communication, centered on analytics. The capstone is a full campaign, from audience research through measurement. The university says fewer than two dozen schools in the country offer this degree.

Two minors open to every major

The Artificial Intelligence minor was built by faculty in computer science, information systems, business analytics, accounting, law and engineering. It covers machine learning, deep learning and generative AI, image processing, and AI in business and engineering, with separate paths for students who have taken programming and those who have not.

The Sustainability Studies minor is 15 credits. After an introductory environmental science course, students take two sustainability courses in their own school and one in another, with options such as Environmental Law, Energy Management and Sustainable Development. It finishes with an Urban Sustainability Consulting Capstone, in which student teams take on a real problem for a campus, community group, nonprofit, public agency or company and present a consulting report in public.

Fall Open House, Sunday, October 25

The university's Fall Open House is Sunday, October 25, starting at 11:30 a.m. on the Riverdale campus, with registration through the admissions visit page. Later in the fall, the admissions office has three smaller events by school: a day for the Kakos School of Arts and Sciences on Saturday, November 7, with program information, faculty and students, and tours of creative spaces and residence halls; a School of Engineering Awareness Day on Wednesday, November 11, with lab tours during classes and lunch with faculty; and an O'Malley School of Business Preview Day on Saturday, November 21, covering the school's eight undergraduate majors.

Getting there

Manhattan University is at 4513 Manhattan College Parkway in Riverdale, the Bronx. The nearest subway stop is Van Cortlandt Park-242 St on the 1 train. Details on each new program are posted on the university's academic programs pages, and visit registration is on its admissions site.

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