What's in a Name?

Sheri Dragoo, Ph.D.

Baylor’s Department of Family and Consumer Sciences is now the Department of Human Sciences and Design. The new name was adapted to better reflect the department’s emphasis on human flourishing, its integration into the Robbins College of Health and Human Sciences and the introduction of additional opportunities for students such as dietetic internships in the nutrition program and a new concentration in pre-occupational therapy in the child and family studies program.

“The department’s focus for decades has centered around improving quality of life for individuals and families,” Department Chair Sheri Dragoo, Ph.D., said. “This continues to be our strength, but our disciplines are evolving and changing with the times to include broader contexts and diverse applications of knowledge and expertise into communities and a global society.”

Human Sciences and Design addresses human-centered problems using design thinking through the lens of applied science and creativity in the development of products, technologies and evidence-based solutions.

“Our scope of scholarship and research in scientific and design discovery is well represented in the new name,” Dragoo said.

The Department of Human Sciences and Design houses programs in apparel design and product development; apparel merchandising; child and family studies; general family and consumer sciences; interior design; and nutrition sciences.