Although it is ranked the number two party school in the nation, the University of Wisconsin cannot boast that it offers courses in alcohol production and gambling, as the University of Nevada in Las Vegas does.
Students at UNLV can take official courses in the basic principles of beer production, as well as learn about domestic and foreign wine manufacturing, for three credits each, all of which mandate taste testing.
Students can also branch out from the regular course of study and enroll in gambling-related courses.
In addition to UNLV, colleges across the country have started offering a large number of courses in gambling and casino studies. Michigan State University, Tulane University and the University of Massachusetts are just a few. The University of Nevada, which actually recruits faculty from the gaming industry, offers a major in gaming management.
UNLV, for example, has offered gambling-related courses for roughly ten years, with class sizes ranging from a handful to 75 students. Courses in casino studies focus mainly on the sociological aspects of gambling.
?Las Vegas is known as Sin City. There is a lot of deviant behavior and there are a lot of activities right in our backyard that are worth studying,? Bo Bernhard, assistant professor of sociology at UNLV and Director of Gambling Research, said.
Bernhard?s courses focus on hotel management and sociology. Some of his students intend to go into operation management, and some are just interested in the sociology aspects.
?I?m not sending out a message against gambling, nor am I giving a how-to lecture,? Bernhard said, adding gambling accounts for more of Americans? annual spending on movies, music and sports combined. ?I?m looking at the social construction of gambling.?
Although various universities offer these studies, other institutions have opted to not include the studies in their curriculum. This is the case for the University of Wisconsin, Helen Capellaro, public relations director at the School of Business, said.
?We do not have any majors, minors or concentrations in that area,? Capellaro said. ?A business student who wants to work in the gambling industry would probably take a conventional business degree in marketing, management, accounting, finance, et cetera, and bring that professional expertise to the industry.?
Capellaro added she had seen a recent article in the Capital Times indicating such courses are offered by MATC and Northeast Wisconsin Technical College, but that those are two-year technical colleges, not universities.
Although UNLV does not offer Ph.Ds in gambling, gambling-related courses have fared well among students and are also offered during the summer.
?A number of my students have come up to tell me that they are grateful for the academic perspective on gambling and casinos,? Bernhard said.
UNLV does not limit its course offerings to gambling, for they also have had classes studying the influence of the adult entertainment industry. A course offered last summer called ?Porn in the USA,? focused on the sociological perspective of the adult entertainment industry.
?With the Internet now, the adult entertainment industry is worth studying,? Bernhard said. ?It?s worth looking at the moral aspects. If you?re not looking at gambling and sex, you?re not being a good sociologist.?
