A new professor will likely be invited to join the faculty of the OU Honors College within the next week, the college’s associate dean said.

The Honors College will hire one or more new faculty members to teach honors courses on non-Western subject matter, Honors College Dean David Ray said.

The college wants to expand its curriculum to include parts of the world that don’t receive much attention in Oklahoma, such as East Africa and parts of Southeast Asia, said Rich Hamerla, associate dean and search committee chairman.

College leaders also hope to increase the number of courses that satisfy general-education requirements, Ray said.

“The Honors College believes that non-honors general education courses are some of the least challenging, least satisfying and intellectually weakest courses OU honors students find themselves taking,” Ray said in an e-mail.

Budgetary concerns have caused departments to cut back, but Hamerla said the Honors College was awarded funds given to President David Boren to be set aside for specific academic reasons. Hamerla said he could not comment on the specific source of the funds.

This year, four professors have lectured to faculty, staff and students on topics pertaining to their area of expertise, including Priya Lal, who lectured Thursday on gender, family and rural development in postcolonial Tanzania.

Lal is one of more than 120 candidates for a position with the college, whose names could not be disclosed due to confidentiality rules, Hamerla said.

The college is expanding beyond a solely American focus, said Sarah Tracy, Honors College associate professor.

Amanda Minks, Honors College anthropology professor, was the first non U.S.-focused professor the college hired, Tracy said.

During the selection process, the faculty will convene and vote on the best candidate and then reveal the choice to Boren, and if he approves, the Honors College will make a job offer, Hamerla said.

The Honors College hopes to make the decision by next week, Hamerla said.