Bachelor of Arts in Geology with Concentration in Geoscience Education

at California State University - East Bay USA

The Department of Philosophy at Cal State East Bay seeks to promote the exploration of enduring human concerns - concerns, for example, about the nature of knowledge, ethics, truth, and God. In addition to emphasizing classical philosophy, the department encourages students to think critically about contemporary debates, particularly in the areas of law, human rights, and social justice; science, technology, and values; and religion. The department’s faculty strive to instill in students lifelong habits of questioning, of exploring views contrary to their own, and of engaging in reasoned and honest dialogue. By their focus on analysis, comprehension and communication, they aim to develop qualities that are essential to personal fulfillment, civic responsibility, and career success.

Many different kinds of students choose the major in philosophy. Some intend to do graduate work in philosophy, often with the intention of becoming philosophy professors who research and teach in philosophy. Others take philosophy as a preparation for another professional area. Traditionally, for example, philosophy has been one of the chief roads to professional law schools. Philosophy also serves as a good general liberal arts education, since many of the long-established university disciplines are founded on philosophical principles: political science, sociology, education, aesthetics, physics, and other subjects. Finally, many students major in philosophy in order to prepare for careers that require clarity of thought, analytical ability, good writing skills, and the ability to present a reasoned argument.

The Music Department at CSUEB integrates rigorous academic training with a driving passion for the making of great music: the classics from the European-American tradition, great jazz, the new ‘classics’ of our own time, world music, experimental music and more. With a rich variety of opportunities for performing and composing and a deep commitment to teacher education, the Music Department offers something for all students seriously committed to pursuing a life in music.

The Music Department occupies a large, fully-equipped, modern facility with a number of special resources: a Media Center for Music Technology; Music Resource Center, with thousands of scores and recordings; Choral Music Education Student Resource Center, with thousands of choral octavos and conducting resources; large musical equipment collection for student use; Recital Hall with custom acoustical design; and professional recording facilities.

The Music curriculum is designed to serve the needs of students who have career goals in performance, composition, music technology, jazz, public school or private teaching, or graduate study, as well as those who are pursuing other fields of study and choose music as an elective.

The Art Department emphasizes study in our Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A.) Program. This is a professional degree that offers students the opportunity to develop greater expertise through comprehensive and intensive study in a specific area of art or design - a program that leads to successful careers in the visual art and design industries. Students who intend to pursue graduate studies or advanced skills for a professional career typically choose the B.F.A degree.

The B.F.A. professional concentrations require 70 units of study in the Department to complete the major.  There is no application procedure to enter the Bachelor of Fine Arts program beyond declaring as a B.F.A. student with a specific concentration.  The concentrations are listed below under major requirements.

Video & Animation Concentration
Based on a broad range of critical, conceptual, and production courses in the Video and Animation concentration, students create artworks that give expression to their ideas while engaging their audiences whether it is on monitors, theater screens, hand-held devices, or installations.  Students’ interests and films range from traditional to experimental, fictional to factual, and simply entertaining to highly conceptual. Upon graduation, students are prepared for further study in a graduate program or for entry into the work force.

The Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry provides a strong education in chemistry and biochemistry that prepares its students to function and thrive in society. The department attempts to increase the problem solving and critical thinking skills of all students. Non-science students learn about the scientific and chemical aspects of everyday life that allow them to understand issues related to the environment, energy production, disease prevention, and nutrition. Students of the sciences learn the fundamentals of chemistry that control the interactions of elements and molecules. Building on an understanding of mathematics, physics, and biology, biochemistry majors receive a background in the major disciplines of chemistry including inorganic, analytical, organic, and physical, and take in-depth coursework in biochemistry. Students learn the protocols and techniques for working safely with chemicals and biochemicals. The department recognizes the importance of the pursuit of new knowledge in the development of skilled scientists and productive members of society, and encourages its students to participate in research projects and cooperative educational opportunities.

The Biochemistry, B.A. degree prepares students for employment in biochemistry, biotechnology and related fields. It can also serve as preparation for professional health-related programs such as pharmacy or medicine. The Biochemistry, B.A.: Chemistry Education Concentration is designed for students interested in teaching chemistry at the high school level but also prepares graduates to work as biochemists in industry or government. This program prepares students to enter a single subject credential program.

The Department of Computer Science offers graduate study leading to the degree of Master of Science in Computer Science. This program is designed to extend the student’s knowledge in a broad manner beyond the baccalaureate degree major in Computer Science. It will both (1) deepen general understanding of theoretical principles and (2) provide exposure to important applications of Computer Science such as security, software engineering, database, networking, and others. This approach is especially important in Computer Science, where training in specific languages and systems and on specific machines is transitory, as these languages, systems, and machines evolve. In contrast, many of the principles will last, and generally apply to a wide variety of specializations within the field.  The breadth of subject material is important as many students will have a number of different job classifications in their working lives.

The Department of Statistics and Biostatistics offers graduate study leading to the degree Master of Science in Statistics. The program is flexible in order to serve the needs of students with varying backgrounds (including statistics, mathematics, computer science, engineering, business, economics and other quantitative fields) and with different career objectives. The program includes concentrations in in Actuarial Science, Applied Statistics, Data Science, and Mathematical Statistics. All students are expected to master a wide variety of applied statistical, computational, and probabilistic techniques and the theoretical foundations upon which these techniques are based. Students are expected to be familiar with recent developments in the field and to be able to use the statistical literature to learn new techniques and theories throughout their professional careers. In addition to the general requirements stated elsewhere in this catalog, students must satisfy the departmental requirements stated in the following paragraphs.

The political science curriculum helps students to acquire an organized body of knowledge about government and to think analytically about public policy, law, and politics. The political science degree prepares graduates to enter careers in government, public service, public administration, public policy analysis, legislative advocacy, business, international relations, and teaching. Many Cal State East Bay political science graduates continue their academic careers in law school, or in the pursuit of graduate degrees in political science or public policy analysis.

The Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry provides a strong education in chemistry and biochemistry that prepares its students to function and thrive in our society. The department attempts to increase the problem solving and critical thinking skills of all students. Non-science students learn about the scientific and chemical aspects of everyday life that allow them to understand issues related to the environment, energy production, disease prevention, and nutrition. Students of the sciences learn the fundamentals of chemistry that control the interactions of elements and molecules. Chemistry majors receive extensive instruction in predicting chemical reactivity. Building on an understanding of mathematics and physics, chemistry majors receive a background in the major disciplines of chemistry including inorganic, analytical, organic, physical, and biochemistry. Students learn the protocols and techniques for working safely with chemicals. The department recognizes the importance of the pursuit of new knowledge in the development of skilled scientists and productive members of society, and encourages its students to participate in research projects and cooperative educational opportunities.

The Chemistry, B.S. degree is approved by the American Chemical Society (ACS). A certified degree is a valuable credential that serves as national-level recognition for completing a rigorous academic chemistry curriculum in an ACS-approved department. The extra rigor of an ACS certified degree is valued by both potential employers and graduate schools.

Biology is concerned with living matter in all its forms, responses, and interactions. It deals with the study of anything that has been or is alive: microbes, fungi, plants, “protists” and all animals, including humans. The science of biology includes a large number of highly integrated sub-disciplines such as microbiology, genetics, molecular biology, ecology, evolutionary biology, physiology, systematics, and behavior. Biologists must draw upon a wide variety of academic disciplines to make observations and form conclusions, and well-trained biologists have solid backgrounds in chemistry, mathematics, computer science, statistics, physics, and the humanities, as required by graduate programs and professional schools, to meet the demands of professions in the life sciences.

Health Sciences is an interdisciplinary field that focuses on the application of physical, biological, and social sciences to understand and to improve health in human beings. It is an applied science that focuses on knowledge necessary to practice in both clinical and population health settings.

Our program helps students to understand health at the individual level, the community level and the population level. In addition to the biomedical model of health, we ask students to think critically and to explore health from a variety of perspectives and to understand the role that culture has in constructing health.

The program also emphasizes problem-based learning. Our goal is to help students develop strong critical thinking skills, team work, and strong problem-solving skills rooted in a population perspective.

Our program emphasizes the environmental factors that impact human health. The effects of climate change have an immediate and long-term effect on human health and the communities of California. Our program focuses on helping students develop the skills to face some of these health challenges.

The BS in Health Sciences without a concentration is designed to prepare students to enter directly into careers in health care or to enter into post-graduate professional programs such as medicine, physician assistant, occupational therapy, nursing, radiation technician, and other clinical fields.