Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts - Interdisciplinary

at INTO Group - Colorado State University USA

Feeding the world. Protecting the environment. Improving quality of life. These global challenges are a focus of teaching, research and outreach in the CSU College of Agricultural Sciences.

Political science is the study of politics and political action in society. It encompasses international agreements and organizations as well as the patterns of political action which both create and shape them. It encompasses citizen action and the institutions which produce public policy at the local, state, and national levels within the United States. It encompasses systems of voting, political parties, and courts, compared across national political systems. It encompasses the raising of normative questions about the nature and purposes of political life. The presence of politics is felt in all areas and sectors of society at all times. The dynamic and transformative effects of political action are seen virtually everywhere.

The department’s curriculum is distributed across five subfields of the discipline: American politics, political theory, comparative politics, international relations, and public policy. Course work across the discipline's subfields is complemented by a required support option. Support options include a minor in another department; an interdisciplinary minor; the second language support option; the methods support option, or a second major.

The goal of the Natural Resources Management major is to provide students with a broad-based understanding of the interconnectedness of social, political, and ecological systems. This knowledge will enable students to design sustainable solutions to address natural resource conservation and management problems. Students will learn about natural resource stewardship in both theory and practice, with an eye toward designing systems that are adaptable and resilient in light of the social and ecological complexity and change that characterize today’s challenges. Using an integrative approach, students will learn how to develop local solutions that are sustainable and ethical at larger, global scales. Environmental issues such as land-use change and planning, conservation biology, energy use, climate change, renewable resource management, and citizen engagement in place-based conservation will be addressed. Field measurements and field skills are important components of this major, and students are required to attend a four-week summer field course in ecological investigations and resource management.

Evening MBA students challenge themselves to do more and to be more.  Multi-dimensional professionals from all fields meet on campus in Fort Collins – two evenings each week for 21 months – to immerse themselves in leadership studies with a focus on real-world application.  Evening MBA candidates learn from each other and from world-class faculty to acquire the skills and confidence to emerge as leaders ready to inspire.

The B.F.A. in Art is considered the professional degree for studio art and art education majors, allowing you to explore various mediums and gain a foundational knowledge base in art history. You’ll get opportunities to learn from masters of their crafts as well as look back upon art throughout the ages, different forms of expression, and their impact on society.

Photo Image Making - Concentration
Courses in the Photo Image Making concentration enable students to explore artistic, personally-driven and conceptual aspects of the photographic medium. Projects and assignments encourage each student to explore individual directions, with equal emphasis given to intuitive and intellectual concerns. Student work is evaluated for aesthetic qualities, technical excellence, and conceptual development. The curriculum is designed to help students build a strong foundation in the fundamentals of contemporary photographic practice, while emphasizing the medium's expressive potential and underscoring its connections to the contemporary art world. Interdisciplinary and experimental work is encouraged, as are more traditional approaches and conventional processes. Facilities are available to enable offerings in a wide range of processes and techniques, from silver-based image production and digital capture/output methods to alternative processes such as cyanotype and palladium printing. Supportive instruction and information are provided for a range of image making strategies that students may wish to pursue.

The Department of Ecosystem Science and Sustainability investigates the intricate physical, chemical, human, and biological interactions driving ecosystems.  We help develop leaders in ecosystem, watershed, and sustainability sciences: a new generation of practitioners able to address complex, integrated social-ecological problems, in collaborative partnerships with researchers, resource users and decision-makers.

You know there’s something miraculous about plants, growing, and being a part of it all. The Horticulture major nourishes that insight, and helps you transform your passion into a thriving career. You’ll use scientific principles in the growing, marketing and utilizing of fruits, vegetables, flowers, trees, and grasses. You’ll gain a strong grounding in botany and chemistry, and come out with skills to surround your life with all things green.

Horticulture is the application of scientific principles in the growing, marketing, processing, and utilizing of fruits, vegetables, flower and foliage plants, trees, shrubs, and turf grasses. The major requires a strong grounding in botany, chemistry, and horticulture. There are four concentrations in the Horticulture major: Floriculture, Horticultural Business Management, Horticultural Food Crops, and Horticultural Science.

Studying Landscape Architecture at CSU is an adventure. Taking part in a challenging course of study, students prepare themselves for careers in a field whose enormous potential has only begun to be recognized. Landscape Architecture students study design as accomplished landscape architects see it: shaping spaces as well as planning and preserving them.

Landscape architects lead the stewardship, planning, and design of built and natural environments. Throughout the program, emphasis is on the relationship between design, nature, and society: the impact of environments on the individual as well as the impact of users on the environment. Registration laws for landscape architects in 49 states encourage graduation from programs such as that offered at CSU, which is accredited by the Landscape Architecture Accreditation Board of the American Society of Landscape Architects.

Landscape architects must analyze the natural elements of a site including the climate, soil, slope of the land, drainage, sunlight, and vegetation. Computer-aided design (CAD) has become an essential tool for landscape architects. Landscape architects often work with building architects, surveyors, engineers, and urban planners and collaborate with environmental scientists, foresters, and other professionals to find the best way to conserve or restore natural resources. Knowledge of appropriate local, state, or federal regulations such as those protecting wetlands or historic resources is essential.

Nature, culture, form, and space are the classic elements of landscape architecture with which students work in a series of design studies and related courses. Coursework focuses on a variety of landscape projects that grow more complex as the curriculum proceeds. The courses include subjects such as site design, landscape design and construction, surveying, landscape ecology, and urban and regional planning. Other courses specific to the major are history of the designed landscape, plant and soil science, geology, and professional practice. Students are also encouraged to take advantage of summer travel courses available to study highly-valued ecological/cultural sites in Colorado and designed landscapes in Europe.

The major in Ecosystem Science and Sustainability provides a strong scientific foundation in ecosystem ecology integrated with a broad knowledge of the cultural, social, economic, and political issues that are shaping the issue of sustainability. Students in the major learn to integrate science into real-world decision making, with the goal of developing sustainable strategies to maintain ecosystem services around the globe. We provide students with a broad base of experiential and collaborative learning opportunities, opportunities for undergraduate research, and the latest scientific knowledge about sustainability science and how organisms interact with their environments to form complex ecosystems. Opportunities for research, internships, practical and group-based learning, and field experiences in the beautiful Rocky Mountains and around the world, combined with an outstanding classroom education, build a solid foundation for applying sustainable resource management principles.

The Department of English is home to poets and linguists, literacy researchers and teacher educators, novelists and literary scholars, composition specialists and writers of creative nonfiction.

Areas of Study

• Literature