Bachelor of Science in Landscape Architecture

at INTO Group - Colorado State University USA

This major focuses on the understanding the social aspect of natural resources, as well as developing the skills to assess, plan and, implement strategies that lead to successful conservation. As an HDNR major, you’ll take science courses and do field work, but you’ll also become trained in thoughtful and professional communication, public speaking, and writing. You’ll come out with career opportunities that stretch from conservation to government policy, exploration to education, and beyond.

The source of many challenges in natural resources involves human behavior, and solutions to those challenges requires innovative problem-solving, a deep understanding of complex issues, and collective action. This major is focused on understanding the social aspects of natural resources, and developing the skills to assess, plan and implement strategies that lead to successful conservation.  Curriculum for this major trains students in the areas of communication, leadership, systems thinking, collaboration, conflict management, decision-making, social science research in conservation, and conservation planning and management.

Graduate students in the Department of Communication Studies undertake a more specialized study of human communication from its classical antecedents to contemporary areas.

Areas of Study

• Deliberative Practices
• Media and Visual Culture
• Relational and Organizational Communication
• Rhetoric and Civic Engagement

The Cell and Molecular Biology Program offers research opportunities from a wide variety of fields to include the molecular and cellular aspects of cancer biology, infectious disease, metabolism (includes biofuels), neuroscience, plant biology, molecular physiology, gene expression, reproductive biology, developmental biology and structural biology.

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 Neuroscience major is an interdisciplinary degree with faculty in 10 departments across campus and strong foundations in mathematics, physics, chemistry, and biological sciences. Both concentrations require completion of an undergraduate thesis, providing opportunities for experiential learning in research laboratories, where you’ll work closely with faculty and can author original publications. Neuroscience majors have wide career options after graduation, complete with preparation for grad school, if desired.

The Molecular, Cellular and Integrative Neuroscience Special Academic Unit offers an interdisciplinary undergraduate degree program with faculty in five different colleges and ten departments. Two different concentrations are offered as programs of study: Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience and Cell and Molecular Neuroscience. Both concentrations have a strong foundation in mathematics, physics, chemistry and biological sciences that utilize a common core for the first two years, differing in only a single course for each concentration, thus making it easy to switch between concentrations if a student’s interest changes during the first two years. Both concentrations require completion of an undergraduate thesis, providing significant opportunities for experiential learning in research laboratories in which they work closely with faculty, and which sometimes lead to authorship of original publications. Electives allow students in one concentration to acquire breadth and depth in the other area, if desired.

The Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Music allows students to study music within a larger context of a liberal arts education. In comparison to the curriculum leading to the Bachelor of Music (B.M.), less emphasis is placed on studies specifically in music, with greater flexibility for studies in a field outside of music. In lieu of a larger number of credits in music as required for the B.M, the B.A. student completes a 21-credit option in an area outside of music. In addition, completion of a major paper or capstone recital (half recital) is required during the senior year.

Music Education - Concentration
The Bachelor of Music, Music Education Concentration is a professional degree program that prepares students for teaching choral, instrumental, and general music in elementary and secondary schools. This degree prepares students to apply for music teaching licensure (grades K-12) in the state of Colorado. CSU’s outstanding music education faculty members are in demand as clinicians, guest lecturers, conductors, and researchers. A feature unique to the accredited music education curriculum is extensive field experience that students receive throughout their coursework, culminating in a semester of student teaching at the end of the program. Students must select one of two options: instrumental or choral. Upon completion of this degree, students are poised to:

• Be both highly qualified practitioners and leaders in K-12 education at the elementary and secondary levels;
• Apply learned skills in professional K-12 music teaching settings, including age-appropriate instructional delivery, ensemble leadership, curricular and pedagogical process, learning theory, and the impacts of assessment on student learning;
• Create music curriculum assessment tools designed to measure both simple and complex learning in both classroom and studio/applied settings;
• Engage in informed critical discussion regarding current standards-based frameworks in music and in contemporary K-12 American education contexts;
• Define national trends in music education that impact K-12 educational settings;

The Major in Environmental and Natural Resource Economics prepares students to apply economic tools to evaluate the allocation and utilization of natural resources and the management of the natural environment. Economic analysis provides a strong basis to guide societal choices that directly and indirectly affect our environment. Economic theory provides a framework for understanding both environmental and natural resource issues, predicting the likely effects of government policies and regulations, and devising solutions to pressing economic and environmental problems.

This major differentiates from other programs of study that address natural resource management in that it focuses on weighing the private and public implications of choices that we make ranging from a local through a global scale. To broaden their technical training, students majoring in Environmental and Natural Resource Economics can simultaneously complete a second major in Natural Resource Management, or other more specialized majors offered through the Warner College of Natural Resources.

Students in this track will have the opportunity to build networks with CSU’s Institute for Research in the Social Sciences, Geospatial Centroid, the Graybill Statistics and Data Science Laboratory, and others on campus who use political or social science data. Students in this track will be trained to pursue careers as data analysts, researchers, and consultants in government, non-profits, campaigns, advocacy groups, or the private sector.

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.

Drawing - Concentration
The Drawing concentration includes a solid foundation in the basics of drawing, plus a strong emphasis on the advanced development of drawing as an art form in its own right. Initially, courses expose students to working from observation and thinking critically about observation as an attention-orienting skill. A variety of fundamental skills, research habits, techniques, and materials are explored through basic exercises and open projects. Perception skills and visual vocabulary are introduced to students through assignments, group critiques, and discussions. Throughout the program, students are expected to acquire, develop, and refine skills and to engage in an exploration of personal expression and ideas. Drawing concentration students are expected to be highly motivated individuals dedicated to the practice of drawing as a sophisticated art, and dedicated to thinking critically about their practice. Our program will assist them in developing their making and thinking aptitudes towards a body of work which displays an advanced level of visual challenge and aesthetics, as well as conveying a sense of content and meaning.

The Department of Forest and Rangeland Stewardship consists of foresters, range scientists, hydrologists, and social scientists that study natural environmental processes and how they interact with human systems.

Areas of Study

• Fire ecology and management
• Forest biometry
• Forest ecology
• Forest economics
• Forest ecosystem management
• Forest hydrology and water quality
• Forest restoration
• Natural resource policy
• Quantitative analysis of natural resources
• Silviculture
• Spatial landscape analysis
• Wood products