Master of Science in Justice Studies

at Kaplan Group - Arizona State University - Tempe Campus USA

The BS program in earth and space exploration with a concentration in astrophysics is designed to offer students a fundamental grounding in astronomy and astrophysics, with exposure to the related fields of geology, planetary science and engineering.

Students of the astrophysics major develop a background in theoretical modeling and observational techniques of galactic and stellar astronomy, extragalactic astronomy and cosmology. They learn to think critically about scientific problems by reducing the complexity to more tractable components.

The rigorous and quantitative coursework includes a combination of physics courses taught in the ASU School of Earth and Space Exploration and the Department of Physics. The tools of astronomical discovery are increasingly dependent on technological advances, and students are exposed to engineering principles and computer programming. Through the capstone project in the senior year, students gain valuable experience in translating science drivers into engineering solutions.

The BA in philosophy with a concentration in morality, politics and law combines the basic analytical approaches of philosophy with an emphasis on the moral questions that arise in political theory and law. The foundations of our political and legal systems are moral values, such as individual liberty, equality and justice. These are contested values, open to different understandings of their nature and implications.

Students explore the nature of morality, political theory, legal theory and the interconnections between them. Students complete philosophy courses as well as courses from disciplines related to philosophy to enrich and enliven their understanding of the intersections of morality, politics and law. This degree program is of special interest to students planning to pursue postgraduate work in law, policy or politics.

The BA program in civic and economic thought and leadership incorporates the study of political philosophy, economic thought, history and American politics. Faculty engage students through the Socratic method, which challenges students to analyze the complex topics impacting lives today. Students refine their ability to read closely, think analytically, write carefully and speak effectively.

The curriculum, combined with outside-the-classroom leadership experiences, provides students with the broad, academic foundation they will use throughout their careers. Students have the opportunity to intern on Capitol Hill, in congressional offices in their district, with nonprofits around the country or in an opportunity of their academic interest. They engage with world-renowned scholars and experts who visit ASU for large lectures and small seminars through the school's public programs and civic outreach initiatives, and they are able to apply for one of the school's Global Intensive Experiences, which study service and leadership in places such as Israel and the West Bank, India and South Africa.

Astrobiology studies the origins, evolution, distribution and future of life in the universe. Biogeoscience focuses on the interaction of biological, geological and chemical processes on Earth in the present, past and future. These topics are closely related because the concepts of biogeoscience inform the study of planetary habitability and the search for habitable worlds.

Therefore, the astrobiology and biogeoscience concentration in the BS program in earth and space exploration is designed to offer students a strong foundation for exploring the interaction of geological and biological processes and understanding how such interactions sustain life on Earth and how they might operate on other planets. Those with this necessary scientific background contribute to the search for life on other planets, explore the life of extreme environments here on Earth and better understand how life on Earth responds to past, current and future global changes.

The BA program in earth and environmental studies provides a foundational understanding of the evolution of the earth system with an emphasis on the planetary context for sustainable human societies.

The degree program includes broad training in the physical sciences, especially process-oriented geosciences that focus on Earth's life-sustaining surface environment. Advanced courses focus on topics including:

• Climate change
• Earth's water, energy and material resources
• Impact of land-use change on human civilization
• Physical, chemical and biological process interactions that define Earth's evolution

This is designed as a liberal arts program with an emphasis on basic scientific literacy, not as a preparatory degree program for graduate study in the natural sciences.

Psychology is the scientific study of human behavior. This diverse field includes mental health and counseling as well as child development, neuroscience and brain function, memory and decision-making, behavior analysis, statistics and more. It also crosses over into other disciplines such as medicine, law, business and economics.

This BA program in psychology --- emphasizing critical thinking and reasoning, quantitative research methods and writing --- goes beyond the classroom, adding practical experiences through internships, service-learning and faculty-supervised research. (Some opportunities are not available to students enrolled in the degree offered through ASU Online.)

Graduates are prepared for graduate programs in psychology or other areas as well as for professional employment.

The MA program in music with a concentration in ethnomusicology helps students develop skills in scholarship and performance as they focus on aspects of one or more of the world's musical cultures.

Students can explore performance styles outside the Western European canon through participation in ensembles such as Javanese gamelan, Latin marimba, mariachi, steel pan and African drumming. As a culminating demonstration of professional capability in the major field, the student must submit a final project that demonstrates advanced competence in research and writing in musicology or ethnomusicology. The final project may be a thesis, a series of special papers or a written work of equivalent scope and depth.

This concentration in arts, media and engineering in the MS program in electrical engineering is a collaboration between the electrical engineering program at ASU and the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts, and it is available for MS and PhD students admitted to this program who take two-thirds of their course, research and thesis credits from the electrical engineering program and one-third of the credits from the arts, media and engineering program.

Electrical engineering students in the arts, media and engineering concentration undergo training toward integrating principles of digital signal processing, pattern recognition, computer vision and multimedia computing with transdisciplinary objectives, with the goal of enabling new paradigms of human-machine experience that directly address societal needs and facilitate knowledge. Examples include media-based intelligent systems for health care and well-being as well as promotion of environmentally sustainable practices.

The BA in business with a concentration in sustainability is an innovative, transdisciplinary program that combines the latest trends in business with cutting-edge knowledge of sustainability.

Students in this program complete rigorous courses within the sustainability concentration in addition to the skill and core courses required of all W. P. Carey School of Business majors. Graduates are prepared for positions in a variety of professions in which both business and sustainability play important roles.

The BFA program in art with a concentration in animation prepares students to excel in the field of animation.

Animation students are provided an education that simultaneously sustains tradition and fosters innovation through embracing new visualization methodologies and tools with the potential to advance discoveries and insights across disciplines.

Upon completion of the program, graduates are able to demonstrate the technical and artistic abilities to create animations for exhibition in arts venues (galleries, museums, festivals, etc.) and in entertainment media-arts industries. They also are prepared to pursue advanced research in graduate animation programs.

The mission of the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts is to create works of art, explore the history and traditions of art production, understand more about art's function in society and promote national and international recognition for research and creative activities while fostering cultural development in the community.