Bachelor of Arts in Communications

at Kaplan Group - Simmons University USA

You'll learn to craft intelligent and influential messages — even in 140 characters or less — and comprehensive public relations plans.

The Interdisciplinary Major in Public Relations and Marketing Communications is offered with the Business School and designed to provide grounding and experience in public relations and a firm understanding of the principles and implementation of marketing strategy. At its best, PR/MarCom education embodies intellectual traditions drawn from a wide range of social and hard sciences, as well as professional and liberal arts areas of concentrations. Students receive a BA in PR/MarCom.

Students earning their Bachelor of Arts in Political Science at Simmons develop a keen understanding of government institutions, the processes of decision making, and public policy.

Political Science students have many opportunities to learn from experts in the classroom—like our Warburg Chair in International Relations—and to attend leadership-focused events with visionaries like Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Gloria Steinem. Students also intern for local and national politicians, government agencies, and advocacy groups here in Boston—all just a short walk or T ride from campus.

Why study Political Science?
Politics implicitly affect every aspect of our daily lives. If you’re interested in international affairs, public policy, terrorism, the environment, and/or civil rights, studying political science will quench your thirst for information. Graduates of the Bachelor of Arts in Political Science program at Simmons have the breadth and depth of knowledge required to analyze what shapes the political landscape in the United States and around the globe—yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Best of all? They have the confidence to speak up for what they believe in, striving to make changes to make the world a better place.

By combining new media practices with a firm writing foundation, our students cultivate the tools necessary to thrive in today's evolving market.

Are you ready for the future of journalism?
You'll actively engage with the challenge of communication for the screen, the page, and the web while gaining an understanding of the impact of the media on society and the individual.

Our faculty are seasoned media professionals offering their expertise in all journalism activities — like our student run newspaper and award-winning radio station — and developing projects that show students what the front lines of media really look like.

You'll hone your skills through internships in Boston and beyond and enter this rapidly changing industry with an impressive portfolio, ready to take on anything.

The Computer Science major will help you learn to think critically, logically, and abstractly. You will gain both an understanding of the underlying theory and concepts of computing, as well as the facility to integrate theory with practice. Simmons students pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science write software that improves quality of life, create incredibly powerful websites, design and implement systems, and develop new technology.

Our Bachelor of Computer Science students explore a wide range of courses focused on systems and technology development. As a Computer Science major, you will develop and adapt new methods for solving highly technical problems at the forefront of technology.

The goals of the Program in Women’s and Gender Studies are to educate students in the theoretical, empirical, and methodological perspectives for considering the status and experiences of women; to consider gender in diverse national and international contexts by studying the multiple and contested meanings and roles of gender; and to develop an understanding of how gender is related to other social categories including race, class, age, sexuality, religion, and nationality. Women’s and Gender Studies courses, whether taken as part of the major or to enrich another discipline, invite students to understand past and present experiences in order to prepare for challenges and opportunities in their future personal, work, and social lives. Majoring in Women’s and Gender Studies has led to careers in management, law, academia, counseling, education, library, museum or archival work, health care, social services, public administration, writing, publishing, and the media.

Learning Outcomes:
Upon graduation students with a BA in Women’s and Gender Studies will have gained the following skills, knowledge, and abilities:

• Critical-Historical Awareness – Students will be adept at considering gender in diverse national and international contexts as a result of studying the multiple and contested meanings and roles of gender from an historical, a multidisciplinary, and a trans-national perspective and will have developed an understanding of how gender is related to other social categories such as race, ethnicity, social class, sexuality, religion, and nationality.
• Interdisciplinary Content – Students will have acquired theoretical, methodological, and empirical perspectives for studying and critically analyzing the history, status, and experiences of women from diverse backgrounds.
• Disciplinary Skills – Students will be skilled at integrating theory and practice and will be able to communicate effectively in both writing and speaking.
• Practical Skills – Through independent learning or internships, students will be prepared to enter the workplace, graduate programs, and community-based volunteer work with an understanding of social justice issues informed by interdisciplinary scholarship and feminist perspectives.
• Leadership Skills – Students will continue in leadership roles that they have either begun or further developed while at Simmons.

At Simmons, you'll learn advanced language skills and speak eloquently about subjects ranging from civilization to literature.

Our students are eager, intuitive and hard-working, expanding their understanding of French culture through in-depth courses and independent learning.

We encourage our students to develop their global perspective through study abroad opportunities. Our students go on to successful careers in fields such as education, writing, marketing and law.

Students in our Communications degree at Simmons University are progressive and innovative, whether they're working on a publication, shooting a video, designing a website, or crafting a clever tweet.

Why pursue a degree in Communications?
Communication is key in all aspects of life; it is how we interact, connect, and make impressions on each other and the world around us. The Communications degree at Simmons University focuses on how people use messages to generate meaning within and across contexts, cultures, channels, and media.

Generating and conveying meaning is central to the work we do in our Communications major, as is an emphasis on media convergence—the intersection and interaction of the multiple media disciplines.

BS graduates in chemistry work in laboratories developing pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, energy resources, solutions to environmental problems, and other areas of modern industry. A chemistry bachelor’s degree is also excellent preparation for professional schools of medicine or dentistry, especially with the increasing dependence of medical research and practice on knowledge of living systems at the molecular level. With the M.S. or Ph.D., a scientist can take responsibility for planning research and supervising laboratories. Excellent career opportunities are found in private industry, in government laboratories, and on college and university faculties.

Studying History deepens our understanding of the world and its interconnections, its diverse peoples and cultures.

Do you want to make history?
Studying History reveals the changes and continuities that ebb and flow around us. Diseases, agriculture, civil rights, childrearing practices, political dynasties, and furniture all have histories. The past shapes the present, from the environment to forms of government, to the way we think about gender and race.

Our faculty introduce students to a variety of time periods, regions, and approaches to history. You'll learn how history is made through your own investigation of the past. Choose courses that follow a theme like Revolutions, a geographic focus like East Asia, or an era like the 20th Century. You'll refine and apply your knowledge through research projects and internships.

Follow your passion while developing valuable skills in critical reading, writing, research, and analysis. Our students build fulfilling and versatile careers as teachers, lawyers, librarians, archivists, consultants, and museum curators, as well as in business, health care, and government.

The major in art includes courses in art history and studio art practice. Students choose either area to emphasize, depending upon interest and career plans. Either emphasis can serve as a foundation for further study at the graduate level. The study of art leads to careers in a wide variety of fields, such as teaching, publishing, arts administration, art conservation, museum or gallery work, commercial art and design, architecture, city planning, painting, photography, or printmaking, etc. In all of these areas, the major in art would profitably be combined with a major in another area, such as English, history, chemistry, philosophy, management, communications, or mathematics.

Students are encouraged to augment the required courses with in-depth study in the liberal arts and additional courses in the major. Students work with their advisor to develop a coherent course program that will meet their educational goals. Students considering graduate study should plan to take as many upper level courses in their major as they can accommodate in their schedules, especially during junior and senior years.