Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy

at Northern Arizona University - Flagstaff Campus USA

The Bachelor of Science in Multidisciplinary Engineering provides students learning opportunities in multiple engineering disciplines and complemented by other disciplines across campus. The program supports a customizable curriculum that includes a capstone experience focused on multi- and inter-disciplinary teamwork. Specific combinations of coursework are formulated in several named emphases that provide unique opportunities and inspires students to build their own unique engineering pathways.

The core of the program is a design sequence with loose commonality across most of NAU’s engineering programs.  All students, regardless of emphasis, engage in contextualized engineering design and project management courses. This core is supported by foundational math, computer science, and physics coursework.  The design sequence also becomes the scaffolding for integrating and synthesizing coursework across several disciplines and content areas.

Students who do not select an emphasis area may work with either an advisor or a faculty mentor to select course work in the plan that supports their own personal engineering aspirations and interests. Students who get an MDE degree have many general engineering career opportunities.  This includes areas such as engineering sales, engineering management, engineering communication, or an engineering technician.

Students who select the Engineering Design emphasis take specialized coursework in engineering design and art.  This allows students to learn how to design for practical specification and utility while also learning the aesthetic foundations of design and creativity.  This emphasis is intended to support students interested in becoming product or industrial design engineers.

The mission of the Women’s and Gender Studies program (WGS) at Northern Arizona University is to provide students with a deep and sophisticated understanding of feminist scholarship.  Interdisciplinary and intersectionality are at the core of the WGS educational mission and frame a variety of curricular offerings that emphasize women of color, indigeneity, transnational and queer/trans scholarship.

• We analyze strategies for social change that students can use in any future career to create new possibilities for a more socially just society.
• WGS empowers students with unique and distinctive training that allows them to evaluate a range of local, national, regional, and global issues.
• Students have opportunities to research and participate in activist organizations and grassroots efforts by communities that are taking direct action toward a future that is regenerative and restorative.
• Discussion based classrooms support a critical understanding of politics, histories, literature, economies, and activism shaping the social construction of genders and the material condition of people’s lives in a globalized world.
• In its focus on diversity, WGS is central to the university’s mission.

Student Learning Outcomes

• Identify and explain key topics, concepts, and issues in Women’s and Gender or Queer Studies, including intersectionality, reproductive health, sexuality and the body, and power, privilege, and violence.
•  Interpret and compare key concepts of assigned sex, gender, ethnicity, sexuality, racialization, nation, social construction, hegemony, inequity, discrimination and social justice, and the intersections among them, in a variety of feminist theoretical traditions, texts, and frameworks, and then analyze and critically evaluate their assumptions, insights, oversights, and applicability to other texts, concepts, and real-world situations.
• Analyze variations in LGBTQIAP+ people’s experiences by using queer and trans theory to identify and describe gender and sexuality assumptions; also be able to articulate the applications, insights and oversights of queer and trans theory.
• Think through and apply feminist and queer studies concepts and theories in specific political, historical, geographic, and cultural contexts.
• Understand the intersectionality of women’s and/or queer and gendered identities, informed by hierarchies of race, ethnicity, ability, class, nation and so forth.
• Analyze women’s and/or queer experiences within gender systems of power, privilege, and violence.
• Apply theoretical frameworks of queer studies and feminisms to current issues in local communities, and at statewide and national levels.
• Understand the historical and contemporary variations of feminisms/queer theories in a global context and transnational framework.
• Write critically: write clear and well-reasoned prose that acknowledges complex and diverse points of view and methods of critical inquiry/research, especially those that address constructions of gender, sexuality, race, and class.  
• Verbally express ideas effectively, tailoring arguments and presentation styles to audiences and interactive contexts.
• Develop skills of leadership, advocacy, organization, and community building to bring about social change.

Criminal justice in Indian Country is a unique, complex, and specialized field that is presently not taught at any university in the United States. To be proficient, a professional working in this field must know and understand how to analyze essential facets and challenges of the field, such as: 1) the parameters of Indian Country; 2) the process to determine who is an American Indian; 3) the distinction between an American Indian person’s “political status” and “racial status” and within the context of enrolled membership; 4) whether federal law, American Indian nation law, state law, or a combination of the laws of two jurisdictions applies; 5) whether the criminal procedure rights of the U.S. Constitution, the Indian Civil Rights Act, or the American Indian nation’s Bill of Rights apply; and 6) which court – federal, American Indian nation, or state – would have jurisdiction over the matter. Throughout the program, these analyses are undertaken based upon the fundamental principle that American Indian nations are self-governing sovereigns and that current federal Indian policy promotes self-determination, self-government, and nation-building. The major in Indian Country Criminal Justice educates students with accurate, current knowledge about criminal justice and culturally-appropriate justice services on Indigenous lands, and helps students develop the unique skills they need to pursue criminal justice careers on and around Indigenous lands, with Indigenous peoples, in Indigenous communities, and with justice institutions of self-governing Indigenous nations.

The Master of Arts in Political Science degree provides students with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to understand and participate in the political systems of the United States and the world.  This degree provides a broad perspective on experiences, international and domestic, from both theory and practice.

This degree builds a strong foundation in the advanced knowledge of the political world, and enables students to be able to use key concepts and analytical approaches from Public Policy, American Politics, Public Administration, Comparative Politics and International relations.

We build a strong foundation in the history, philosophy and ethics of journalism and photojournalism and emphasize how these disciplines serve varied communities and facilitate the free flow of information needed in a democratic society. Students learn to take a global perspective as they critically assess journalistic work from a variety of places and historical periods. By valuing the principles of the journalistic tradition, our students obtain the critical and creative edge to innovate and be relevant in an evolving media world.
 
Built upon the fundamentals of storytelling and nonfiction narrative, our curriculum ensures that students can cover breaking news as well as develop features and deeper, under-reported stories. Our students are informed and curious about their communities, and develop a critical understanding of media forms that allows them to identify audience needs and place stories within context. By honing methods of investigative research, relationship building and interviewing, our students learn to gather the materials needed to craft compelling narratives. Their creative works are refined through individual mentoring from instructors as well as through intensive student peer review.

The Bachelor’s in Justice Studies provides online and distance-learning students with a professional, criminal justice-focused education that prepares students to ethically work and lead in the fields of criminal justice and intelligence studies.
 
To help students reach their education and career goals, all Justice Studies faculty members have advanced degrees and extensive experience in the criminal justice or intelligence fields, specializing in areas, such as, criminal justice investigations, police leadership, community policing, drug investigations, federal law enforcement, corrections, intelligence-led policing, military intelligence, cyber crime, and the law.
 
Students complete core courses in ethics, leadership, criminal justice, criminology, the justice system and effective writing. They then move on to tailoring their degree to their individual interests by selecting elective courses in criminal justice administration or intelligence studies.

Emphasis in Criminal Justice Administration

The emphasis in Criminal Justice Administration ensures students develop an in-depth knowledge of their areas of interest within the criminal justice system as well as an understanding of the current, critical issues impacting the criminal justice field. This emphasis also helps students use critical thinking to connect theoretical concepts with practical criminal justice situations; a necessary skill for practitioners to succeed in the criminal justice field.

Creative Media & Film teaches students to create and critique stories made with moving images and audio. Students will engage in a shared core that will teach them the fundamentals of production and criticism. This program blends analytical thinking, creative expression, and professional experience to develop students’ skills in all aspects of digital filmmaking and critique.
 
CMF’s foundation rests on the critical view that our students should be empowered to tell their own distinctive, idiosyncratic, and regional stories, rather than have those stories told for them. Our program focuses on narrative and storytelling theories, skills, and application. As moving image/audio storytellers, our students learn about and are trained within the domains of both cultural and aesthetic values.
 
The program begins with an exploration of the theoretical, social, historical, and industry standards within which all media are grounded.  Through this foundation, students develop strong aesthetic sensibilities, storytelling skills, and a deep appreciation of the impact of audience, culture, time and place upon stylistic choices made during the creative process.

The Bachelor of Fine Arts in Studio Arts degree encompasses knowledge, skills, and dispositions that are in demand from an array of creative fields—including but not limited to medical, entertainment, and design—in addition to the skills needed to be studio artists. Studio artists work in a variety of different occupations that require a combination of hand skills, an understanding of a variety of material applications, and creative problem solving. Upon graduation, students are expected to exhibit the strong critical thinking, aesthetic design, and conceptual thinking skills needed to participate effectively in a competitive creative arts market.
 
Beyond the skills of artistic creation, students develop business practices for artists including graduate school application, grant application, gallery representation, self-promotion through web and print media, and maintaining a sustainable and safe studio practice. Studio Arts students learn how to apply their skills beyond traditional studio art applications to other industrial and non-industrial fields outside the world of art.

School of Art faculty teach students to apply critical thinking and analysis, innovation and creative solutions, as well as technical artistic processes towards the production of art while building an open mind to criticism respect for public opinion. All Studio Arts majors are required to complete a Foundation year which includes drawing and basic 2D, 3D, and 4D design coursework. Eventually, students work primarily in one of five emphases: Ceramics, New Media, Painting, Printmaking, or Sculpture.  Classes are studio-based and include classroom critiques and discussions about work produced in class, review of professional artwork and artists, and professional practices of an artistic practice. Each Studio Arts student works towards a senior thesis which reflects the student’s experiences and research the student has completed throughout the program.

Emphases Learning Outcomes  
Painting
Building upon the drawing and design skills learned in the Foundations program the painting program focuses on the application of pigment to a surface. Students begin their learning with representational approaches and over time work towards a personal expressive manner of painting that can be as unique as the student. Students explore both water and oil based painting processes as well as a variety of methods of application of paint.

The Environmental Science program at NAU constructs an interdisciplinary base of knowledge and skills to explore and develop real-world solutions to environmental problems.

Our program provides a firm grounding in the natural and social sciences to ensure all students understand how chemical, physical and biological processes maintain life, and the complex relationships among humans and the environment. Students work together and individually in the classroom, field and laboratory to practice applying the scientific method to address environmental problems and explore creative solutions that apply cutting-edge technologies.

The broad range of emphases available within our program allows students to delve deeper into a specific knowledge base, then work individually and often together in Environmental Science courses to solve problems by applying the perspectives and knowledge they developed in their emphasis with students from other emphasis areas. To culminate the learning in the program, students develop an individually designed research project or internship addressing an environmental issue of importance to them, which in turn, is expected to further prepare students for a range of professional or graduate opportunities.

Climate Change Emphasis

• Examine and understand how climate has changed in the past and how climate is anticipated to change into the future in response to both natural and human factors.
• Understand and be able to explain natural climate dynamics and the modes of variability within the climate system.
• Explore and understand the social, political, and/or cultural factors that shape how society understands and responds to climate change.
• Explore and analyze potential pathways to mitigate climate change and minimize the impacts of a changing climate system.

The Bachelor of Arts in English prepares graduates for any future that demands proficiency in literature, language, and writing, as well as general excellence in resourceful, well-informed communication. Our graduates recognize the close weave of logical thought and effective expression, strive for more persuasive or more creative uses of English, possess the sense and insight to appreciate the value and quality of literature, have developed their historical and cultural imaginations by studying the marks of other times and diverse peoples in language and text, and recognize the global contexts of English as well as the social, civic, and environmental responsibilities that come with a liberal education. Our graduates have attained the high-level literacy skills and have practiced the research methods needed to compete in graduate and professional schools and to succeed in the workplace. With our help, they have prepared themselves to become productive, responsible members of the communities in which they live and work.

The Literature Emphasis engages students in the study of the literary arts. Students gain an understanding of the sociohistorical context of literary production and reception and have the opportunity to study specific eras, cultural traditions, genres, and critical and interpretative methods, while simultaneously refining their skills in literary analysis. Students become well-versed in historical and contemporary discourse within the field and in the terminology used in literary studies. This work deepens their knowledge of how various texts (film, comics, video games, novels, poems, drama, etc.) evince meaning by using particular language structures, forms, and rhetorical strategies. Among other widely transferable skills, students learn how to write fluently and eloquently. They also learn how to make effective use of primary textual sources in their analyses and develop a repertoire of skills that includes the search for and incorporation of scholarly sources in support of their own analytical arguments.