Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science

at Shorelight Group - Cleveland State University USA

Several traits distinguish the B.A. in Liberal Studies from majors in specialized disciplines:

• Broad-based liberal education across the natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities
• Academic (rather than technical or training) emphasis
• Maximum flexibility in choosing courses across the University curriculum (including technical electives)
• Breadth rather than specialized depth of intellectual experience
• Appropriateness for students who wish to take an active role in shaping their studies

Students majoring in Liberal Studies may create programs that suit their own academic, professional, or other personal goals. For example, some use this undergraduate degree as a foundation for graduate study in Business, Education, or Philosophy. Others use it to take specific prerequisites for professional training in Law, Medicine, or Physical Therapy. Still others pursue Liberal Studies to explore educational experiences for their inherent value and satisfaction.

Computer hardware engineers research, design, develop, and test computer systems and components such as processors, circuit boards, memory devices, networks, and routers. These engineers discover new directions in computer hardware, which generate rapid advances in computer technology. Computer network architects design and build data communication networks, including local area networks (LANs), wide area networks (WANs), and intranets. These networks range from small connections between two offices to next-generation networking capabilities such as a cloud infrastructure that serves multiple customers. Computer systems analysts study an organization’s current computer systems and procedures and design information systems solutions to help the organization operate more efficiently and effectively. They bring business and information technology (IT) together by understanding the needs and limitations of both. Computer and information research scientists invent and design new approaches to computing technology and find innovative uses for existing technology. They study and solve complex problems in computing for business, medicine, science, and other fields.

Virtually everywhere one finds evidence for human societies, both historically and geographically, one finds evidence of religion. Religions identify and describe transcendent forces said to give shape to the world and thus to humanity’s experience within it. By explaining the past and imagining what is to come in the future, religions identify the meaning and purpose of present experience, and even of existence itself, for the groups and individuals who adhere to them. Consequently, religions have been and remain fundamental to the way people construct cultures, organize societies, determine “truths,” define values, and imagine themselves in relation to others. Perhaps most remarkably, different religious cultures do all this with an incredible and frequently conflicting variety of beliefs and practices.

Criminologists conduct research on a variety of topics linked to criminal behavior, including how criminal activity is defined and measured, the causes of crime, the consequences of crime, and the impacts of criminal justice system intervention on individuals and society.

Students who choose to major or minor in Criminology will take courses that will help them strengthen their critical thinking skills and prepare them for fieldwork in corrections, policing, courts, and victim services.  A degree in Criminology is also a great choice for students who wish to gain a foundation that will prepare them for graduate studies or law school.

Sociologists study human behavior in industrialized societies. Sometimes this behavior involves personal relationships, perhaps among teenagers or the elderly, sometimes the difficulties facing the urban poor or drug addicts, sometimes the development of modern nation-states and political conflict. Sociology open new windows--challenging conventional wisdom, dissolving myths about social reality, illuminating how the world is socially constructed and clarifying our options and choices.

Sociology students at Cleveland State University are taught to analyze modern social problems scientifically. In addition, they are taught how to do research about these issues using statistics, interviews and participant observation. Good research requires a grasp of the "sociological imagination"--the connections between historical, large-scale social forces and biography, the ways in which people live and understand their lives.

Majors in sociology develop the critical thinking and writing skills basic to a sound liberal arts education; they learn research skills and an understanding of the sociological perspective. This prepares them for a wide range of careers: some students use the degree as preparation for graduate work in one of the social sciences or law, others work in human resource management, social service, criminal justice, corporations or schools.

A major in Economics equips a student with an improved ability to recognize and understand the important economic problems and issues.  It provides the technical tools needed for critically analyzing these problems and issues.  It also offers insights into how to design, evaluate, and choose among alternative solutions to these problems.  It is an excellent preparation for those who want to become professional economists as well as for those who plan to go on to graduate schools and professions in the areas of business, law, healthcare management, and engineering.

Mathematicians use theory, computational techniques, algorithms and computer technology to solve problems in various fields, including basic sciences, engineering, computer science, economics, business, finance, and social sciences. The study of mathematics is traditionally divided into pure (theoretical) mathematics, which involves discovering new mathematical principles and relationships, and applied mathematics, which develops mathematical techniques for solving practical problems. Statistics is a sub-field of applied mathematics that focuses on data analysis.

History is the essential foundation of knowledge. It provides the context for a liberal education, the tools to understand ourselves and our contemporary world, and the skills for an educated person to live a more fulfilled and gratifying life in a wide range of careers.

Because of these various functions, we study history for many reasons:

• To better understand our society and the times in which we live
• To better understand ourselves; to place our own society in historical perspective
• To balance present-mindedness with historical memory
• To acquire skills such as conducting research, communicating effectively through writing or oral communication, critical thinking, evaluating evidence, and problem-solving
• To understand the roles which individuals and groups have played in shaping their worlds
• For the enjoyment of examining societies very different or very similar to our own

This is possible because history at the university level is far more than a collection of facts, names, and dates. The emphasis is on accessing and analyzing information, the critical use of historical sources, learning to communicate the results, and the excitement which comes from exploring important ideas. To study history is to enter a time machine to explore the far reaches of the human experience from classical times to the present; from the lives of great thinkers and kings to that of average people; from dramatic moments such as the Civil War to the routine. The past becomes the universe, all corners of which can be explored.

The department offers coursework in European, U.S., African, Latin-American, and East Asian history and thematic foci on social and urban history and the History of the African Diaspora. The major program not only prepares students for teaching and for graduate study in history but many students have found history an appropriate preparatory foundation for careers in law, library science, international work, the foreign service, the ministry, business, government and archival and museum work.

The Urban and Regional Studies major entails the study of America's cities, metropolitan areas, and their people. Students learn about the cultural, political, and historical aspects of urban living and the influence of these factors on the growth and decline of businesses and neighborhoods. Urban Studies is an interdisciplinary program that includes a foundation in urban geography, urban economic and political systems, and social issues.

Concentrations are offered in:

Urban and Regional Planning
Urban planners use their skills in research, design, and development to effect social goals in cities. The urban and regional planning track helps students use the heritage of urban planning to influence urban and regional development. Planners analyze a range of data regarding an area—the economic base, the needs of the people, the available resources, and the effects of change—and make recommendations for action.

Public Management
Public managers develop budgets, strategic plans, policies, and programs for a variety of public and private organizations. The public management track gives students basic management techniques and analytic skills necessary to manage effectively in an urban environment.

Environmental Policy and Management
This track is designed to give students an understanding of the economic, political, and social changes necessary for improving the quality of the physical environment in cities. Courses focus on domestic environmental policies and programs, environmental design, and issues related to sustainable development.

Geographic Information System
A Geographic Information System (GIS) is a computerized database management system used for the capture, storage, retrieval, analysis, and display of spatial data. GIS is useful to every discipline that utilizes geographic data and is one of the most exciting and rapidly growing computer technologies.

GIS has spread widely into fields such as land use, transportation, utility management, emergency services, natural resource management, environment, demographics, public safety and public health, market and business location, housing, and real estate. With digital representation of spatial entities and their spatial relationships in GIS database, GIS are used to improve services, assist in managing resources, and provide support for better decision-making and policy-planning activities.

The Art History concentration exposes students to a wide range of artistic forms and traditions and to a broad diversity of cultures and issues. Art History students begin with introductory survey courses in Western, Asian, and African Art, and continue with courses in these areas along with Modern, American, AfricanAmerican, and Islamic Art. Advanced seminars in Art History draw on the faculty’s research interests: recent topics include Jewish-American Artists, Medieval Artistic Materials and Processes of Making, and Center and Periphery in African Art. As well as preparing students for graduate study in Art History and related fields, the Art History program provides students with the skills that employers want in college graduates including critical thinking, problem solving, information gathering, and effective oral and written communication.