Bachelor of Arts in Economics

at Shorelight Group - Southwestern University USA

French majors and minors tie their language studies to in-depth analysis of literature, culture and film. Our curriculum integrates speaking, writing and culture into all courses, enhanced by faculty mentoring and interdisciplinary opportunities. French students are strongly encouraged to study abroad. Several graduates have won scholarships to teach in France, through the French Embassy’s Teaching Assistant Program.

The French Program also builds diverse perspectives through course materials tailored to students’ needs.

The Capstone provides majors with training in independent research and prepares them for work in many fields. Alumni pursue Master’s and PhD degrees and careers in art, business, international affairs, law, management, public health, and teaching.

All of the courses in the Communication Studies major involve a significant amount of writing, research, and creative work. Several courses engage in the teaching of writing, research, and creative methods and are designated as COM Writing Intensive Courses. 

Fulfilling Southwestern’s commitment to interdisciplinary learning, the Math Department empowers you to discover new ways of seeing and engaging with the world around you, from predicting national healthcare expenditures and determining the best position for viewing a painting to analyzing traffic accidents and visitations to a national park. With the guidance of faculty mentors and the ability to complement your studies with interdisciplinary minors such as data science and design thinking, you will have the flexibility to tailor your elective courses to suit your career goals.

As a math major or minor at Southwestern, you will be empowered to make a positive difference in the world. You will hone your critical and creative thinking through such courses as Graph Theory and Real Analysis. And you will have multiple opportunities to combine your interests in math with your passion for the arts or community service. Our recent students have

• Used hyperbolic geometry to crochet models of Texas coral reefs
• Analyzed the structure of the Choose Your Own Adventure series using graph theory
• Composed a musical performance modeling how the HIV virus proliferates through the body

Collaborating one on one with our award-winning faculty on innovative research is just one advantage of the SU experience. As mentors and advisors, our professors will also encourage your engagement with the broader mathematics community: many of our current students and alumni have showcased peer-reviewed presentations and posters at regional, national, and international conferences; earned awards; and coauthored journal publications. You will also get to participate in exciting national competitions, such as the Mathematical Association of America’s Putnam Competition, the Consortium for Mathematics and Its Applications (COMAP) Mathematical Contest in Modeling, and the Binance Dexathon. Our alumni have gone on to premier graduate programs as well as fulfilling careers in a range of fields, from finance and programming to education and data analysis.

Education courses are designed to provide both a philosophical and theoretical basis for teaching and other education careers. We expose Education students to teaching methodology that is based on the latest research and emphasize developmental characteristics of the learner, learning theories, diverse learners, and assessment. Our professors teach and model analytic, creative and evaluative thinking skills in order to develop lifelong learners who are skilled in the problem solving necessary for the modern classroom. Strong, early field experiences and a closely supervised student teaching placement are integral components of the program.

After graduation, during the critical first year of teaching, the Education Department provides assistance through the Semester of Support (S.O.S.) program. Graduates return to campus to exchange ideas, receive technical assistance from the Department faculty, and engage in evaluation of the Teacher Certification Program. S.O.S. also provides on-site technical support to graduates during their first year of teaching.

Although Education Degrees are awarded by Southwestern University, certification is awarded by the State of Texas. In completing the requirements for their respective degree programs, students must meet the requirements necessary for Texas teacher certification as well as the requirements of Southwestern. 

Fulfilling Southwestern’s commitment to interdisciplinary learning, the Math Department empowers you to discover new ways of seeing and engaging with the world around you, from predicting national healthcare expenditures and determining the best position for viewing a painting to analyzing traffic accidents and visitations to a national park. With the guidance of faculty mentors and the ability to complement your studies with interdisciplinary minors such as data science and design thinking, you will have the flexibility to tailor your elective courses to suit your career goals.

As a math major or minor at Southwestern, you will be empowered to make a positive difference in the world. You will hone your critical and creative thinking through such courses as Graph Theory and Real Analysis. And you will have multiple opportunities to combine your interests in math with your passion for the arts or community service. Our recent students have

• Used hyperbolic geometry to crochet models of Texas coral reefs
• Analyzed the structure of the Choose Your Own Adventure series using graph theory
• Composed a musical performance modeling how the HIV virus proliferates through the body

Collaborating one on one with our award-winning faculty on innovative research is just one advantage of the SU experience. As mentors and advisors, our professors will also encourage your engagement with the broader mathematics community: many of our current students and alumni have showcased peer-reviewed presentations and posters at regional, national, and international conferences; earned awards; and coauthored journal publications. You will also get to participate in exciting national competitions, such as the Mathematical Association of America’s Putnam Competition, the Consortium for Mathematics and Its Applications (COMAP) Mathematical Contest in Modeling, and the Binance Dexathon. Our alumni have gone on to premier graduate programs as well as fulfilling careers in a range of fields, from finance and programming to education and data analysis.

The Theatre Department provides academic, production and laboratory experiences designed to help students develop their artistic potential and to become well-rounded theatre artists. We work to educate students who are well prepared for graduate schools and advanced theatre training programs and for work in the professional theatre. We are also dedicated to empowering individuals who will use the analytical, critical, practical and artistic skills inherent in the theatre discipline to entertain, educate, enlighten and contribute to their communities and the world in insightful and celebratory ways.

The Theatre Department offers a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) The degree is designed to provide students with a solid grounding in all areas of theatre studies including history, dramatic literature, performance, design, management, and technical theatre. Students who choose the Bachelor of Arts option often combine their work in theatre with work in other disciplines, are interested in graduate education focusing on research and scholarship, or are certifying to teach.

For students who are Work Study eligible as part of their financial aid package, there are numerous jobs in the area of the theatre, such as faculty assistants, box office staff, and backstage crew. Students interested in these positions should inquire through department head of the desired area.

Kinesiology, the study of human movement, can be traced to the ancient Chinese, Egyptian, Indian, and Greek civilizations. Kinesiology has evolved to become a discipline focusing on movement as it relates to physical activity, health and disease prevention, exercise, and sport.

The Kinesiology Department at Southwestern University is committed to developing students into active participants in their community and the world. We offer a selection of courses to fulfill requirements for Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees, with a major or a minor in Kinesiology.  The Kinesiology major includes courses that are pre-requisites for graduate study in the discipline and professional programs in clinical and health-related fields. These courses are also required for teaching certification.

The Kinesiology Department also offers Fitness and Recreational Activity classes in which students develop the knowledge, skills, and physical abilities that contribute to their enjoyment of various sports and activities throughout their lives.

The Computer Science Department provides an integrated approach to solving complex, open-ended problems—a skill necessary for succeeding in the digital age and beyond. When you major in computer science, you will be empowered to make a positive impact on the world. More than just learning how to code, you will theorize about systems while developing algorithms and gaining hands-on experiences with database management, taking advantage of the power of the cloud.

Beyond taking dynamic courses such as Artificial Intelligence and Operations Research, you can combine your interest in computer science with community engagement or your passion for the arts. Our recent students have

• Created computer systems that “breed” artistic animations
• Improved video game play using the generative adversarial network (GAN) machine learning model
• Partnered with Upward Bound and GirlStart to improve their websites and databases
• Analyzed users’ sincerity when using meeting scheduling apps, such as Doodle Poll

In addition to designing independent research with faculty, you will have the opportunity to present your work at regional, national, and international conferences and publish coauthored articles in peer-reviewed journals. You will also get support as you participate in national competitions, such as the Association for Computing Machinery’s International Collegiate Programming Contest. By graduation, you will be prepared to succeed in top-tier graduate programs as well as fulfilling careers, from network and test engineering to front- and back-end development.

Environmental Studies at Southwestern is one of our premier interdisciplinary programs. It is designed to expose students to a wide range of perspectives and disciplinary orientations to understanding ‘the natural environment’ and human-environment interactions and connections. Students graduating with Environmental Studies pursue a wide variety of careers in government, NGOs, the sustainability sector, environmental law, or go on to graduate school to deepen their knowledge.

We provide students with a solid grounding in the history of western philosophy while also facilitating critical engagement with that history, allowing students to consider the lessons and strategies the study of philosophy offers for engaging contemporary questions and problems. 

Over the past several years, we have undertaken curricular revisions that express our commitment to a program that fosters rigorous and coherent thinking and writing, while also locating such thinking within the power relations and differentials that inform, enable, and restrict it.  This commitment is expressed in the multiple disciplinary, social, and cultural intersections our courses encourage students to explore. 

Our particular strengths include intersections with Latin American Studies, Feminist Studies, Race and Ethnicity Studies, Queer Theory, and Marxist thought, as well as theories of media and political theory, including the key contemporary relationship between “politics” and “economics.”  Of late, the tendency of philosophy to be a discipline dominated by white men has received fairly widespread attention.  Our department works systematically to depart from this tendency, to actively foster forms and directions of inquiry of interest to a wide range of persons.