Bachelor of Arts in French

at Shorelight Group - Southwestern University USA

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.

When you study business at Southwestern, you become a problem-solver and a decision-maker. You will be equipped to examine complex puzzles, analyze them from multiple perspectives, and develop effective solutions. In business courses, you will gain a systems-level view of how organizations operate: How do entrepreneurs build a business from concept to reality? What are the effects of miscommunication or informal group dynamics in the workplace? How do different types of businesses develop successful financial and marketing strategies?

In business major, you will learn and apply foundational concepts related to the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. But our award-winning faculty are also committed to updating the curriculum to keep pace with innovation, enabling you to think about, for example, the economic costs of pollution, how globalization affects business practices, and how technologies such as artificial intelligence and blockchain can help businesses obtain a competitive edge. You can also delve into data analysis, learning how to conduct cost–benefit analyses and make decisions about effective resource allocation.

While pursuing your degree, you will have a diverse range of opportunities to participate in relevant transformative experiences that enable you to bridge classroom discussion with real-world applications. Our students have studied abroad with the Southwestern London Program and have interned with the Federal Reserve Bank, Southwest Airlines, the Texas Bowl, Accenture, and the Smithsonian. Undergraduate research enables you  to push your understanding of the field, and our students regularly present at national meetings and publish their research in professional journals. In addition, in our groundbreaking Financial Analyst Program, you can gain invaluable experience in portfolio management by working with a team of students actively investing a portion of the University’s endowment.

Majoring or minoring in psychology will help you understand the workings of the brain in its complex control of behavior, emotion, and cognition

You’ll also apply the knowledge you develop in coursework to high-impact learning experiences. For example, our students conduct novel, high-quality scientific research. They engage in internships with local schools, hospitals, police departments, and nonprofits. And based on these experiences, they’ve presented their research at national and international scientific conferences and coauthored scientific publications with faculty on such topics as the neural development of reproductive physiology and behavior, sexuality and relationships, and evolutionary psychology. By majoring or minoring in psychology, you’ll be prepared not only for top-ranked graduate programs but also for a wide range of careers, from medicine and veterinary science to marketing and business.

Students majoring in Latin are encouraged to study for a semester or year at the Intercollegiate Center for Classical Studies or at College Year at Athens.

The Capstone consists of a semester-long research project, which encompasses a wide range within the area of Latin studies. The project culminates with a formal paper and an oral presentation to an interdepartmental committee, chosen by the student and the faculty project advisor.

Students who major in Latin, and who place out of the foreign language requirement as entering first-year students, may take a Latin exam for credit. Students may earn up to six semester hours of lower level credit upon successful completion of the exam.

In addition to Latin courses, Latin majors are strongly urged to take interdisciplinary courses on ancient civilization, philosophy, literature, mythology, and art and archaeology.

With its wide scope and its status as the foundation for many scientific disciplines, physics enables you to understand all forms of mass and energy and their interrelationships. You will explore how the universe works—from the subatomic and molecular levels to the scale of solar systems and galaxies—through systematic observation, theoretical modeling, and experimentation. And fulfilling Southwestern’s innovative Paideia approach to education, physics gives you the tools to make connections between seemingly unconnected phenomena in technologically innovative and artistically creative ways. How is DNA related to the dust swirling about a star? How does the strumming of a guitar or the darkly dramatic register of a tenor trombone behave like a wave traveling within the depths of the ocean or the tremors of an earthquake? You will develop the intellectual and philosophical curiosity to understand first physical principles—foundational concepts that lead to the scientific discoveries that shape our world and drive the technological advances that help improve our lives.

With specialties in geophysics, atmospheric physics, mathematics, and quantum physics, our award-winning faculty offer a rich array of courses, including earth and climate science, classical mechanics, and quantum physics. If your passion is for engineering, you can explore the field in our three-year, dual-degree Applied Physics Pre-Engineering Pathway. You will also have the remarkable opportunity to use the Fountainwood Observatory for research and coursework. Thanks to a generous gift by Max Allen, a local engineer, builder, and amateur astronomer, our observatory houses a research-quality reflecting telescope complete with a digital CCD camera that enables you to for view and process images on your computer.

In the spirit of making connections and supporting innovation and exploration across the disciplines, Southwestern University empowers you to design your own independent major, leading to a bachelor of arts. You’ll have the opportunity to propose your own course of study, choosing classes from various departments to expand your knowledge of a coherent intellectual theme or hone your skills in preparation for a specific career goal. Interested in urban studies? Combine classes in government, sociology, architecture, and design thinking. Pursuing a future in global health? Consider linking an internship shadowing a cardiothoracic surgeon with coursework in cancer biology, gender and sexuality, sustainable food and agriculture, and health psychology.

To design your academic curriculum, which will include a high-impact capstone project, you’ll consult with the chairs of the relevant departments and programs and present your proposal to the Curriculum Committee for final approval. Pursuing a unique field of inquiry requires strong initiative and self-discipline, but by interweaving coursework, research, and internships from a range of subjects, you’ll get to pursue your passions, enhance your creativity, and develop a distinct and wide-ranging perspective on complex real-world problems.

Through speaking and listening comprehension, you will acquire strong communication skills and explore how the Spanish language works: How do words, concepts, and metaphors vary across languages? How does Spanish help us understand the world in a different way? By also immersing yourself in cultural works of the Spanish-speaking world, you’ll develop the ability to analyze and critically evaluate works of literature, film, and other artistic representations while thinking about how cultural practices differ from country to country and even between regions where different dialects of Spanish are spoken. Whether you are brand new to the language or grew up speaking Spanish in the home, we have courses that will fit your interests and needs.

At SU, you will improve your linguistic fluency and enhance your cultural immersion through various high-impact experiences led by our award-winning faculty. Our transformative study abroad programs in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Granada, Spain, empower you to practice your language skills while conversing about culture, politics, and current events with native speakers. Internships in Peru, Ecuador, Costa Rica, and throughout Europe provide you with valuable language-study and career-training opportunities. And through community-engaged learning, our partnerships with local organizations and school districts enable you to volunteer in immigrant support services, participate in dual-language classrooms, and teach or tutor ESL.

True to the Paideia spirit, students studying Spanish at Southwestern often double-major or minor in other fields, such as business, Latin American and Border studies, education, biology, communication studies, political science, and international studies. By making connections with other disciplines and expanding your oral and written communication skills, you will be prepared to pursue a number of careers beyond graduation. Our alumni have gone on to work as marketing professionals at a Chilean vineyard, doctors in Hispanic communities, coordinators for tourism bureaus, researchers and teachers in selective graduate programs, and so much more!

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.

Together with its commitment to high-impact learning practices such as faculty-student research, study abroad, internships, and senior honors theses, the Department’s rigorous academic programs represent the best in liberal arts education. Featuring a global orientation and wide chronological scope, our curriculum offers students a wide array of approaches, methods, and themes in their courses while allowing them maximum flexibility to pursue their particular interests and concerns.

Students seeking a major in History must complete nine courses. The major is flexible to allow each student to follow their own interests and schedules while ensuring that all students gain chronological breadth, geographic diversity, and a shared set of historical tools and skills. 

The flexibility of the History major makes it ideal for students seeking a double major. Additionally, the History Department has paired major options with Art History, English, Feminist Studies, and Political Science. (Check your current course catalog for details.)

Majoring or minoring in psychology will help you understand the workings of the brain in its complex control of behavior, emotion, and cognition

You’ll also apply the knowledge you develop in coursework to high-impact learning experiences. For example, our students conduct novel, high-quality scientific research. They engage in internships with local schools, hospitals, police departments, and nonprofits. And based on these experiences, they’ve presented their research at national and international scientific conferences and coauthored scientific publications with faculty on such topics as the neural development of reproductive physiology and behavior, sexuality and relationships, and evolutionary psychology. By majoring or minoring in psychology, you’ll be prepared not only for top-ranked graduate programs but also for a wide range of careers, from medicine and veterinary science to marketing and business.