Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy

at Shorelight Group - Southwestern University USA

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.

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.

The Classics major exposes students to both languages of the Graeco-Roman world, plus a range of courses in ancient history, philosophy, culture, art, and archaeology.

The major and minor in Latin enable students to study the literature and culture of the Roman world, from the formative years of the Republic to the expansion and power of the Empire.

At the head of Greek literature stand the Homeric epics, followed by equally fascinating literature of the archaic, classical, and Hellenistic periods.

The Classics Program has broad goals, embracing cultural and social issues, critical thinking, language skills, and advanced research skills. Classics majors also have the opportunity to conduct advanced research at the side of a professor. For example, one recent graduate, working in collaboration with Dr. Haskell, produced a paper on the topic of the arrival of Greeks on Crete (published in Athens the following year). Another student “read” and classified a sequence of pottery sherds at an archaeological site in Turkey.

Studying political science is crucial to understanding one of the most powerful institutions shaping our lives: government. By comparing how different ideologies and forms of government have developed and evolved, analyzing how power and resources are distributed throughout a society and the world, and examining the impact of political events and public policies throughout history and across countries, students of the discipline become more informed, engaged participants within the local, national, and global communities.

At Southwestern, majoring or minoring in political science will broaden your understanding of a range of fascinating topics:

• Campaigns and elections
• Domestic and foreign policy
• International politics
• Civil discourse
• The relationship between media and politics
• The relationship between politics and gender
• Models of political leadership
• Theories of revolution, conflict, and peace
• Ideologies and political philosophies

You’ll cultivate the analytical tools, creative thinking, and communication skills that will prepare you for effective critical engagement with many different kinds of power structures. Those skills will also help you develop a sound foundation for future study in  a wide variety of professions as well as graduate programs. Recent Southwestern political science alumni are currently pursuing careers in law, government, K–12 and higher education, nonprofits, urban planning, business, and international affairs.

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.

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.

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.

The Feminist Studies curriculum exposes students to the large and ever-growing body of knowledge that makes up the broad category of feminist and gender studies, combining feminist theory with analyses of feminist activism, identifications, and practices.

Our program provides a critical exploration of how prominent categories of difference—gender, race, class, sexuality, disability, age, religion and nation—are constituted, challenged, and altered across time and place.

Part of this project involves revising the findings of traditional disciplines to include knowledge generated through a variety of feminist methodologies.

Students with an academic focus in feminist theories and methodologies are well prepared to succeed in a variety of fields, including non-profit and social services, law, journalism, theology, public policy, health care, cultural studies, education, and numerous other traditional disciplines within the academy.

Students must have completed at least 90 credits including the general education core courses and the courses required for the Applied Physics major before leaving Southwestern. After completing 30 credits of applicable coursework in an ABET engineering program, students must submit their transcript(s) to Southwestern for review by the Physics Department Chair. Upon the Chair’s approval and satisfactory completion of all BA Degree Requirements as outlined in Southwestern University’s Catalog, students may be awarded a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Applied Physics. The work submitted from the ABET-accredited school will be treated as “in residence” coursework. In order to participate in commencement at Southwestern, students in the Pre-Engineering program must complete an Application for Diploma by the date noted in the SU official calendar for their intended Southwestern graduation semester, and they must have submitted a transcript showing that they have successfully completed at least 15 hours of approved courses with the remainder of courses in-progress. The University degree will be conferred only after the final transcript is submitted and approved.