Undergraduate Extended Accelerator Pathway (3-Term) - Bachelor of Arts in Economics

at Shorelight Group - The University of Utah USA

Religious studies scholars examine religions from the perspective of a religion’s followers, studying the similarities, differences, and core tenets of a belief system. If you want to gain a broader understanding of religions and their traditions, consider the Religious Studies program at the University of Utah. Courses of study include Jewish Studies, Coptic Studies, Western Christianity, Islam Studies, Mormon Studies, and Religion & Conflict. Through critical analysis and discussion of these faiths, students will learn how theology shapes individuals and communities across the globe. Regardless of emphasis area, the Religious Studies program consists of courses from 13 departments: English, History, Communication, Philosophy, World Languages & Cultures, Political Science, Social Work, Sociology, Anthropology, Art & Art History, Theatre, Health Promotion & Education, and the Middle East Center. Within these fields, religious studies courses are divided into four areas: Text and Literature, Theory and Methodology, Art, Culture and Society, and World Religions. The culminating experience of the program is a capstone seminar, a student-conducted research project that demonstrates your knowledge and skills in religious studies. Graduates of the program are ultimately equipped with social awareness and theological knowledge that can be used in a variety of careers.

Gender Studies is an interdisciplinary field that focuses on interactions of gender with race, class, sexual orientation, and nationality. In addition to its focus on the history and achievements of women, gender scholarship has inspired research and curricula that address men’s lives, masculinity, and the lives of people who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender. The University of Utah Gender Studies Division offers a space for the study of a wide range of feminist thought and practices: theory and community-engaged learning; activism and professional development; lively debate and professional skill building. Pursue your passions!

Finance deals with the concepts of time, money, risk, how they are interrelated, and how money is budgeted and spent. Finance students learn how to assign value to projects, companies and securities. They also study how individuals and businesses can efficiently allocate financial resources, invest, and raise capital. With these skills, Finance majors can determine wise investment strategies, value stock options, and help companies and individuals manage their money. A critical component of a finance students’ education is meaningful, real-world opportunities, balanced by worthwhile classroom experiences. The U’s Finance curriculum covers topics such as business statistics, business calculus, corporate finance, insurance, investments, and real estate. A global perspectives course allows students to apply an international context to the business skills and perspectives they are learning.

In addition to the traditional major, students may pursue an emphasis in Advanced Financial Analysis, an honors-level program that provides students with a deeper foundation in finance and accounting, supplemented by additional technical competence in financial modeling and coding as applied to finance problems. Courses will focus on developing technical skills and applying those skills to solve problems in realistic settings.

Satisfy your curiosity and learn how art and culture intersect through the University of Utah’s Art History program. Art history is the study of the artistic endeavors of peoples around the globe, and professional art historians seek to understand the context of art: why art and architecture are made and how they relate to historical and cultural circumstances. In recent years, the discipline of art history has expanded from a narrow study of the fine arts to the wider and more inclusive fields of visual and material culture. The Art History curriculum introduces students to these topics through lectures and seminars. Your coursework will cover topics such as visual analysis and critical thinking, as well as the art and history of specific cultures and geographic locations. The culminating capstone experience is a seminar class that allows you to apply your analytical and research skills to a select art history theme or area. Art history is an exciting field, especially in recent years: feminist, postmodern, postcolonial, and contemporary perspectives are all reinvigorating art historical writing today.

Physics is the field of study concerned with the nature and properties of matter and energy: how we define measurable quantities, like energy and speed, and how these concepts are related (for example, Newton’s Law of gravity or the theory of special relativity). If you want to learn more about how the universe is structured and functions, consider studying physics at the University of Utah. In addition to learning scientific and theoretical concepts and facts, physicists also develop excellent analytical thinking skills and problem-solving techniques, and expertise in computational methods.

A degree in accounting offers students the chance to move beyond merely tracking a company’s income and assets. With this program, you can learn how to budget and manage money for a business, ensure that a firm is spending money wisely by making sound investments, file taxes for a corporation, and ultimately understand how a business operates and sustains itself financially. In addition to core business courses, accounting majors take classes in financial and managerial accounting, tax accounting, and accounting information systems.

Gain a deeper understanding of Germanic cultures through the study of the German language, literature, and society. In the German program at the University of Utah, you will gain a firm foundation in speaking, reading, and writing the German language, as well as read and analyze key works of literature from around the German-speaking world. Students studying German take language classes in addition to courses on German history, literature, culture, and grammar. The program provides a broad overview of German history, arts, and culture, allowing you to develop the social awareness necessary for today's global environment.

Chemistry is the study of matter, what it is made of, how it changes, and how it can be turned into new substances. Chemistry is central to our search for answers as we explore our world. "What is it?" "How much is there?" "How does this work?" "Why does it do that?" If you’ve ever asked any of these questions, consider studying chemistry to find the solutions. The department offers nine emphasis areas to choose from, and Chemistry is the only department at the U to allow students to declare two emphases.

Available tracks include:

• Atmospheric & Environmental Chemistry
• Biology
• Business
• Chemical Engineering
• Geology
• Material Sciences and Engineering
• Mathematics
• Physics
• Professional Chemistry (the traditional chemistry curriculum)
• Teaching

An economy is a social system where people produce and distribute goods and services. Economists study these systems, focusing on issues related to decision-making in governments, social and economic institutions, firms and industries. Our world is shaped in a fundamental way by economic forces. High unemployment, financial uncertainty, and growing public debt present great challenges for all of us. Concerns about energy sources, and about the environmental impact of economic activity will also be with us for decades to come. Studying economics will allow you to understand these challenges more deeply and will give you tools to help solve these problems. The Economics major is an excellent preparation for a wide range of jobs and graduate and professional studies. Students in the program gain critical thinking and quantitative analysis skills, and these abilities can be used to solve economic and other real-world problems. Beyond the core sequence in micro- and macroeconomics and quantitative and statistical methods, students can choose elective courses focused on money and banking, environmental economics, economic development in poor countries, labor economics, health economics, econometrics, and many other topics.

Anthropology is the study of human beings; their cultures, biology, behaviors, and their changes through time (evolution). Because we study all aspects of humans, anthropology is said to be holistic and inter-disciplinary, that is anthropologists work hand-in-hand with other sciences such as biology, physiology, sociology and psychology—just to name a few.

At the University of Utah, the Anthropology Department is divided into four main divisions: Cultural, Biological, Evolutionary Ecology, and Archaeology. Cultural anthropology focuses on human cultures and how they vary through time and space—around the world and back through pre-history. Biological anthropology focuses on ancient and modern human anatomical, physiological, and biological variability. Biological anthropology also concerns itself with non-human primates like chimpanzees and gorillas—by studying them, we hope to learn more about ourselves. Archaeology is the excavation and interpretation of what humans leave behind in order to infer how and why humans have evolved. Evolutionary ecology (sometimes known as behavioral ecology) examines human (and non-human primate) behavior and life-history—why did human beings evolve the way they did?

Ultimately, anthropologists use all four sub-disciplines to describe and explain past and present human diversity. The Department takes a theoretically-driven, empirically-informed perspective focusing on the following specific areas of expertise: archaeology, genetics, behavioral ecology, paleoanthropology, hunter-gatherer behavior, and human and non-human primate behavior.