Bachelor of Arts in Political Science

at Shorelight Group - University of Illinois at Chicago USA

If you are interested in anything that moves, you will find a natural home in mechanical engineering.

Mechanical engineers are problem-solvers, designers, and creators. They understand materials, solid and fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, design, control, instrumentation, and production. Engineers in this area can recognize emerging issues, come up with novel solutions, and create and test prototypes of their designs.

As a mechanical engineer, you’ll create products and technologies that meet human needs. These can span a range from large to small: enormous power turbines and manufacturing robots on one end, nanoscale devices and systems on the other. No matter what their size, the devices you create and refine could have an impact on energy, transportation, space exploration, the environment, health care, aerospace, and more.

Political science is the systematic study of politics and its connection to human life as a whole. It focuses on the way people are governed and govern themselves in a wide variety of settings—including the state, the workplace, schools, and the family—and the way in which governance in those settings affects their life chances and shapes their sense of self. Students who elect this major examine, among other things, the relationships between law and political institutions, economic and political power, and culture and political identity. They develop the analytical, interpretive, and critical methods necessary to understand these relationships at local, national, regional, or international levels, and thus, to act as responsible citizens at those levels. They also learn to write well. In short, political science is central to a well-rounded liberal arts education.

Political science also provides excellent preparation for careers in law, government, teaching, journalism, business, and the nonprofit sector.

In addition to the BA with a Major in Political Science program, the department offers two concentrations: the Concentration in Law and Courts and the Concentration in Urban Politics.

Civil engineering immerses you in the built environment. Civil engineers oversee the smart and responsible design and creation of structures and systems that are familiar to all of us: roads, bridges, buildings, airports, sewer systems, and more. Increasingly they are concerned not only with the what of the world around us, but the how: the ways in which people live in and utilize the built environment, and how we can optimize that for the benefit of human beings and the planet.

Civil engineering is a field with many pathways, and a UIC education will open them for you. Students who pursue an undergraduate major in civil engineering may find themselves drawn to careers in structural engineering (including designing structures to manage an increasing incidence of natural disasters), urban planning, coastal preservation, transportation engineering, water-resources management, materials science, environmental engineering, and beyond.

The breadth of the energy industry—from creating energy efficient buildings to storage to power production—is covered in the master’s program. Areas of focus include HVAC design, energy efficiency and management of engineering projects.

The Information and Decision Sciences program at UIC Business is grounded in a research-based curriculum and corporate-sponsored project courses that give students the proven experience firms are looking for. IDS majors explore the potential of new technology to alter business operations, analysis and strategy. Students leave our program ready to meet the growing demand for business technologists.

IDS students are in top demand because of the skills they learn here at UIC Business. Bridging the gap between technology and business, IDS prepares students to analyze, design and implement information technology systems.

Students gain conceptual knowledge in how information is used effectively throughout all areas in the business cycle. They also gain practical experience in more technological based courses such as Business Database Technology, Advanced Spreadsheet Analysis, Business Data Mining and Business Systems Analysis and Design. IDS students are given the tools to become proficient professionals, capable of putting their technical, analytic and critical thinking skills to use in a real-world setting.

At UIC Business, we help students find their dream careers. Some students may choose a “specialization” for their studies that lead to certain career paths in IDS. These include Management Information Systems; Business Analytics; and Operations and Supply Chain Management.

The human-centered computing concentration prepares students to pursue areas such as user-interface design and development and computer graphics and animation. Applications of these skills might include video games, movie special effects, and visualization in science, engineering, and medicine. In addition to the fundamental areas of computer science—programming, data structures, discrete mathematics, algorithms, formal languages, computer architecture, and operating systems—the concentration educates students in user-interface design, computer graphics, visual media, and natural language processing.

Industrial engineers find ways to make complex processes and systems work better. They help operations to run more efficiently and more safely, leading to improvements in the products we use every day, people’s jobs, and human satisfaction.

As an industrial engineer, you might design and implement better ways of doing things or making things. You might find ways to improve the value or profit of goods that we use every day. You also could oversee project management, devise improvements to manufacturing plants and factories, or harness the power of data to imaging the next generation of processes.

If you’ve ever looked at something and said to yourself, “I see a smarter way they could do this,” you could have the makings of a great industrial engineer.

Earth and environmental science majors and minors study the processes that occur at Earth's surface and in its interior, the evolution of these processes over time, and the solids, liquids, and gases that make up Earth materials. Earth is viewed as a dynamic body, with continual exchange of materials and energy among the planet’s interior and exterior, atmosphere, oceans, and life. Understanding  these Earth system processes is essential for evaluating the global environment, its natural variability, and changes that result from human activities.

A degree in earth and environmental sciences may lead to employment in industry, in the public sector, or in education. Many earth scientists establish careers in areas that are environmentally related, which may include the prevention, control, and remediation of pollutants from water and soil. Others work at predicting and preventing problems associated with natural hazards such as earthquakes, landslides, floods, and volcanic eruptions. Employment possibilities also exist in the exploration, use, and management of resources such as water, metals, petroleum, and coal.

The Bachelor of Science in Liberal Arts and Sciences, Major in Integrated Health Studies (IHS) is an innovative collaboration of the research and educational expertise in the health sciences across multiple programs, departments, and colleges at UIC. The primary goal of the degree program is to offer a diverse, interdisciplinary curriculum that includes relevant core content spanning the life sciences, natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities.

Students graduating with the Major in Integrated Health Studies in either the Behavioral Health Concentration or the Health and Science Concentration will have a comprehensive understanding of how human health and disease are impacted by culture, social and economic forces, the environment, and personal behavior, as well as an appreciation for health issues that are unique to rural, urban, and global contexts.