Bachelor of General Studies in Economics

at Shorelight Group - University of Kansas USA

The B.G.S. degree in the Department of Religious Studies is a research, analysis, and writing intensive program that features close work with faculty in small classroom settings. The B.G.S. develops a foundational knowledge of the world’s diversity of religious cultures in students, while accompanying a secondary field of academic study (a second major, co-major, or minor). Through the study of specific religious traditions and settings, students come away with a background that is invaluable to understanding and working with people of other cultures, whether in international business, medicine, law, or simply as an informed global citizen.

Medical laboratory scientists are the specialized health care professionals that test patient specimens to help detect, diagnose and treat illness and monitor health. From wellness checks to the COVID-19 pandemic, medical laboratory scientists use sophisticated instruments to analyze blood and other body tissue and fluids to investigate events that make headlines all over the world.

As a student of KU's Clinical Laboratory Sciences (CLS), you'll prepare for hands-on work in clinical laboratories and will have opportunities for interprofessional collaboration working with doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals.

Working closely alongside our talented faculty, you'll build essential communication skills to explain complex information to your peers and the health care team. Our program's graduates are more confident in their first professional job because of the varied and broad experiences they've had within the KU CLS program.

Biochemistry focuses on the structure and function of biomolecules—proteins, lipids, carbohydrates, and nucleic acids—and encompasses all the chemical processes of organisms.  The B.S. Biochemistry major includes one year of biochemistry with laboratories, a semester of analytical chemistry with a laboratory, a semester of biological physical chemistry, as well as upper-division courses in gene expression and related elective courses.

The KU Jazz Studies Program has both performance and academic components, including three big bands, seven combos, and classes in arranging, improvisation, jazz history, jazz theory and jazz pedagogy.  KU Jazz groups and individual students have distinguished national credentials, winning 22 Down Beat Student Music Awards since 1992. With the generous support of the Gregory Harding Memorial Jazz Fund and the Lipscomb Jazz Fund, the Jazz Studies Program also sponsors clinics and master classes during the academic year. Past artists include Michael Brecker, Jerry Bergonzi, Hal Galper, Dr. Billy Taylor, Wynton Marsalis, Jim McNeely, Peter Erskine, Maria Schneider, Dave Douglas, John Fedchock, John Abercrombie, Gary Foster, Kenny Werner, Vince Mendoza, Greg Osby, and many others.

The KU School of Music now offers a Bachelor of Arts degree with a Jazz Studies concentration.  Students in the degree program perform in the KU Jazz Ensembles and Jazz Combos, study privately with KU studio faculty and jazz lecturers, and take courses in jazz studies along with other music courses and liberal arts classes.

The bachelor's degree in physical education (PE) plus at the University of Kansas prepares individuals to become PE teachers at the pre-kindergarten through the 12th grade levels. The PE plus program also prepares graduates to pursue a licensure endorsement (by KSDE examination) in a variety of areas, or earn a minor in business or sport management.

While not the oldest science, Physics has evolved over the last four centuries into the most fundamental.  From Aristotle through Newton to Einstein, the science has developed into our primary means of probing the forces that serve as the foundation for everything that happens on all levels, from the subatomic to the large-scale structure of the Universe. Physics, like all the sciences, draws individuals who love a challenge, who find problem-solving and complex puzzles motivating factors for getting up and going to work every day. Critically, the puzzles within Physics often challenge our intuition and demand that we rethink the way we perceive the Universe. Ultimately, all of the physical and biological sciences can be reduced to a form of applied Physics.

In philosophy we ask big, important questions. While asking such questions is easy, answering them is difficult. Because these questions are often abstract and vague, it is necessary to use precise reasoning and analysis to clarify what exactly it is we are asking. Only then can we attempt to develop answers. For example:

• What is the morally right thing to do?
• What is the nature of the mind?
• When can we know something, rather than merely believing it?
• Do the sciences exhaust what can be known about the natural world?
• What is justice?
• What assumptions do we make when we try to answer questions like these?
• Plus many, many others...

In studying philosophy, you will learn what others have thought about life's big questions. You will also learn to challenge those views, and to develop your own thoughts in a precise, logical manner. Philosophy will help you develop critical thinking skills, enabling you to analyze the underlying logic and assumptions in arguments about a variety of topics. This is a skill that generalizes to virtually every area of life.

The bachelor's degree in secondary English teacher education at the University of Kansas prepares pre-service educators to teach adolescents in both middle school and high school classrooms. The program combines literature-based theory and knowledge with culturally diverse readings and discussions. In addition to the course offerings in the School of Education and Human Sciences, courses taught by faculty from the Department of English offer students learning options in rhetoric, linguistics and literature.

The overall program mission for the B.S. degree in chemical or petroleum engineering is to provide a modern chemical or petroleum engineering education with proper balance between theory and practice. Graduates are prepared for professional practice in industry or government and for post-undergraduate training in chemical or petroleum engineering, medicine, etc. In addition to scientific and engineering training, students receive training in educational skills and in the humanities and social sciences.

Petroleum engineering is the branch of engineering concerned with the drilling, recovery, production, and distribution of petroleum and natural gas. It includes knowledge of the properties of fluids and rocks in surface and subsurface environments as well as methods of exploiting the economic production of oil and gas from petroleum reservoirs. A major subdivision at KU is reservoir engineering, or the development of processes to improve production from oil and gas reservoirs. Reservoir engineers use sophisticated mathematical techniques and computer technology to obtain optimum production. Through such techniques, petroleum engineers continue to extract oil and gas from reservoirs that only a few years ago would have been considered uneconomical. This branch of engineering is somewhat different from the other in that production is far removed from physical observation.

The Mathematics Department offers two undergraduate degrees: the B.A. in Mathematics and the B.S. in Mathematics. The B.A. has fewer mathematics course requirements and more general education requirements. The B.S. requires more mathematics courses, an applied mathematics concentration, and fewer general education courses.