Bachelor of General Studies in Religious Studies

at Shorelight Group - University of Kansas USA

Biotechnology is the use of biological systems to solve scientific challenges and positively impact our society. Biotech scientists foster creativity and innovation in a variety of fields, using a toolbox of science and technology expertise to put biological molecules such as DNA or proteins to work in useful and groundbreaking ways. This program can also put you on a pre-health or pre-med path.

A biotech scientist’s duties might include:

• Creating vaccines to combat debilitating diseases
• Discover novel antibiotics from biological sources
• Developing assays to diagnose complex clinical diseases
• Developing drought and pesticide resistant crops to aid in food production
• Using forensic science to analyze samples to help solve criminal investigation
• Helping reduce industrial waste by creating cleaner manufacturing processes

Interdisciplinary computing graduates collaborate with scientists or other professionals, applying their computing expertise to large-scale problems. They might use grid computing to study the first few picoseconds after the Big Bang or process enormous data streams from telescopic mapping experiments to analyze the orbits of potential Earth-crossing asteroids. They could manage and expand biological databases to study the causes of worldwide biodiversity decline, apply machine learning techniques to design better chemotherapies, or develop optimization techniques to locate tornado sirens for maximum population coverage.

Anthropology is a science of humankind. It studies all facets of society and culture. It studies tools, techniques, traditions, language, beliefs, kinships, values, social institutions, economic mechanisms, cravings for beauty and art, struggles for prestige. It describes the impact of humans on other humans. With the exception of the Physical Anthropology discipline, Anthropology focuses on human characteristics generated and propagated by humans themselves.

Anthropologists are concerned with the origin, history, and future of our own species, so the field is as diverse as people are.

What can I do with a degree in anthropology?
Anthropology students learn to have a highly flexible perspective toward the similarities and differences among peoples and cultures. A degree in anthropology will prepare you for graduate work or for employment in community services or the business sector. KU anthropology graduates work at universities and museums across the nation and with such federal agencies as the National Park Service and the Peace Corps. But as an anthropology major, you need not be limited to such work. Because anthropology is so diverse a discipline, it is excellent preparation for an advanced professional degree in such areas as business, medicine, or law. More and more, employers are seeking students with degrees in the liberal arts for management positions. They want people who can deal with concepts and abstractions, who are imaginative and creative - just the skills that studying anthropology will help you develop.

To study with the KU School of Music’s Theory and Composition (MTHC) Area is to engage the passions, both musical and intellectual, of six composers and scholars who have each earned national and international recognition for their contributions to the discipline.

Working with faculty in the division, you will be able to pursue a wide range of scholarly interests and musical styles. Our specialists in music theory research and teach a wide breadth of approaches on diverse subjects. In addition to critical assessment of the standard common-practice and contemporary repertoires, students have the opportunity to learn about specific fields of faculty expertise, including film music, philosophy and critical theory, rhythm and meter, and modern rock music.

Our composers in the division are also skilled teachers who can help you refine your craft and develop your unique compositional voice. Among their vast and varied portfolios, they have each made significant contributions in producing new music for a wide range of genres, including works for wind band and orchestra, opera and choral music, instrumental and vocal chamber music, music for film, and electronic music (particularly involving live performance).

Chinese
In a few short weeks, CHIN 104: Elementary Chinese language students know their four tones and can speak beautifully about basic topics of daily life. Learning characters, the challenging but fun aspect of Chinese, starts slowly the first year, then accelerates the second and third years of study. Advanced-level students from KU can read newspapers and contemporary fiction by the time they graduate; graduating majors are fluent in Chinese.

Japanese
Often considered the "Gateway to the East," Japan is a center for commerce, trade, education, and culture in East Asia. KU alums with Japanese language skills have followed career paths such as acting for Japanese television, banking in Tokyo, and working as a legal expert for Microsoft, as well as many who pursued graduate work in Japanese culture and history. Beyond the practical advantages, studying Japanese possesses its own intrinsic rewards: learning one of the world's most complex languages exercises the mind in unique ways. Japanese language students are never bored!

Korean
Although Korean has been a spoken language for several thousand years, the development of its phonetic alphabet in 1446, hangul, made it the easiest East Asian language to master. Today Korean is the 11th most spoken language in the world. More than half of Korean's vocabulary can be traced to Chinese, and the structure and grammar are similar to Japanese. KU is the only institution in Kansas that teaches intermediate and advanced Korean language courses.

The department offers a broad range of courses that provide a basic understanding of human language and communication. Linguistics courses examine features of language that underlie the human capacity to express concepts and communicate ideas. The courses address the connections between language, brain, culture, mind, and history. The major gives students a basic understanding of the human capacity to acquire, perceive, and produce language and of language’s role in contemporary society.

Linguistics is a superb preparation for careers that require expertise in the use of language as a means of communication, e.g., business, communications, personnel administration, teaching, health care, and social service. Many majors pursue graduate study in education, law, psychology, computer science, speech and hearing sciences and languages.

Each Human Biology concentration offers major-level courses in topical categories that allow students to focus on areas that interest them most while retaining the interdisciplinary manner of the major. 

The broad nature of the Human Biology major can prepare students for a variety of post-undergraduate opportunities.  Our Human Biology majors go on to graduate school, medical or another health professional school, and careers ranging from laboratory technicians, biomedical product commercial developers and sales representatives, and teachers.

Students studying business administration receive a broad business education through high-level exposure to all areas of study. As a business administration major, you will develop communication and leadership skills that will make you a competitive candidate for high-level management jobs across a variety of fields.

The Bachelor of Science in Information Technology is offered by KU’s School of Professional Studies at the KU Edwards Campus in Overland Park with some courses online. The IT bachelor's degree options combine technical expertise with problem-solving and communication skills to plan, configure, implement, integrate and maintain computing and information technology solutions for an organization's computing infrastructure. It is distinctly different from computer science, which focuses on abstraction, algorithm development, scientific programming and compilers.

The BSIT program is designed for recent community college graduates and working professionals who seek to upgrade their technical knowledge. It also prepares students for graduate study in information technology at the Edwards Campus.

Through our Department of East Asian Languages & Cultures, KU offers six languages: Chinese, Hindi, Japanese, Korean, Tibetan, and Uyghur. Languages are supported by a variety of interdisciplinary courses ranging from literature and art history, sociology, anthropology, political science, business, and economics, to name but a few. KU students from all majors and professional schools are encouraged to explore East Asian studies.