Bachelor of General Studies in Theatre, culture and society

at Shorelight Group - University of Kansas USA

Learn how to guide organizations in making financial decisions and monitor, analyze and manage market trends with a degree in finance.

Finance serves the decision makers outside of an organization like banks, government agencies, stockholders, customers and suppliers. A finance degree from KU will prepare you to work in a variety of fields, including corporate finance, investment banking, commercial banking, asset management, real estate and personal financial planning.

Our mission is to provide our students with a high quality education, to generate and apply knowledge, and to serve both society and the engineering profession. The program educational objectives, in support of our mission, are that our graduates will be:

• Technically skilled in the application of the principles of mechanical engineering, and demonstrate the ability to work collaboratively and in teams;
• Successful in their chosen career paths, demonstrating the attitudes, abilities, and personal leadership to effectively adapt to our changing global society while maintaining and promoting the highest engineering, professional, and ethical standards; and
• Actively engaged in continuous learning and professional growth throughout their careers while productively contributing to their organizations and communities.

The Bachelor of Science in Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology focuses on the integration of biological systems at the whole organism level, and on how living organisms exist in populations, species, and communities within their environment. Core classes such as genetics, ecology, and evolutionary biology are combined with courses such as statistics, biochemistry, systematics, and organismal diversity to provide a strong foundation in biology. Students choose electives from a diverse set of classes that allow them to focus on areas of interest.

Welcome to American Studies, undergraduates! We are one of the best majors at KU for those students seeking a critically engaged and socially relevant area studies program. As an interdisciplinary department, we take an integrative approach to the study of the United States in relationship to the broader world, using history, literature, philosophy, popular culture, psychology, religion and sociology. In our department, undergraduates study hipsters to hip hop, old and new media, labor movements and changing work habits, popular media and music as an expression of American identity, local communities and globalization, social justice movements and changing cultural mores in American politics on race, gender, religion and sexuality covering the gamut from conservatives to left wingers. Our aim as an interdisciplinary department is not to indoctrinate students. It is our goal to teach you to use analytical tools for understanding our country and world and assist you in articulating your vision of leadership in it.

Chemical engineering has grown out of a combination of chemistry and engineering associated with industrial processes. Today, it possesses a body of knowledge used in the synthesis, design testing, scale-up, operation, control, and optimization of processes that change the physical state or composition of materials. Chemical engineers have played central roles in the industrial development of materials that have had major social influence, such as the production of fuels and lubricants, fertilizer, synthetic fibers, and plastics. They will be centrally involved in reducing the polluting effects of certain byproducts and cleaning up unwanted residues from previous processes.

The first part of the program offers courses on the fundamental principles underlying the conversion of raw materials into a desired product by chemical and physical processes. Development of the concepts of engineering design begins with the application of fundamental principles to solve engineering problems in these courses and culminates in a series of senior-level design courses that require comprehensive integration of technical knowledge as well as consideration of economic, environmental, safety, and societal concerns. This experience is essential in preparing graduates for entry-level positions.

Civil engineering, the oldest and broadest of the divisions of engineering, implements a range of public and private projects for improving society’s physical infrastructure and the environment. The civil engineer integrates scientific principles with engineering experience to plan, design, and construct networks of highways and railroads, airports, bridges and dams, environmental pollution control systems, industrial structures, water purification and distribution systems, and urban transportation systems that maintain, protect, and enhance the quality of life. Civil engineers are trained to consider the social effects as well as the physical and environmental factors that constrain the planning, design, construction, and operation of their projects. Environmental engineering, a technical specialization with its origins in civil engineering, is a growing discipline dedicated to the protection of the environment.

The undergraduate program gives students the theoretical background, instruction in engineering application of scientific principles, and professional attitude to serve the public. It typically leads to entry-level positions or to graduate work in technical specialties (e.g., environmental, geotechnical, structural, and transportation), business administration, or other professions.

The classroom meets the stage in the University Theatre, a leading arts program serving the KU and Lawrence communities. KU Theatre students, faculty and professional staff work together to create up to eight fully-produced shows each year, from dramas to musicals to opera.  In our fully-equipped facilities students engage in all aspects of production onstage and backstage.  Production continues year round with the summer Kansas Repertory Theatre program.

Highly Qualified Faculty Scholars and Artists

The Theatre faculty are creative artists and researchers working in the areas of theatre technology, performance, design, dramatic literature, dramaturgy, pedagogy, as well as the historical, literary, and cultural study of theatre and performance. Our faculty include award-winning teachers and internationally recognized scholars and artists working in professional theatre and authoring books and articles.

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 Classical Languages major trains you to read the great authors of classical antiquity (e.g., Homer, Plato, Vergil, Sappho, Saint Augustine) in the original language and prepares you for graduate study in classics and for teaching in some private schools.

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.