Undergraduate Academic Accelerator Pathway (2-Term) - Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies

at Shorelight Group - University of South Carolina USA

Whether you want to explore issues facing the public officials who caucus in buildings just blocks from campus or master international relations, political science students receive broad exposure to the discipline while gaining an understanding about how politics, government and governance shape the world and its quality of citizenship.  

As a political science major, you will be selecting courses from fields such as American politics, comparative politics, international relations, public administration and policy, and political theory while also developing one or two individualized areas of interest.

You will learn how to research the answers to important questions related to politics, political values and public policy. You will benefit from a wide variety of course offerings and have the opportunity to complete a public service internship to gain hands-on experience.

Around the world, people and places are intimately linked. Our flexible, interdisciplinary program is designed to engage students in pressing global questions, allowing you to develop a deeper understanding of the complex relationships and processes that connect the global community.

As a global studies major, you will focus on themes relating to globalization while learning to appreciate the world’s diversity. To achieve this end, this major requires students to focus on a particular world region and to attain proficiency in a modern foreign language.

Students in the Global Studies Program will focus on one of four themes: global health, global conflict and security, global sustainability and development, and global cultures. These themes, along with the major components around which the degree program is structured, will prepare students for careers where an understanding of urgent global issues is required, and where an ability to work with people from a variety of cultures is indispensable.

Psychology is the science of mind and behavior. By participating in one of the most popular majors at the university, you can explore the theoretical and practical aspects of psychology.

As a psychology major, you will benefit from challenging courses led by outstanding faculty members. You may also work with a faculty mentor and explore a variety of research opportunities in the department. Research is generally divided into the areas of cognitive and neural sciences, clinical-community psychology, school psychology and quantitative psychology. You can work with children, adolescents, adults or animals studying phenomena such as attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, autism spectrum disorder, behavioral interventions, decision-making, drugs of abuse, fetal alcohol syndrome, neurodegenerative diseases, cultural aspects of health, physical activity and other aspects of mental health. In addition, we have opportunities for hands-on clinical experience through internships and community practica.

As a journalism major — either broadcast or multimedia — you will be exposed to challenging courses that aim to prepare you for a career in major markets across the globe. As a senior, you will work to create daily newscasts in a state-of-the-art newsroom or will work to create content for an online and print newspaper.

Journalism courses concentrate on news gathering. You will also be trained in online print and digital media. As with other majors in the School of Journalism and Mass Communications, you will be encouraged to gain additional educational experiences through internships in media outlets. As a senior, you will be in the newsroom producing content for Carolina News and Reporter.

All journalism majors will develop the skills necessary to conduct research, gather information, write clearly and correctly, and present relevant news or persuasive information at the professional level.

Students have the option to earn their master's degree in hospitality and tourism management on campus or via distance learning and at their own pace. Synchronous distance delivery using Adobe Connect provides remote students with an engaging, interactive classroom experience where they learn in real time with on-campus classmates and professors. Additional asynchronous course options give students the flexibility to complete courses online and at their convenience. 

As a geophysics major, you will benefit from a combination of quality classroom education, laboratory experience and field-based activities. You will focus on the physics of the earth and its atmosphere, including seismology, oceanography and volcanology.

You will also have the unique opportunity to complete a field-based course to get valuable hands-on experience with practical geophysical techniques for exploring the shallow subsurface. This opportunity synergizes your education in geophysics to understanding the earth's formation in an observational setting.

Do you know you want a career in communications, but aren’t sure which avenue to take? Do you see yourself working in media using a variety of skills to create content or to deliver information through different mediums? Through our undergraduate curriculum, you will gain a broad understanding of media and develop skills to be a well-rounded communicator.

Know you want a career in communications but aren't sure which part? That's OK. We'll help you identify your strengths and focus your interests. You'll gain broad insight into the communications industry and learn to recognize and analyze the media’s role in our society. You'll graduate with a deep intellectual understanding of the elements at work in the media today, and you'll be well rounded and media literate.

Economics majors in the College of Arts and Sciences may earn the B.S. by completing the 24-hour major requirement along with the college core, distribution requirements and cultural-awareness and writing-emphasis requirements as described in the basic degree requirements in liberal arts.  

• Our graduates will understand core microeconomic theories and concepts.  
• Our graduates will understand core macroeconomic theories and concepts.  
• Our graduates will be able to solve basic equations to find equilibrium outcomes and use graphs to understand and interpret economic relationships.  
• Our graduates will be able to demonstrate their understanding of economic concepts and quantitative knowledge and use these concepts and knowledge to analyze real-world problems.

The Computer Engineering degree is for students interested in both programming and hardware. The required classes cover software engineering, computer science, and electric and digital circuit designs.

Computer engineering integrates electronic engineering with computer sciences. Computer engineers design and develop computer systems and components for computation, control, data storage, input/output and networking. Computer engineers integrate these components into computer and network systems. This requires a good working knowledge of both computer science and electrical engineering.

Computer engineers work in technology industries involving computer systems design and related services. They may work in research and development in the physical, engineering and life sciences, or they may work in environments with computer and peripheral equipment manufacturing, semiconductor and other electronic component manufacturing, or in government.

Students pursuing the statistics major take challenging courses with nationally recognized faculty members and pursue the internship and research opportunities that keep statisticians in high demand. As a statistics major, you will develop the ability to perform fundamental statistical analyses, prepare informative graphics for public presentation and use statistical programming languages with applications across a variety of fields.

There are three options under the bachelor's degree with a major in statistics program. You can pursue the general major, the major with emphasis in actuarial mathematics and statistics, or the intensive major. The major with emphasis in actuarial mathematics and statistics is designed for students planning a career as an actuary, while the intensive major is designed for students planning on graduate study in statistics.

The department's 15 faculty members are well-known for teaching and research excellence. As a statistics major, you can also benefit from the university's Center of Reliability and Quality Sciences, where faculty members and students conduct research projects on and off campus. You can also seek out internship opportunities to gain hands-on experience in the field.