Bachelor of Arts, Major in English with Concentration in Journalism and Professional Writing

at University of Massachusetts Lowell USA

The Environmental Geoscience Option is designed to prepare students with the necessary knowledge and skills to conduct research and act as consultants in environmental sciences and geosciences. The students in the program will take a variety of courses distributed across three areas – Policy/Economics, Environmental Engineering, and Environmental Geosciences. Course work will be concentrated in the Environmental Geosciences, with the option to take additional courses in the other areas based on student interest.

The B.F.A. degree prepares students for careers in studio arts and graphic design. Within these disciplines, students may choose to focus on photography, sculpture, painting, ceramics, animation, 3D modeling, drawing, printmaking or interactive digital media.

The art major is designed to develop a rigorous art practice. Students gain a deep knowledge of the technical and conceptual abilities needed to succeed in the professional world. The Art & Design Department offers the professional degree of Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A.).

Animation and Interactive Media are vibrant and rapidly evolving fields of cultural production. Both of these disciplines play key roles in art (video, installation, net art, etc.), design (user experience, interaction), entertainment (films, games), and communication and journalism (infographics and data visualization). Animation and Interactive Media are two sides of the same coin: the former focusing on time-based narratives and emotional communication and the later involving user feedback and affect. Combining the two disciplines will make each practice stronger and prepare students to become animators, game designers, communicators, and artists.

Assignments focus on sequential imagery techniques as well as interactivity in arts and as arts. In addition to the core courses students can take advantage of courses in web design, motion graphics, animation, interactive design, graphic design, game design, data visualization and advanced independent studies.

The final year, students focus on their capstone project either in animation, interactive media or a combined project. The Senior Studio project is a year-long exploration where students create a self-directed project that reflects their talent and skills using our state-of-the art facilities. In addition, students develop their online portfolio and resume. The capstone project results in excellent portfolios that prepare students for today’s rapidly evolving art world and technology.

The pandemic exposed the critical role that public health professionals play to prevent diseases and promote health. With a B.S. in public health, you’ll be prepared for a career that creates healthy communities through education, research and promotion of healthy environments and lifestyles.

The cornerstone of the program is health promotion and disease prevention, rather than on diagnosing and treating illnesses and conditions after they occur.

Public health jobs exist in private industry, organizations, local communities, and state and national settings. We offer the Public Health BS in two options: Community Health/Health Promotion and Health Sciences. See more details below. Students will also attain a foundation of knowledge that is necessary to pursue graduate studies in public health and health sciences.

Community Health/Health Promotion - Concentration

• Students will be involved in service learning and community health practicum experiences and take courses to increase skills in communication and teaching related to health promotion and prevention in community settings. This option will prepare students for careers as community health educators in a variety of settings including community health centers, hospitals, long term care facilities, corporate wellness, and nonprofit organizations.

The study of economics stems from the scarcity of resources and the limitless nature of our demands for products and services. Societies must therefore choose the goods and services that will be produced from among the larger range of production possibilities. Economics develops the principles and concepts that follow from this fact of scarcity and applies them to the analysis of various aspects of human activity.

The Bachelor of Music in Composition for New Media balances established coursework in musicianship, performance, and liberal arts with hands-on contemporary training in music and sound composition for all facets of commercial and artistic media. Students in this program compose, mix, design, and arrange music and sound assets for movies, web, television, animation, mobile and educational platforms, games, artistic installations, advertising, industrial media, interactive live performance, Virtual Reality systems and related outlets.

Like all music major programs at UMass Lowell, this program requires:

• An entrance audition on an instrument or voice,
• The submission of a portfolio of scores/recordings/creative work, which consists of three media excerpts around 90 seconds each of original compositions, with supplemental materials, which may include documentation, scores, etc. as needed.

The Bachelor of Arts in Digital Media at UMass Lowell helps students turn their talent and passion into careers in the diverse and rapidly expanding field of media production. With an interdisciplinary structure and real-world approach, this program offers a rigorous curriculum taught by industry experts. Students can build their skills and explore their interests through a wide range of courses in video, film, sound production, editing, motion graphics, broadcasting and screenwriting.

The digital media program offers many opportunities for students to gain hands-on experience with regional media companies through professional internships and co-ops in film, TV, animation, marketing and digital production. See examples below.

The Management Concentration focuses on the development of knowledge and skills applicable to professional positions in any functional area of management.

The Management Concentration provides you with the broad range of skills needed to become a highly competent manager in today’s complex global economy. The skills you acquire can be applied in any company and functional area of business. Concentration coursework will assist you to:

• Develop the 21st century leadership skills that are so necessary for company competitiveness and personal advancement.
• Effectively deal with the complex human resource issues that contemporary managers must face every day.
• Develop the team building, project, negotiation and conflict management skills that lead to better problem solving and decision making.
• Skillfully manage your own career by developing strategies that maximize your life-long professional potential.

Management is your choice if you:

• Find challenge in solving the complex organizational issues confronting modern businesses.
• Aspire to lead diverse and often distant business work teams.
• Wish to contribute to the development of competitive and sustainable companies.
• Are interested in combining your studies in one of the School’s other Business concentrations with one that focuses on the key managerial responsibilities necessary for success in any business enterprise.

The Management knowledge and skills you will acquire include: leadership, managing teams and projects, current human resource policies, practices and laws, negotiating, managing conflict, career management and other current and emerging issues in the field.

In this concentration, students learn how to write for an audience as a journalist, technical communicator, or a writer in other professional contexts. Students begin by taking Introduction to Professional Writing and continue with coursework that focuses on learning different aspects of professional writing. Journal and Professional Writing courses offer opportunities to learn about digital rhetoric, editing, publishing, grant writing, language and literacy, new media, reflective writing and visual rhetoric, just to name a few. All students in this track complete a portfolio that showcases their work in professional settings. That work often comes as part of an internship. Ultimately, the Journalism and Professional Writing concentration prepares students for writing situations and challenges beyond the classroom.

The UMass Lowell Chemical Engineering program provides the opportunity for graduate students to study the fundamentals and applications of chemical engineering principles at an advanced level.

Students can take courses in the history of philosophy and philosophical movements; political, mathematical and scientific philosophies; metaphysics; linguistics and aesthetics. Students will learn how to analyze, reason, deduct and apply persuasive arguments in a disciplined and systematic way while developing their oral and written communication skills.

The department does not specify particular course work for the major, but recommends that the sequence of courses be designed in close consultation with the student’s faculty advisor. Students who plan to go to graduate school are strongly encouraged to take at least two courses from the History of Philosophy series. They should also consider a second major in a cognate field, e.g., American studies, English, French, history, mathematics, or political science.