Bachelor of Arts, Major in Philosophy with Concentration in Religious Studies

at University of Massachusetts Lowell USA

The Creative Writing concentration invites English majors to study literary artistry in small group workshop classes that emphasize style, technique, and other aspects of craft. Where most undergraduate programs staff creative writing classrooms with visiting lecturers or graduate students, UMass Lowell retains a permanent faculty of distinguished writers specializing in poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction. Focused on reading widely and writing well, the concentration’s multi-genre, progressively rigorous course of study culminates in a capstone portfolio project.

Students can expect to take part in the English Department's vibrant and active literary and creative community. The campus literary magazine, The Offering, is entirely student-run and -edited, and many creative writing students work on the editorial team or publish work in the magazine. Students have access to any number of public literary events each semester, including student readings, and can meet and speak to award-winning, nationally recognized authors through our Writers on Campus series. Our program, like the other department concentrations, offers a degree in English, and provides a solid foundation for students hoping to pursue a writing life beyond the classroom. Graduates of our program have published work in prominent literary magazines, been accepted in top-ranked MFA programs, released books with major publishers, and won prestigious national awards.

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 Master of Science in Accounting at UMass Lowell prepares students for careers in public, corporate, government and non-profit accounting, in addition to qualifying students to meet licensing requirements to become certified public accountants.

The Massachusetts Board of Public Accountancy has classified MSA program at Manning School of Business as “Level 1” and deemed the program to be substantially equivalent to AACSB standards. Any student who earns a graduate degree in accounting from a Level 1 program is judged to have satisfied the educational requirements to take the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) exam. Students who earn degrees from non-Level 1 programs must demonstrate that they have satisfied such educational requirements. Therefore, our MSA program’s Level 1 status makes it easier for UMass Lowell accounting graduates to eventually become Certified Public Accountants (CPA).

The MSA will prepare graduates to succeed in a competitive environment and a respected profession, one whose members continue to be in high demand from public accounting firms, financial institutions, industry, government agencies, municipalities, schools, hospitals and charitable organizations.

The Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with an Entrepreneurship Concentration prepares students to be an "outside of the box" thinker and innovator in today's complex global economy. Using an interdisciplinary focus, students who complete the concentration will:

• Develop the management skills required to identify and launch new business ventures around innovative products, services and technologies.
• Develop an understanding of the concepts and activities associated with entrepreneurship and innovation.
• Understand the financial aspects of an entrepreneurial venture from start-up to "harvest".
• Discover their individual "entrepreneurial spirit" through experiential learning in interdisciplinary classes and the College's Venture Lab.

As a capstone experience in the entrepreneurship concentration, students will develop the essential components of a new venture/new opportunity business plan.

The required courses within the Entrepreneurship concentration consist of:

• Starting a New Venture
• Corporate Entrepreneurship
• Managing Innovation
• Finance for Emerging Business Enterprises

Business analytics is the process of transforming raw data into business intelligence and insight. As companies generate more data at ever faster rates, the need for business analytics professionals is growing. The Master of Science in Business Analytics program will help you:

• Develop the ability to collect, manage and analyze data from a variety of sources.
• Enhance your understanding of business processes and systems.
• Develop the ability to understand and communicate insights gleaned from descriptive, predictive and prescriptive analytics.

Private and public firms in fields as diverse as health care, finance, logistics and marketing need business analysts to help them identify and solve problems related to forecasting, customer relationship management and revenue optimization — to name only a few. Experts predict that in the next 10 years, hundreds of thousands of new jobs will be created in the domain of business analytics.

With a concentration in finance in business administration, you will gain:

• The ability to analyze complex capital budgeting problems
• The ability to assess investment opportunities for institutes and individuals
• An understanding of the techniques needed to finance corporate operations and expansion
• The ability to communicate financial concepts to others

Finance graduates can choose from careers that include banking, financial planning, corporate finance, financial analysis, insurance, real estate, cash management and forecasting.

The Bachelor of Science in Meteorology & Atmospheric Science is for students who wish to explore weather and the environment and fulfills the education requirements for federally employed meteorologists. The program guidelines follow those of the American Meteorological Society.

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 Literature concentration introduces students to a range of historical periods, genres, and critical approaches to literature. It prepares them for graduate work in literary and cultural studies as well as careers in publishing, law, teaching, business, the arts, and other professions that require skilled reading, writing, research, and communication. Students take at least two courses that fulfill the department’s Diverse Literary Traditions requirement. These courses explore authors and texts through the historically under-represented perspectives of race, ethnicity, gender, disability, post-coloniality, and sexuality. The concentration includes a capstone course that provides a culminating opportunity to complete a substantial learning project. Some capstones focus on in-depth, advanced study of a particular author or period; others encourage deep research into an individual area of interest or provide an internship experience.

Master of Science in Environmental Studies (Environmental Engineering Sciences Concentration) with a thesis or a non-thesis track option.

Enrollment in the program is open to individuals with a baccalaureate degree in science (e.g., biology, chemistry, geology, physics). Others may be admitted with the approval of the graduate coordinator. Undergraduate course prerequisites must be satisfied. Students may make up course prerequisite deficiencies while in the program, although these credits will not count toward the total required for the master's degree. Frequently students entering the program are required to take additional undergraduate courses to develop analytical skills and to prepare for advanced level course work. Undergraduate courses may include calculus, statistics, chemistry, computer programming or courses designed to develop problem-solving skills.

The thesis track requires completion of an approved program of study involving a minimum of 24 credits of core courses and electives, and six credits of thesis, consisting of laboratory research or scholarly investigation for a total of 30 credits. Students may only register for thesis research with the prior approval of a thesis advisor. The thesis work is to be guided by a principal advisor who is a member of the University of Massachusetts Lowell faculty and by two additional committee members, at least one of whom must be a member of the faculty.