Bachelor of Arts in Sociology

at California State University - East Bay USA

The Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry provides a strong education in chemistry and biochemistry that prepares its students to function and thrive in our society. The department attempts to increase the problem solving and critical thinking skills of all students. Non-science students learn about the scientific and chemical aspects of everyday life that allow them to understand issues related to the environment, energy production, disease prevention, and nutrition. Students of the sciences learn the fundamentals of chemistry that control the interactions of elements and molecules. Chemistry majors receive extensive instruction in predicting chemical reactivity. Building on an understanding of mathematics and physics, chemistry majors receive a background in the major disciplines of chemistry including inorganic, analytical, organic, physical, and biochemistry. Students learn the protocols and techniques for working safely with chemicals. The department recognizes the importance of the pursuit of new knowledge in the development of skilled scientists and productive members of society, and encourages its students to participate in research projects and cooperative educational opportunities.

The Chemistry, B.S. degree is approved by the American Chemical Society (ACS). A certified degree is a valuable credential that serves as national-level recognition for completing a rigorous academic chemistry curriculum in an ACS-approved department. The extra rigor of an ACS certified degree is valued by both potential employers and graduate schools.

The Art Department emphasizes study in our Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A.) Program. This is a professional degree that offers students the opportunity to develop greater expertise through comprehensive and intensive study in a specific area of art or design - a program that leads to successful careers in the visual art and design industries. Students who intend to pursue graduate studies or advanced skills for a professional career typically choose the B.F.A degree.

The B.F.A. professional concentrations require 70 units of study in the Department to complete the major.  There is no application procedure to enter the Bachelor of Fine Arts program beyond declaring as a B.F.A. student with a specific concentration.  The concentrations are listed below under major requirements.

Interaction & Game Design Concentration
Interaction Design focuses on the creation of meaningful experiences expressed as interactive applications and objects. Game Design applies this to entertainment, both experimental and commercial. Students analyze interactivity in art, design, and everyday life, acquire skills and develop prototypes, and work in collaborative teams to produce successful games and creatively solve real world problems.

Statistics is the science of learning from data. Majors study collecting and analyzing a variety of data, and reporting the results of the analysis.  Designs of Experiments are used to plan data collection in experimental settings, such as in medical research.  Surveys are used to collect opinions from samples in populations, such as in political polling.  Observational data is collected commonly by business as part of standard business processes, such as in website analytics.  Statistical methods are used to process data into easily read visual displays, and into summary statistics for interpretation, decision making, and reporting.

Statistics has been a rapidly growing science for many years and has many uses in other fields, such as Business Analytics, Machine Learning, Visualization, Econometrics, Biostatistics, Psychology, and many others.  Statistics is widely used by businesses and government organizations to understand changes in the economy and to make forecasts about future events based on past patterns in their data. Statistics is used to model relationships between variables and to predict future values of output variables from input variables.  Statistical methods draw accurate inferences about large groups on the basis of a representative sample from the group or population.  Descriptive Statistics are used to summarize and visualize the collected data.

The methodology of statistics can be adapted to many types of problems. Due to the extensive development of computers and the collection of large databases, the need for statistical techniques has greatly expanded in recent years.  A society like ours, which has become increasingly dependent on its data, has a growing need for statisticians.

Psychology is the science of behavior and mental processes. Many psychologists work primarily with people to understand how they think, respond to stress, learn and forget, develop into unique personalities, and interact with one another. Others study the behavior and nervous systems of animals in order to find general principles that apply across species. Psychologists apply their knowledge to do therapy and counseling, to improve practices in schools, prisons, and rehabilitation centers, and to enhance performance in industrial and business settings.

The B.A. program is appropriate for most psychology students. It provides a basic understanding of human behavior and motivation that is valuable in many careers in business, government, and education. It also provides the background expected for entry into graduate programs in clinical psychology, counseling psychology, school psychology, health psychology, social psychology, or experimental psychology.

The Master of Science in Counseling degree requires 60 units organized according to university and degree program requirements. Requirements are established to ensure that each degree candidate obtains adequate breadth in subject matter, field experiences, and research.

Marriage and Family Therapy Concentration
The primary focus of the concentration is to train psychotherapists who eventually plan to obtain a California Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT) and/or a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor (LPCC) internship license. Additional units may be taken to meet the requirements for the LPCC and the MFT internship. (See BBS Sections 4980.37, 4980.41 (a)(4)&(5) for MFT and 4999.33 for LPCC.).   These additional LPCC courses lead to completion of the required hours of clinical experience for the license application. The LPCC units may be completed at the same time as the M.S. in Counseling, Marriage and Family Therapy concentration.

The  MFT course work is geared towards a relational approach to counseling that focuses on  multicultural diversity, collaborative treatment, wellness, resiliency, and recovery. Faculty orient students to promote resilience and practice strength-based interventions. Course work combined with clinical practicum training in the field prepares graduates to work from a relational perspective.

The MS in Educational Technology is designed for educators and e-learning developers with a focus on integrating current technologies into educational curricula. The emphasis on integrating technologies in both K-16 and business settings is a strength of the program, along with the focus in each course on 21st Century skills demanded by the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and the New Generation Science Standards (NGSS), e.g., collaboration, creativity, critical thinking, and communication.

The program includes instruction in the foundations of educational technology, instructional design theories, computer applications, using technology for assessment, multimedia instruction, web-based instruction, distance education, and designing and producing educational software and materials. Students in this program gain knowledge in emerging technologies, instructional design, e-learning development, learning theories, multimedia production, and collaborative production. Students also gain a deep understanding of adapting to the demands of the ever-changing nature of technologies.

The M.B.A. program supports students’ career advancement by preparing them for positions of leadership in an increasingly diverse and globally competitive economy. The program is centered on the rigorous knowledge of the basic functional areas of business, an appreciation of management challenges in a global context, and opportunities to develop students’ interpersonal and executive leadership skills. It also enables students to deepen and broaden their knowledge and skills through elective courses in an area of concentration. The program offers a range of formats to cater to the needs of full and part time students and students seeking an executive style MBA.

The mission of the B.A. program in Sociology is to provide a stimulating and cooperative learning atmosphere for a highly diverse group of students. The program seeks to foster a lifelong love of learning about the social, cultural, political, and economic institutions humans have created and the directions they are changing. The program’s goal is for students to think deeply about ways social structures and processes influence individuals’ lives and opportunities, and how individuals can contribute to building more inclusive and satisfying communities and organizations. The program’s faculty members are dedicated to providing students with tools that will empower and prepare them to be active citizens in their families, communities, organizations, and workplaces, and to expand their understanding of community engagement to include national and global projects aimed at addressing larger social problems. The wide range of courses and flexible program structure prepare successful students to enter master’s and doctoral programs in several fields including Sociology, Social Work, Anthropology, Law, Political Science, Counseling, Education, and Public Administration.

Students will increase their appreciation of the value of all human beings and a commitment to an inclusive and just society that addresses the needs of all groups of people. In acquiring a deep understanding of the structure of groups, organizations, and societies, and human interaction within these contexts, students develop their capacity for more personally rewarding and socially responsible participation and leadership in their families, their work, their communities, and society as a whole.

The Department of Statistics and Biostatistics offers graduate study leading to the degree Master of Science in Statistics. The program is flexible in order to serve the needs of students with varying backgrounds (including statistics, mathematics, computer science, engineering, business, economics and other quantitative fields) and with different career objectives. The program includes concentrations in in Actuarial Science, Applied Statistics, Data Science, and Mathematical Statistics. All students are expected to master a wide variety of applied statistical, computational, and probabilistic techniques and the theoretical foundations upon which these techniques are based. Students are expected to be familiar with recent developments in the field and to be able to use the statistical literature to learn new techniques and theories throughout their professional careers. In addition to the general requirements stated elsewhere in this catalog, students must satisfy the departmental requirements stated in the following paragraphs.

The Liberal Studies Major aims to provide a rich liberal art educational experience through selected courses from a wide range of academic disciplines, while at the same time allowing students to select a field for in-depth study of their own interest.  The broad-based, interdisciplinary nature of Liberal Studies provides a solid well-rounded undergraduate educational experience, integrating knowledge from arts and humanities, social science, and natural sciences, with analytical and communication skills well suited for many careers and professions.

The major consists of a common core and a choice from seven concentrations, designed to meet diverse student interests and needs not only for school teaching, but also for leadership in government, non-profit organizations, and business, and for graduate education in law, counseling, social work and services, public affairs and administration, and educational leadership.