Bachelor of Science in Geography with Concentration in Regions and Cultures

at California State University - East Bay USA

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.

Anthropology is the multifaceted study of humanity from an evolutionary, historical, and global perspective. Students in anthropology learn about their own culture as well as those of other peoples as they are shaped by biological evolution, ecological constraints, political history, and sociological conditioning. The Department of Anthropology, Geography, and Environmental Studies offers ethnographic, theoretical and methodological courses in five sub-disciplines: biological anthropology, prehistory and archaeology, linguistic anthropology, sociocultural anthropology, and applied anthropology. Regional courses on major populations of the world, especially the heritage cultures of North and South America, and Asia, form an important component of the curriculum. The B.A. degree program bridges the sciences, social sciences, and humanities, preparing students for multidimensional careers. Fundamentally, the study of anthropology cultivates an appreciation of what all humans share, as well as how humans differ across time and space.

At the undergraduate level, students in the B.A. degree program may choose to focus on special interests in two combined sub-disciplines:

• Archaeology and Biological Anthropology emphasize the study of human biology, variation, evolution, and the reconstruction of past ways of life and cultural systems from material remains.
• Socio-Cultural and Applied Anthropology emphasize the study of social and cultural systems of more recent historical and contemporary populations, and the application of anthropological insights into present-day problems.

The Master’s degree in Interaction Design and Interactive Art is a unique interdisciplinary program at the intersection of interaction design and interactive content development. The program emphasizes the creative and technical aspects of current and emerging technology and its use in creating, controlling, delivering, and presenting compelling content in an interactive form. This degree draws upon elements from many fields, including visual and interaction design, UX/UI, Fine Art, Computer Science, Education, Psychology, Journalism, and Telecommunications.

Our program embraces industry skills and practices by emphasizing teamwork and a project-based, hands-on approach in the creation of interactive applications and objects as part of designed user experience. Instruction focuses as much on the enduring creative process as on the transient technology so that students learn skills needed to adapt quickly to new environments in a rapidly developing and ever-changing field.  

The Interaction Design and Interactive Art, M.A. Program is a two-year degree program, and most coursework is offered in the evening to accommodate working professionals.

During the first year, students develop a theoretical foundation, enhance their creative and research skills, and learn to work effectively in teams. During the second year, small teams of students of various backgrounds and talents create innovative, professional interactive thesis projects. Ideas for projects originate from students, faculty, or external sources.

Students in the Interaction Design and Interactive Art, M.A. Program, enjoy many benefits including small student-teacher ratios and dedicated interdisciplinary faculty. Thesis project students have 24-hour access to a dedicated production studio, maker space, and secure workspaces equipped and maintained with the current technology and support staff.

Biology is concerned with living matter in all its forms, responses, and interactions. It deals with the study of anything that has been or is alive: microbes, fungi, plants, “protists” and all animals, including humans. The science of biology includes a large number of highly integrated sub-disciplines such as microbiology, genetics, molecular biology, ecology, evolutionary biology, physiology, systematics, and behavior. Biologists must draw upon a wide variety of academic disciplines to make observations and form conclusions, and well-trained biologists have solid backgrounds in chemistry, mathematics, computer science, statistics, physics, and the humanities, as required by graduate programs and professional schools, to meet the demands of professions in the life sciences.

The Department of Biological Sciences offers a diversified curriculum in the life sciences. Courses are designed for biology majors with specific degree objectives, for students seeking applied technical training, and for non-major students with general interest in biological subjects. Undergraduate programs will prepare students for both graduate work and for a diversity of careers. Biology majors may enter specialized or general careers in life science and find themselves working in laboratories, offices, the field, administrative posts, academic institutions, industry, government agencies, private foundations, botanic gardens, wildlife preserves and zoos.  Simply put, biologists study the living planet.

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.

Video & Animation Concentration
Based on a broad range of critical, conceptual, and production courses in the Video and Animation concentration, students create artworks that give expression to their ideas while engaging their audiences whether it is on monitors, theater screens, hand-held devices, or installations.  Students’ interests and films range from traditional to experimental, fictional to factual, and simply entertaining to highly conceptual. Upon graduation, students are prepared for further study in a graduate program or for entry into the work force.

Ethnic Studies offers an interdisciplinary major, providing a comparative approach to the study of people of color in the United States.  Our Ethnic Studies curriculum has a strong social justice focus. Through a systematic study of the cultures, histories, and social realities of communities of color in the US, our students finish our program prepared to work effectively in multiracial, multiethnic, multigender communities.  

Geography is the study of spatial distributions, relations, processes and outcomes within the human-environment system. Attention is focused on historical and contemporary human activities in the natural and built environment, and on people as the major physical, social, cultural and economic change agents across the Earth’s surface. A curriculum in Geography helps students understand the world’s physical, social, economic and cultural landscapes and how they have been transformed or altered by either the Earth’s natural processes or human modifications, and the future sustainability of our current actions in the light of our past experiences and ongoing trends such as urbanization, globalization and climate change.

Biology is concerned with living matter in all its forms, responses, and interactions. It deals with the study of anything that has been or is alive: microbes, fungi, plants, “protists” and all animals, including humans. The science of biology includes a large number of highly integrated sub-disciplines such as microbiology, genetics, molecular biology, ecology, evolutionary biology, physiology, systematics, and behavior. Biologists must draw upon a wide variety of academic disciplines to make observations and form conclusions, and well-trained biologists have solid backgrounds in chemistry, mathematics, computer science, statistics, physics, and the humanities, as required by graduate programs and professional schools, to meet the demands of professions in the life sciences.

The College of Business and Economics, which offers the Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (B.S.B.A.) program, is committed to providing life-changing, quality business education to prepare students from diverse backgrounds to become successful business professionals and leaders. The B.S.B.A. program imparts students with the knowledge and skills necessary to understand the changing global business environment and to prepare students for success in their professional careers.

The B.S.B.A. major program is structured around a set of core courses enabling students to develop general business perspective and skills. Students are required to choose an area of specialization, i.e., concentration, corresponding to their desired career path. In addition, the program allows students flexibility to customize their specialization by choosing business elective courses. These electives may be chosen to further strengthen their preparation in their chosen concentration.

The undergraduate and the graduate programs in the College of Business and Economics are accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International (AACSB).

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.