Bachelor of Arts in Natural Sciences - Biology Option

at California State University - Fresno USA

The Master of Arts in Art provides the opportunity for highly motivated art and design students to pursue study at an advanced level and attain a level of accomplishment in the visual arts and design. The graduate program emphasizes self-direction and focus within a specific area. The program builds upon the equivalent of the undergraduate major in art at California State University, Fresno. The program provides specifically for certain areas of interest: art education, crafts, computer art, interior design, drawing, painting, ceramics, photography, sculpture, art history, and theory. With prior approval, programs with multiple concentrations may be arranged. For specific requirements, consult the departmental graduate program director. For general requirements, see Division of Graduate Studies.

The Master of Arts degree program in music is designed to increase the candidate's professional competence, to increase the ability for continued self-directed study, and to provide opportunity for greater depth in the chosen area of concentration within the field of music.

Two options are offered within the MA. in Music program: Performance and Music Education.
Emphases within the area of Performance include: choral conducting, composition, instrumental conducting, instrumental performance, and vocal performance.

Chicano and Latin American Studies (CLAS) is an interdisciplinary department that has been successful in presenting a highly informed, active, and challenging view of the Chicanx/Latinx experience in the United States, Latin America, and U.S./Latin American relations. Chicano and Latin American Studies provides an opportunity for a pluralistic exchange of ideas in an interdisciplinary academic setting, where faculty, students, and visiting scholars can share experiences and create a dynamic, intellectual environment.

The Chicano and Latin American Studies Department is designed to meet the following objectives:

• To promote an awareness of the historical and cultural roots of Chicanx/Latinx people in the United States
• To enhance an understanding of Latin America
• To cultivate an appreciation of ethnic and national differences among all people
• To critically analyze the Chicanx and the Latin American experience in terms of significant issues, theories, current problems, and solutions, and
• To provide students with a set of important professional skills to be utilized as they interact creatively and constructively with Chicanx/Latinx communities and multicultural society at large.

The department emphasizes an interdisciplinary approach to the study of family life, history, politics, culture, and the arts of Chicano and Latin American communities. The courses reflect an integrated approach in providing students with greater knowledge and understanding of the social reality and diversity of Chicanxs and Latin Americans.

The Entrepreneurship Option offers students a comprehensive academic experience in entrepreneurship that starts with the classroom and links to the community. It integrates core business concepts around the formation, start-up, and growth of an entrepreneurial firm. By taking a select group of entrepreneurship courses, the students learn how to launch their own business idea.

Students can facilitate their learning experience through active involvement in the Lyles Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Craig School's Small Business Institute, and the Institute for Family Business.

The B.A. Option in Interdisciplinary Language Studies is for those students interested in combining the study of a particular language or languages with the core areas of linguistics.

Prepare for the future in agricultural sciences, technology, and management with a degree in animal sciences or agricultural education. The Department of Animal Sciences and Agricultural Education offers options in agricultural communications, teacher preparation, science, and production management. The science option has career specialization in the areas of preprofessional animal science and preveterinary medicine. The production management option offers career specialization in the areas of dairy science, equine science, meat technology and livestock, and poultry management. Courses integrate animal evaluation, behavior, disease, environmental management, genetics, health, marketing, muscle biology, nutrition, physiology, production, and reproduction.

The agricultural education major is designed to equip students for careers as agricultural communication specialists or secondary agriculture teachers. Specializations may be developed in agricultural business, animal sciences, plant sciences, or mechanized agriculture.

The Criminology major is designed to prepare students for beginning professional work in criminal justice and to provide preparation for graduate work including law school. Criminology courses at the undergraduate level include integration of theoretical and applied materials of an interdisciplinary nature. The corrections option is designed for students interested in careers in probation, parole, correctional institutions, and other affiliated forms of work. The law enforcement option is designed for students interested in careers with federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies, or law enforcement careers within the private sector. The victimology option is designed for students interested in careers in domestic violence programs, rape counseling programs, victim/witness programs, or other victim-related programs at the local, state, or federal level; these programs can either be criminal justice based or community based. An internship course is required in the corrections, law enforcement, and victimology options. The Forensic Behavioral Sciences major prepares students interested in the application of other behavioral sciences — such as psychology, anthropology, social work, and linguistics — to the criminal justice system. However, it is also designed to prepare students interested in traditional criminal justice careers. 

The department offers a Bachelor of Science degree in Recreation Administration for individuals who are committed to the recreation and leisure services profession. The major in Recreation Administration prepares students with the knowledge, understanding, ability, and skill necessary to successfully function in professional positions related to the major.

Curriculum
Accredited by the Council on Accreditation of Parks, Recreation, Tourism, and Related Professions, the department offers a B.S. and a Minor in Recreation Administration.

Students in the recreation administration major complete a core of courses. These courses are designed to assist students in acquiring competencies related to the principles of recreation, leadership, group dynamics, and leisure behavior. Courses also cover legal and financial aspects of recreation service, advanced program planning, organization and administration of leisure services, evaluation, and professionalism.

Students develop specific skills in the areas of communication, human behavior, youth services, entrepreneurism, and adventure-based recreation and tourism, finance, management, marketing, funding, resources, program planning and supervision, and facility management.

Under the guidance of a practitioner, students in recreation administration are encouraged to acquire 1,000 hours of paid or voluntary hands-on experience in a variety of recreation, clinical, or leisure services agencies. In addition, they complete full-time internships with commercial recreation and tourism enterprises, public recreation agencies, nonprofit organizations, park-oriented agencies, hospitals, rehabilitation centers, and other service organizations.

Courses offered by the Department of Political Science are intended to help all students become more effective participants in a democratic society, both as makers of public policy and as individuals affected by those policies. Students study voting, elections, the structures of government institutions, and how governments around the world differ and interact. They also explore local, national, and global issues.  We prepare our majors for a wide variety of careers in government, education, business, journalism, the nonprofit sector, and international affairs, as well as law school and graduate school.

Students may elect to concentrate within political science on American government and politics, international politics, legal studies, or public policy. Detailed course and career information on each of these optional tracks is available. For those who achieve a high measure of proficiency in their undergraduate program, the department offers advanced work leading to the master’s degree in public administration.

Located in California’s Central Valley, the M.S. in Civil Engineering (MSCE) Program offers a graduate program of excellence that provides opportunities for advanced education and research in civil and geomatics engineering. The program’s mission is to offer a curriculum that combines preparation for professional practice as well as preparation for research and further advanced studies.