Bachelor of Arts in Human Development and Family Studies

at EDUCO - Seattle Pacific University USA

The MA-THEO: Christian Scripture concentration is designed to deepen your understanding and appropriation of the Bible as the church’s Scripture — originating with God’s people living in particular times and places, but authoritative for us as God’s people in all times and places. Consequently, in addition to encountering the biblical texts as texts, you will study them within the context of the Church’s larger canonical context: its foundational theology, ethics, and history of interpretation.

If you are interested in science and health, fascinated by food, and want to work with individuals and families, a degree in Food and Nutritional Sciences may be right for you. A foundation in the sciences — with courses in anatomy and physiology, biology, chemistry, microbiology, and statistics — prepares you for the in-depth study of food and nutrition.

Sports and Exercise Emphasis
The Nutrition in Sports and Exercise emphasis provides you with a broad background in food and nutritional sciences, along with further study of exercise science and the specialized nutritional requirements for physically active individuals.

The low-residency MFA at SPU is a creative writing program for apprentice writers — both Christians and those of other faith traditions — who not only want to pursue excellence in the craft of writing but also place their work within the larger context of world literature by writers of faith.

The spiritual dimension of this program is not intended to produce didactic, sectarian, or sentimental literature. On the contrary, this program seeks to extend what our faculty understand to be a longstanding conversation that comprises much of world literature, a conversation in which the highest levels of art, an open-eyed exploration of human experience, and a respect for mystery are all held in a proper balance.

Our models are Augustine and Dante, Saint Ephraim the Syrian and Saint Gregory of Nazianzus, the Pearl poet and Sor Juana de la Cruz, George Herbert and John Milton, Gerard Manley Hopkins and Emily Dickinson, Fyodor Dostoevsky and Alexandros Papadiamandis, T.S. Eliot and Flannery O’Connor, Walker Percy and James Baldwin, Annie Dillard and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

We believe that our program will appeal to writers for whom matters of faith are central. We also intend to cultivate reading and writing as spiritual disciplines. We are convinced that writers flourish best when they engage in a sustained dialogue with the great literature that has come before them. Therefore, our program maintains a strong emphasis on reading classic works from the writers of faith, and responding to them in a series of critical papers.

The History major and minor programs at SPU seek a deeper understanding of world cultures.

Together we:

• Explore the roots and development of our world regional histories.
• Learn to "do" History through research and internships.
• Probe more deeply into the ways our Christian faith can speak to human issues.

The History Department launched a new curriculum in 2020 for its History Majors and Minors. The new curriculum is designed for students to grow in:

• Cross-cultural insight
• Understanding of historic inequalities and the construction of race, gender, and class over time
• The cultivation of empathy for others
• Drawing on the past to address the pressing problems of today 
• Wrestling with the sometimes dark and difficult periods of human history--wars, displacement, and injustice--and contemplating how the Christian story can speak into these challenging moments.
• Cultivating career-oriented skills and professional experiences through a new "Careers in History" class and internship placement support

The new sequence of classes for the majors and minors helps students achieve mastery of an essential skill set in an intentional way: students first take classes in "Thinking Historically," then study "Systems in History," and finally learn to "Do History" themselves.

Our redesigned majors and minor offer students flexibility in their choice of electives while ensuring that students will have broad exposure to many different time periods and world regions.

• Cross-cultural insight
• Understanding of historic inequalities and the construction of race, gender, and class over time
• The cultivation of empathy for others
• Drawing on the past to address the pressing problems of today
• Wrestling with the sometimes dark and difficult periods of human history--wars, displacement, and injustice--and contemplating how the Christian story can speak into these challenging moments.
• Cultivating career-oriented skills and professional experiences through a new "Careers in History" class and internship placement support

The new sequence of classes for the majors and minors helps students achieve mastery of an essential skill set in an intentional way: students first take classes in "Thinking Historically," then study "Systems in History," and finally learn to "Do History" themselves.

Our redesigned majors and minor offer students flexibility in their choice of electives while ensuring that students will have broad exposure to many different time periods and world regions.

When you choose to earn a bachelor of science in Cellular and Molecular Biology at SPU, you will delve into an interdisciplinary field that bridges the fields of chemistry and biology to understand life and cellular processes at the molecular level. This degree prepares you for graduate studies or a professional career in biology.

About the Cellular and Molecular Biology Major

As a Cellular and Molecular Biology major at SPU, you can expect to study molecular structures and processes of cellular life and their roles in the function, reproduction, and development of living organisms. In this major, you will find out more about God's creation through the complexities of cellular and molecular biology.

As a student in the Economics major in the School of Business, Government, and Economics at SPU, you will study many vital issues that affect human flourishing while emphasizing a Christian perspective on individual and society's decisions about how to organize the production and distribution of goods and services.

About the Economics Major

Economics is the study of human decision making, interconnectedness, and the distribution and allocation of scarce resources. This major emphasizes development and financial economics, with a focus on decision making, resource stewardship, and public policy.

Our program prepares students with industry experience through our SBGE internship program. Our students have held internships at leading local businesses and industries such as Safeco, Morgan Stanley, Starbucks, and Nordstrom.

Students pursuing graduate study are encouraged to complete our 15 credit calculus series. Our graduates have gone on to study at top institutions such as Notre Dame, Baylor, and the University of Washington.

The General concentration provides you the opportunity to custom tailor your educational experience with the Economics courses that most interest you.

The BS in Information Systems is designed to provide you with a strong foundation in both the technical and organizational aspects of information systems. Graduates are well-prepared to help both for-profit and nonprofit organizations define and achieve their technology goals.

Today’s Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) educators instruct and train students for life management and to work in a wide variety of fields. They teach early childhood development, food production and hospitality management, and apparel and interior design. They often teach courses in high demand by area employers, who may provide input into the curriculum and offer internships to students.

At SPU, teacher certification in Family and Consumer Science Education is offered at the secondary level. SPU is an approved institution for vocational (career and technical education) certification of family and consumer science teachers in middle, junior, and high school family and consumer science programs.

Secondary school teachers’ responsibilities are often more varied than at the elementary school level. FCS teachers may teach course content using child development laboratories, food preparation kitchens, or computer simulations. Student groups complete exercises that require them to apply knowledge, interact with others, adapt to new technology, and logically think through problems.

A bachelor of science degree in Biology prepares you for graduate studies or a professional career in biology. SPU’s Biology program emphasizes undergraduate research, which will give you a competitive edge. You may choose core and elective courses focused on botany, cellular and molecular biology, ecology, marine biology, physiology, or zoology, depending upon your interests and professional goals.

Biology Major
As a Bachelor of Science in Biology major, you’ll focus on understanding humans, animals, and plants from a biological perspective. You’ll gain a solid foundation in research methodology while increasing your knowledge of the physiology, anthropology, and development of the life all around us.

The interdisciplinary Politics, Philosophy, & Economics (PPE) major is a unique program which prepares students for leadership in many areas of public service and private enterprise.

Politics, Philosophy, & Economics (PPE) Major

PPE is a rigorous, interdisciplinary program that combines studies in political science, philosophy, and economics.  Modeled after a program at Oxford University, PPE core classes study human values, cultural institutions, and economics in order to develop multiperspectival solutions to pressing social problems. PPE students will also choose an area of emphasis from the following tracks: Applied Economics, Financial Economics, International Affairs, Law, Philosophy, Public Administration, and Social Enterprise.

The Philosophy track will open your eyes to the world of contemporary metaphysics, epistemology, and logic.