Bachelor of Arts in African and African American Studies

at Kaplan Group - Arizona State University - Tempe Campus USA

The BA in business with a concentration in tourism is an innovative, transdisciplinary program that prepares students for positions in a variety of professions in which business and tourism play important roles in ensuring success.

Students in this program complete rigorous courses within the tourism concentration in addition to the skill and core courses required of all W. P. Carey School of Business majors.

Developing tourism and recreation opportunities requires an understanding of effective marketing techniques and the ability to interact with many different types of businesses that support those efforts. With a solid academic preparation in business, graduates are positioned for success in the tourism industry and affiliated professions.

Acquire a deep and broad understanding of the field of language pedagogy so that you can teach at the elementary, high school or collegiate level.

The MA program in language teaching prepares both current and aspiring language teachers with the tools they need to effectively teach languages in the secondary schools and in higher education. This program provides professional development to practicing language teachers in K-12, community colleges or at the university level.

Teachers in Arizona who are interested in continuing their professional development in both language pedagogy and language proficiency can pursue this degree. Teachers receive training in teaching methodologies, second language acquisition, heritage language pedagogy, computer-assisted language teaching, applied linguistics, and the teaching of literature and culture. In addition, this program may also interest other individuals who wish to become highly proficient bilinguals.

The MA in sustainability is a research-oriented degree program that culminates with research writing: either a thesis or publishable scientific paper.

The program focuses on knowledge generation and investigating potential solutions to sustainability challenges and prepares students to design and conduct transdisciplinary research. Although the graduate degree programs emphasize the integration of a broad range of expertise, this program is best-suited to students inclined toward transdisciplinary science, humanities, planning or related fields and who are interested in a career in research or academia.

Students learn how different disciplines view and approach the challenges of sustainability in theory, research and practice. They develop academic and technical skills as well as ethical insights that can help them understand, research and provide solutions to complex sustainability challenges at the local, regional, national and global levels.

All program graduates understand the need for a transdisciplinary approach to solving sustainability challenges; are able to communicate their work to professionals in other disciplines and to policymakers and the general public; and have the breadth of vision to recognize the interconnectedness of social, economic, environmental and technical systems. They have the critical thinking skills necessary for approaching sustainability challenges from a systems perspective, the ability to work effectively in interdisciplinary teams, and the technical skills required to formulate and solve problems at the appropriate scale.

The MS program in computer science with a concentration in cybersecurity is designed for graduate students who want to pursue a thorough education in the area of cybersecurity and information assurance. This program offers a thesis and nonthesis project portfolio option.

This concentration program provides students with the knowledge and skills needed in science and engineering for cybersecurity. This includes computer and network security, software security, data and information security, applied cryptography and computer forensics.

According to the National Security Agency, information assurance is defined as the set of measures intended to protect and defend information and information systems by ensuring their availability, integrity, authentication, confidentiality and nonrepudiation. This includes providing restoration of information systems by incorporating protection, detection and reaction capabilities.

Cybersecurity courseware at ASU has been certified by the Information Assurance Courseware Evaluation Program to satisfy the standards for Information Systems Security Professionals (NSTISSI 4011) and Senior Systems Managers (CNSSI 4012).

The MAS in geographic information systems is a compact, one-year degree program fostering advanced study in the management and use of GIS technology in public and corporate environments. The degree program meets important educational needs of working professionals and recent college graduates seeking to improve their career standing. The program provides a comprehensive professional program that balances work in the theoretical and technical aspects of GIS with the applications domain. Students are exposed to innovative technology with a focus on building invaluable problem-solving skills, and the opportunity to work on real-world GIS projects.

The program places the focus on location --- the heart of geography and GIS. From that foundation, students learn advanced modeling solutions in GIS and Earth-observing as well as how to integrate computer science, statistics and geography to address a multitude of questions.

Small class sizes ensure quality attention from the faculty, and classes are held in the evening during the week, allowing flexibility for the working professional. The degree is achievable in a one-year time period. A new cohort begins the program each August, with students attending evening classes during the fall and spring semesters. Upon completion of the spring semester, students select a project to complete during a summer eight-week session. Final presentations take place in mid-July, and in fewer than 11 months the degree program is complete.

The big data systems concentration under the MCS degree program is designed for graduate students who want to pursue a thorough education in the area of big data systems.

Students acquire the knowledge, skills and expertise in designing scalable systems (parallel, distributed and real time) that acquire, store, process and access large-scale heterogeneous multisource data, and they learn to use analytical tools to mine information from the data

Graduates are able to choose and deploy the appropriate data management processing and analysis systems with a suitable structured or unstructured data model that a particular task and domain application needs.

The BA program in organizational leadership with a concentration in project management offers theoretically and skills-driven curriculum to prepare students to be excellent project managers and project management leaders.

Students learn to integrate leadership theory and practice in organizational leadership courses. They learn the skills and knowledge that leaders need to lead diverse teams, innovate, solve problems, communicate effectively, assess leadership and organizational effectiveness, manage resources and use emerging technologies in organizations. Students also acquire the skills necessary to manage complex projects: project leadership, project quality management, project risk management, project schedule management, project cost management and project resource management.

Students earning an MS degree in biochemistry in the School of Molecular Sciences are trained in the fundamental aspects of the discipline, but most also choose to learn by joining transdisciplinary teams that work on larger, mission-based contemporary problems in areas such as:

• Biogeochemistry
• Energy and sustainability
• Fundamental chemical biology
• Materials and nanoscience
• Medicine and health
• Structure function and dynamics

The master's degree program in biochemistry in the School of Molecular Sciences provides students with the training they need to solve biological problems at the molecular scale and to contribute to research in current challenging societal issues.

This program complements other, more specialized life sciences programs, allowing both interdisciplinary and traditional approaches. Courses include laboratory, field and theoretical work.

This MS in biology is a flexible program based around a student's individual research interests, allowing students to explore areas of biology that thrive outside of traditional boundaries. This master's program is designed to prepare students for careers in teaching and research in educational, medical, industrial and governmental institutions.

The School of Social and Behavioral Sciences offers a BS in political science in the New College of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences.

Political science is the study of governmental practices, politics and theories. Coursework in the political science program covers American institutions, international relations, political theory and world affairs. This program helps students gain a basic understanding of the assumptions underlying political science and to develop the necessary research skills for analyzing complex sociopolitical issues. In addition to coursework, students learn through internships, service-learning and research opportunities. The Bachelor of Science degree differs from the BA degree in that it requires an additional statistics course and a methods course.

Graduates of this program are prepared for work as analysts or aides in local, state or national legislative offices, among other roles. Many graduates go on to law school or graduate programs in political science, social science, urban planning or public administration.