Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Studies (STEM)

at Navitas Group - Queens College, City University of New York USA

?One of the most urgent areas of study, research, and policymaking today is environmental quality. The environmental studies major and minor draw on interdisciplinary thought and skillsets in the natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities to understand critical environmental issues and propose remedies for them.

Coursework in the natural sciences provides a basic understanding of the physical and biological sciences relevant to environmental issues in urban areas. The social science and humanities coursework emphasizes policy and planning practices pertinent to cities’ social, economic, and political environment. Graduates are well prepared for careers in the public or private sector as environmental practitioners, whether in scientific, policy, or management capacities.

The major and minor in environmental sciences reflect the college’s commitment to interdisciplinary learning and research on the earth and its processes across geologic time. With a choice of concentrations and coursework, students plot a course through a curriculum that addresses the challenges of environmental quality and sustainability. The faculty support this commitment in hands-on courses, laboratories, and fieldwork, with research conducted in the atmospheric sciences, biogeosciences, geochemistry, geology and geophysics, and water resources.

There is a global need for environmental scientists in both the private and public spheres. Upon graduation, majors may enter the technical workforce for corporations, governments, international agencies, or nonprofit organizations.

A knowledge of German is essential for students interested in past and current cultural, political, and economic developments in Europe. As the largest trading partner in Europe, Germany plays a leading role in European and world affairs—as it has historically. Moreover, the German language is fundamental to a liberal arts education. German-speaking writers, artists, and scholars shaped modern arts, literature, and fields of inquiry, including philosophy, theology, and the natural and social sciences. Germany remains a center of avant-garde art, music, film, and thought. Coursework emphasizes both language proficiency and the study of German literature, art, music, philosophy, history, and culture.

Biology serves as a large umbrella for many kinds of scientists and professionals. Biologists conduct basic and applied experimental and clinical work in both the public and private sectors—in the field, in zoos and wildlife refuges, in laboratories, and in medical settings. Just a few of the areas in which they work are wildlife and field ecology, conservation and environmental restoration, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, and forensics. Although students with a BA may find employment as laboratory technicians, wildlife monitors, and other entry-level positions, those who hope to pursue a research career should plan to go on to graduate school. For many, biology is the first step toward medical, dental, or veterinary school. Biologists also work in law- and policy-related fields concerning scientific issues or in areas like scientific and medical illustration and writing.

Political science analyzes the forces that shape government policy in both the national and international arenas. Such forces include power relationships, political values and ideologies, the “rules of the game” that shape government institutions, and the strategies of citizens and other social actors. The curriculum includes American, comparative, and international politics; political theory and methodology; and law and politics. Students also may complete internships for credit—with administrative, judicial, legislative, or other offices of government, law firms, nonprofit advocacy groups, and elsewhere.

History, at its simplest, is a story of what happened in the past, but it is also concerned with very contemporary issues such as equity, social structure, contested meanings and values, and relations between near and far places. At its core are the aims, methods, and results of historical research.

Students receive excellent training in research skills involving qualitative and quantitative primary sources. They learn to evaluate sources, weigh facts, write coherent accounts of the past, and make arguments. They also become attentive to history beyond the traditional national and Western frameworks.

Historical studies provide the background needed for graduate work in law, journalism, library science, and history doctoral programs. The coursework also provides essential skills for those planning careers in business or government. History is the best major for those planning to teach social studies on the secondary level in addition to being an excellent major for those hoping to teach in elementary school.

The program in International Business prepares graduates to deal effectively with contemporary economic environments. Coursework emphasizes accounting, business, mathematics, and economics. Students prepare for private- and public-sector careers—whether in corporations and finance (for example, multinational corporations, export-import firms, and banks) or in government and agencies concerned with international trade, finance, and economic development.

Cultural knowledge, along with the ability to use a foreign language, are essential components of a liberal arts education. In addition to language courses, the faculty of this department offers a wide variety of literature and culture courses both in English and in foreign languages. Students who already know the languages are able to take advanced courses to enrich their understanding of the humanities in these traditions; sequences of such courses can become important components of interdisciplinary concentrations, minors, or double-majors that complement a student's primary field of study. "In-translation" courses give students an understanding of the ancient Western and Asian classics, and of various modern Asian, Middle Eastern, and Mediterranean cultures.

?The program focuses on normal communication, its impairment, and rehabilitation of children and adults who have disorders of speech, hearing, and language. It introduces basic speech, language, and hearing science in preparation for graduate study in such areas as acoustic phonetics, psychological and physical acoustics, and psycholinguistics. It also includes pre-professional coursework for students who wish to undertake graduate programs leading to careers as speech-language pathologists and audiologists. Students have the opportunity to observe clinical practice in the Queens College Speech-Language-Hearing Center.

?Comparative Literature is an ideal subject for students with a passion for reading and curiosity about the world. It involves the study of world literature, exploring oral and written works across nations, languages, and cultures and in their historical, social, and cultural contexts. The courses—taught by faculty from all the college’s language and literature departments as well as from philosophy and anthropology—teach students to bring cross-cultural perspectives to the work of close reading and critical writing.
Such training helps launch graduates in professions that require well-developed communication skills, complex reasoning, and multicultural sensitivities. Comparatists work in publishing, journalism, the media, the arts, public relations, and other information industries. Often they work in international and multicultural contexts where foreign-language and translation skills are an asset. Many go on to graduate school as well as to law, medical, and professional schools.