Bachelor of Science, Major in Biology

at Northeastern Illinois University USA

What difference does it make if we join a gang, have a baby, or go to college? What difference does it make to have money? What do changes in the family mean for future generations? What do social policies, such as AlDS legislation, or social campaigns, such as anti-choice or anti-drug activities, mean to society? How do military and governmental activities or changes in technology affect people’s everyday lives? What is the social significance of cultural diversity, race, social class, and gender? What can we do in our everyday lives to effect positive changes in our families, communities and society?

Sociologists try to answer questions like these in order to understand what society is and how it affects individuals. One of the main insights of sociology is the understanding that groups and group life influence every aspect of our lives. Sociology is the systematic study of human societies, their patterns and arrangements, and their processes of development and change. Our faculty have a strong commitment to critical analyses of social structure and social arrangements, emphasizing analyses of race, class, gender inequality and social change.

The Sociology major sharpens students’ sociological imaginations through close study of social structures and processes in which our personal biographies are embedded. As a Sociology major, you will have the opportunity to analyze society with an intersectional lens that challenges the status quo.

The Master of Arts in History provides a sophisticated knowledge of history, both as a mode of inquiry and a form of understanding, and can serve as a terminal degree or as the foundation for more advanced graduate work.

This program provides graduate students with:

• An understanding of history as a mode of inquiry
• An in-depth exposure to a least two different historical fields
• A grounding in historical research methods
• An introduction to the art of historical interpretation

Northeastern Illinois University offers the Master of Arts in Educational Leadership degree.

• School Leadership (PreK-12);

Program objectives for the concentrations have been designed to develop exemplary administrative leaders and to foster their continuing growth and effectiveness. Specifically, students in the School Leadership (PreK-12) concentration develop competencies related to effective leadership, educational management practices, and staff development at the school level. This concentration leads to The State of Illinois Principal Endorsement.

The B.A. in Art with a concentration in Art History introduces students to numerous periods of art, cultural and historical events, visual means of expression and communication, and research methods. Students begin the program with survey courses that cover the history of Western art from ancient to modern eras, plus selected areas of non-Western art and continue on to seven specialized courses at the upper-division level, which include areas such as:

• early European art
• Latin American art
• Pre-Columbian art and architecture
• African, Native American and Oceanic art (through the lens of art and ritual)
• Contemporary art (national and international movements across media in the visual arts)

Upper-level art history courses include theory, analysis, and criticism and students have access to NEIU’s extensive database of more than 300,000+ art history images. Students have the opportunity to take part in international art history study trips to Italy and Peru and are able to work with the Northeastern Art + Design Association (NADA), our student art and design organization, on a variety of student organized art exhibitions and events. Each semester one art history major is appointed to tutor students in 100-level art history courses through the NEIU Learning Support Center.

The Economics major provides students with a rigorous applied and theoretical curriculum designed to prepare students for careers in quantitative and analytical positions in private, public and non-profit organizations. We provide a flexible program based on a common core of theory courses and an array of elective courses offered at a range of times designed to accommodate both daytime and evening students.

Our curriculum is designed around five concentration tracks based on faculty skills and popular career paths, but Economics majors have a great deal of freedom to choose elective courses that meet individual goals.

Economics, as a field in general and at Northeastern in particular, provides training in building strong economic fundamentals, and sharpens analytical and critical thinking skills. The program is rigorous, and yet accessible to a large population of students with diverse backgrounds. Some of the program benefits include:

• Build/enhance quantitative and written skills
• Sharpen critical and analytical thinking power
• Studying content with depth and substance
• Rigorous and yet accessible curriculum
• Focus on both theoretical and applied components
• Dynamic range of concentrations available
• Almost all courses taught by field experts
• Small class size
• Opportunities for research collaborations
• Prepare for graduate studies

The graduate program offers work leading to a Master of Arts degree in Linguistics. Our dynamic curriculum combines core studies in the structure of language [phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics] with current approaches in sociolinguistics, language acquisition, psycholinguistics, language contact and bilingualism, World Englishes, native and endangered languages, discourse analysis, and identity studies.

Our carefully designed curriculum provides students with a solid foundation in the study and understanding of human language as a convergence of genetic, psychological and social systems and networks. We train students to critically examine and analyze the world within and around them—skills that can be applied to teaching, curriculum development, corporate cultures, legal contexts, intercultural communication, forensics, artificial intelligence, publishing, counseling, speech pathology, and child development. Knowledge of how and why we use language brings us closer to understanding who we are and how we can affect our worlds.

The Bachelor of Science in Earth Science prepares students for graduate study, or a wide range of positions in Environmental Geoscience fields, including industry, consulting, or state/federal agencies. In addition to required and elective ESCI courses, additional courses in cognate fields (math and science) are required for completion of the degree program. All students are urged to plan their program with the help of ESCI faculty advising.

Northeastern Illinois University offers the Master of Arts in Educational Leadership degree.

• Higher Education Leadership.

The Higher Education Leadership concentration provides knowledge and skills related to the history and development of colleges, universities, and community colleges, and to effective administrative practices at that level. It stresses an understanding of administrative and supervisory skills for the development and support of instructional systems at the collegiate level. Students in this concentration have the option of completing a thesis. Courses are taught in the evenings and Saturdays at the main campus, at El Centro, at Carruthers Center, at Lake County, and at a variety of locations in the Chicago metropolitan area through Distance Education and web-enhanced courses.

Anthropology uniquely incorporates both cultural and biological perspectives in its study of the diversity of past and present humans, and the ecology and behavior of our closest primate relatives. With a strong commitment to teaching excellence, the Department of Anthropology offers courses leading to the Bachelor of Arts. The Anthropology Department provides a challenging curriculum in the sub-disciplines of cultural anthropology, biological anthropology, and archaeology that encourages field-based learning, data-oriented research, and a solid grounding in the theoretical constructs and ethics of the discipline. Students taking courses in Anthropology develop a multifaceted understanding of human diversity steeped in time, multicultural ethnographic comparisons, and the science of our physical form. This enriching perspective is not only well suited for subsequent graduate studies and professional careers in anthropology, but also for fostering the acceptance of others and negotiating the many facets of our modern global society.

We have developed many individualized and field learning opportunities for our majors that take advantage of the many resources in Chicago and beyond. These include the Field Museum Internship, Archaeological Field School, Lincoln Park Zoo Research, Mitchell Museum of the American Indian Internship, Fieldwork in Anthropology, and Independent Study in Anthropology. These experiences allow students to apply their anthropological knowledge and perspective outside of the classroom and learn about different careers and graduate study in anthropology.  Most of these individualized and field experience courses require a minimum GPA, a proposal, departmental and College level approval. See an anthropology advisor for more information.

If you are a first year student interested in learning more about Anthropology, consider taking one of our First Year Experience classes: ANTH 109b - Skeletons in Chicago Closets or ANTH 109c - Skin of Chicago. Both of these courses count towards General Education Natural Science credit.

The Bachelor of Science in Physics program allows students to pursue careers in teaching, research, and development, or to go on for further graduate study. All instruction is provided by full-time faculty in small classes, affording many opportunities for close personal contact between students and instructors. All advanced undergraduate courses are given in the evening, allowing students to complete studies on either a full- or part-time basis. Faculty members are actively engaged in research projects which offer exciting opportunities for student participation. Also, faculty members offer assistance to students pursuing projects on their own.