Bachelor of Arts in Comparative Cultural Studies with Emphasis in Asian Studies

at Northern Arizona University - Flagstaff Campus USA

Through this Bachelor of Science degree in Parks and Recreation Management, recreation resource professionals are prepared for diverse careers in the field of parks and recreation. The PRM Program focuses on small class size, high student-teacher interaction, on-site field experiences, and experiential learning opportunities. The faculty are are dedicated to expanding the scholarly knowledge base of people and organizations to enhance the quality of leisure experiences and places.

Park Protection Emphasis
Students within this emphasis will have the ability to:

• Make critical decisions related to injury and illness prevention, assessment, treatment and evacuation of patient(s), through application of wilderness first responder training, in response to medical and outdoor emergencies, while in wilderness and other remote backcountry settings.
• Articulate the functions of park operations, management and protection in the United States in terms of its historical roots, structure, and contemporary issues.
• Analyze and evaluate Federal regulations protecting America’s natural resources
• Examination of the evolution of environmental laws regulating the consumptive and non-consumptive uses of plants, wildlife and fish
• Apply the basic precepts of criminal law, authority and jurisdiction in the protection of state and national parks
• Acquire knowledge, skills, and abilities in law enforcement tactics (e.g., firearms, physical control techniques, emergency vehicle operations)

The mission of the Northern Arizona University undergraduate Finance Program, is to educate skilled and well trained finance professionals. The graduates with a major in finance will be well positioned to understand important issues and tools in the fields of investments, corporate finance and international finance. They will be prepared for their first position in the field of finance and prepared to continue to progress throughout their careers. Consistent with this goal, the Finance Area seeks to continuously improve the curriculum to ensure that our graduates possess those core competencies which are most closely aligned with the values of finance professionals. These competencies support the concept of learning as a continuum that begins in an academic setting and continues with life-long professional education and experience. This core competency framework focuses on skills and is not necessarily structured around traditional subject areas. While knowledge requirements will change with time, these core competencies have long-term value and will support a variety of career opportunities in the fields of Investments, Corporate Finance and Banking.

The Master of Arts program in the Department of Psychological sciences provides graduate students with advanced disciplinary training which equips students for entry into doctoral training programs, employment in a burgeoning behavioral health field, and positions that require sophisticated training in methodological procedures and quantitative reasoning.  From completion of core courses, all program students demonstrate proficient competencies in methodological design and intermediate-level statistical application; these skills are subsequently woven into 1) students' faculty-supervised research (including research dedicated to the completion of a thesis as well as additional non-thesis research), 2) opportunities for supervised applied experiences, such as program evaluation, field work/internship placements through local behavioral and mental health organizations, and 3) professional development experiences, such as teaching or statistical consultation, that benefit students in both employment and doctoral training programs. 

The Personalized Learning Bachelor’s degree in Management is built around workplace competencies and prepares students to pursue management careers in a broad spectrum of opportunities in corporate, non-profit, public service or military settings. The curriculum is designed in consultation with business leaders and competencies identified by the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs and the Society for Human Resource Management to ensure students a comprehensive and relevant educational experience.

 Management Core

• Analyze management principles from a global perspective
• Engage in strategic, critical and innovative thinking
• Examine organizational ethics
• Engage in effective Managerial Communication
• Examine Leadership as it relates to Organizational Management
• Manage financial resources to support the fiscal health and strategic goals of an organization
• Analyze technology management and applications
• Examine the inextricable relationships between operations and the global movement of goods and services-supply chain
• Marketing to a global economy
• Recruit and manage talent as part of a strategic business plan.

The Geology Program offers a thesis-based, multidisciplinary MS degree in Geology with the objective of educating students for success in the private sector, government employment, or further pursuit of graduate studies.  During the two-year program, students use geological, geobiological, geophysical, geochemical, and numerical-modeling techniques to examine geological problems and develop explanations for the processes that produced them.  Students learn to study what is known about a subject and then identify what is not yet understood.  Based upon observations, they develop testable hypotheses about a poorly understood geological  process, design a study to test these, and then carry this study out, learning new analytical techniques along the way. They then write this work into a thesis and present and defend their work in a public session.  In many cases, the thesis is then turned into a published journal article.

The opportunity for graduate students to develop independent research and projects, to conduct original research toward the development of a final anthropological master's thesis or project provides graduate students a strong foundation in the discipline. Research and applied projects are encouraged in the fields of archaeology and sociocultural anthropology with research.

The Sociocultural concentration trains students in ethnographic methods and collaborative research approaches, providing opportunities to work with communities at the local, regional, national, and international levels. Opportunities exist in the areas of medical, development, environmental, and educational anthropology.

The Archaeology concentration trains students in theory, methods, advanced archaeological computing applications, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), lithic, ceramic, rock art, and a number of other materials specialties, as well as cultural resource management.

The mission of the Women’s and Gender Studies program (WGS) at Northern Arizona University is to provide students with a deep and sophisticated understanding of feminist scholarship.  Interdisciplinary and intersectionality are at the core of the WGS educational mission and frame a variety of curricular offerings that emphasize women of color, indigeneity, transnational and queer/trans scholarship.

• We analyze strategies for social change that students can use in any future career to create new possibilities for a more socially just society.
• WGS empowers students with unique and distinctive training that allows them to evaluate a range of local, national, regional, and global issues.
• Students have opportunities to research and participate in activist organizations and grassroots efforts by communities that are taking direct action toward a future that is regenerative and restorative.
• Discussion based classrooms support a critical understanding of politics, histories, literature, economies, and activism shaping the social construction of genders and the material condition of people’s lives in a globalized world.
• In its focus on diversity, WGS is central to the university’s mission.

Student Learning Outcomes

• Identify and explain key topics, concepts, and issues in Women’s and Gender or Queer Studies, including intersectionality, reproductive health, sexuality and the body, and power, privilege, and violence.
•  Interpret and compare key concepts of assigned sex, gender, ethnicity, sexuality, racialization, nation, social construction, hegemony, inequity, discrimination and social justice, and the intersections among them, in a variety of feminist theoretical traditions, texts, and frameworks, and then analyze and critically evaluate their assumptions, insights, oversights, and applicability to other texts, concepts, and real-world situations.
• Analyze variations in LGBTQIAP+ people’s experiences by using queer and trans theory to identify and describe gender and sexuality assumptions; also be able to articulate the applications, insights and oversights of queer and trans theory.
• Think through and apply feminist and queer studies concepts and theories in specific political, historical, geographic, and cultural contexts.
• Understand the intersectionality of women’s and/or queer and gendered identities, informed by hierarchies of race, ethnicity, ability, class, nation and so forth.
• Analyze women’s and/or queer experiences within gender systems of power, privilege, and violence.
• Apply theoretical frameworks of queer studies and feminisms to current issues in local communities, and at statewide and national levels.
• Understand the historical and contemporary variations of feminisms/queer theories in a global context and transnational framework.
• Write critically: write clear and well-reasoned prose that acknowledges complex and diverse points of view and methods of critical inquiry/research, especially those that address constructions of gender, sexuality, race, and class.  
• Verbally express ideas effectively, tailoring arguments and presentation styles to audiences and interactive contexts.
• Develop skills of leadership, advocacy, organization, and community building to bring about social change.

This program offers students the opportunity to explore such topics as: data mining (through the Center for Data Insight), parallel algorithms, distributed systems, artificial intelligence, fuzzy logic, neural networks, evolutionary programming, and modeling reactive systems as well as foundation work in programming languages, software engineering, virtual collaborative environments, and user interfaces.

The B.A. in Comparative Cultural Studies is a 49-58 credit degree whose aim is to provide students with a comparative, integrative and global approach to the study of human culture in its diversity and interconnections. The different emphases in the CCS B.A. degree introduce students to the complexities of diverse human cultures, both past and present; in the process, they develop the skills of analysis, interpretation and communication crucial to both their academic and professional development.

The Master of Arts in Political Science degree provides students with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to understand and participate in the political systems of the United States and the world.  This degree provides a broad perspective on experiences, international and domestic, from both theory and practice.

This degree builds a strong foundation in the advanced knowledge of the political world, and enables students to be able to use key concepts and analytical approaches from Public Policy, American Politics, Public Administration, Comparative Politics and International relations.