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

at Northern Arizona University - Flagstaff Campus USA

Suzuki Pedagogy (Violin) Emphasis
Students develop skills in the Suzuki Pedagogy method that will prepare them for careers as Suzuki violin teachers or for further study of the Suzuki method.

• Articulate and utilize Suzuki philosophy and concepts while teaching individual students and groups of students.
• Demonstrate teaching skills and mastery of repertoire appropriate to beginning, intermediate, and advanced students.
• Perform the Suzuki repertoire at a professional level.
• Demonstrate knowledge of child development, parent education, and parent engagement in the learning process.
• Identify appropriate repertoire for public performance and skill development for use with students with varying skills levels.

The Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Visual Commuication is designed to produce graduates who are skilled in using art, design and technology to creatively communicate ideas and transform messages into visual communication. Through the rigorous coursework, students will develop skills in using aesthetic and conceptual judgment, color, type, symbols, digital images, multi-media, interactivity, motion graphics, photography, and project management to produce messages that clearly inform, effectively communicate brand experience, and persuade viewers.

Graphic Design Emphasis

• The ability to solve communication problems, including the skills of problem identification, research and information gathering, analysis, generation of alternative solutions, and prototyping.
• The ability to describe and respond to the audiences and contexts which communication solutions must address, including recognition of the physical, cognitive, cultural, and social human factors that shape design decisions.
• The ability to create and develop visual form in response to communication problems, including an understanding of principles of visual organization/ composition, information hierarchy, symbolic representation, typography, aesthetics, and the construction of meaningful images.
• An understanding of tools and technology, including their roles in the creation, reproduction, and distribution of visual messages.
• An understanding of design history, theory, and criticism from a variety of perspectives, including those of art history, linguistics, communication and information theory, technology, and the social and cultural use of design objects.
• An understanding of basic business practices, including the ability to organize design projects and to work productively as a member of teams.

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.

The purpose of the Northern Arizona University Bachelor of Business Administration Program is to provide excellent business management and related higher education using the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award standards for education as applied through the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP) accreditation. We seek to be a premier provider of Baldrige-Quality business management and related higher education with an emphasis on value and accessibility. We focus on core business competencies within a global context.

Students will be able to demonstrate the ability to:

• Think creatively, analyze and synthesize data from multiple perspectives
• Analyze and use financial information
• Solve problems using decision-making tools and theories,
• Engage others through effective interpersonal skills
• Communicate effectively in oral and written formats,
• Work well in team settings
• Design and implement effective strategies for the global marketplace, and
• Discern the underpinning ethical issues in local and global business decision-making, including those involving social responsibility, environmental sustainability, and profitability.

The global context for the core competencies will be addressed in all relevant classes across the curriculum. We provide online and hybrid classes for learning through the application of technology, as well as opportunities to study as part-time students. We provide opportunities for students to apply leadership skills through Phi Beta Lamda, as well as competitive challenges involving other business programs in Arizona and nationally. We collaborate with other universities globally and within the region to provide direct international experience. We facilitate regional business development through our innovative incubator program.

The Master of Arts in Applied Sociology prepares students for applying sociological theories, methods and skills in researching and analyzing social lives, behaviors and aggregations, for instance, groups, societies, organizations and institutions, for the purpose of understanding social structures, power, and transformations, and building strategies to solve social problems. The Program expands its scope to both the national and global levels, and puts emphasis on NAU three themes of global learning: diversity, environmental sustainability, and global engagement.

The Program includes three optional concentration areas. First, the Sociology of Health concentration area focuses on the impact of social life, including all its dimensions: political, economic, cultural or otherwise, on rates of morbidity and mortality. This concentration area includes medical sociology as well, where students study patients-practitioners relationships within the context of medical organizations. Second, the Women, Gender and Race concentration area focuses on the social construction of gender and racial identities, as well as their relationships with other social identities, and their shifting positions in social structures of power. Third, the Environment, Sustainability and Globalization concentration area keeps pace with the shifting boundaries of sociology to study the interdependencies of the social, economic and ecological dimensions of life, the emergence, structures and dynamics of the global society, and the massive social consequences that result from environmental changes.

Through these concentration areas, students study a variety of social issues, such as, health inequality, sexuality, racial and ethnic conflicts, environmental justice, global social movements, the network society, sustainable communities, etc.

The Bachelor of Arts in English prepares graduates for any future that demands proficiency in literature, language, and writing, as well as general excellence in resourceful, well-informed communication. Our graduates recognize the close weave of logical thought and effective expression, strive for more persuasive or more creative uses of English, possess the sense and insight to appreciate the value and quality of literature, have developed their historical and cultural imaginations by studying the marks of other times and diverse peoples in language and text, and recognize the global contexts of English as well as the social, civic, and environmental responsibilities that come with a liberal education. Our graduates have attained the high-level literacy skills and have practiced the research methods needed to compete in graduate and professional schools and to succeed in the workplace. With our help, they have prepared themselves to become productive, responsible members of the communities in which they live and work.

The Creative Writing Emphasis provides experience and stimulation to advance students’ writing and reading skills, as well as their discipline and habits. We offer techniques to deepen students’ talents, and we demonstrate how to make writing creatively a part of students’ lives and careers.

The Bachelor of Science degree in Psychological Sciences provides students with opportunities for focused study that builds critical thinking skills necessary for evaluating scientific research within this discipline. The ability to engage in critical analyses of psychological ideas and scientific evidence constitutes a valuable personal asset and is a key to success in many professions.

Completion of this degree helps students understand human behavior from several perspectives in psychological science, develop their ability to apply and synthesize that knowledge in specific psychological domains (e.g., developmental, social, personality, cognitive, behavioral neuroscience, clinical), and learn the fundamentals of psychological research methods in order to be a critical evaluator of scientific knowledge of human behavior.  You will learn important skills such as problem identification and application of research findings, critical thinking skills, and communication skills (writing, visual, verbal).

Careers that are available for students with a Bachelor's degree in Psychological Sciences are varied and include early childhood behavioral specialist, occupational therapy assistant, administrative assistant, science technician, case manager, and many others. The BS in Psychological Sciences degree is also valuable for students interested in pursuing a masters’ degree in applied mental health professions such as clinical mental health counseling or social work, and in other related graduate programs.

The Bachelor of Arts in Spanish provides students with a socio-cultural and historical background as well as linguistic abilities to engage with Spanish-speaking populations from around the world in a variety of social and cultural contexts. Through linguistic, literary and cultural approaches to the study of the Spanish language, out students develop speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills that allow them to understand and interact effectively with diverse Hispanic cultures. Throughout this process the students develop cognitive skills in critical thinking and analysis and recognize the importance of being able to function in a global society. With their linguistic abilities in Spanish they are better able to compete for career opportunities in the domestic and global job markets and are prepared to become productive, responsible members of the local, national and international communities in which they live and work.

The Northern Arizona University Dental Hygiene Department offers the only Bachelor’s Degree in Dental Hygiene in the State of Arizona. With a national reputation for educating dental hygiene professionals since its inception in 1973, the program offers a high-quality education. Students complete two years of prerequisite didactic instruction in preparatory areas such as human anatomy and physiology, chemistry, microbiology, nutrition, human behavior and statistics and then apply to the program. Once students enter the program, a strong emphasis is placed on gaining extensive clinical experience.  Regular clinic rotations require students to provide dental hygiene care at the NAU Dental Hygiene Clinic, the Hopi Health Care Facility, the Yavapai Apache Dental Clinic, Flagstaff Medical Center, and at North Country Healthcare. Faculty connect these field experiences to coursework, so students actively apply their knowledge of Oral Pathology, Oral Medicine, Pharmacology and Periodontics to their work with patients in the clinic.  In addition to regular clinical rotations, students must complete a minimum two-week summer externship in a dental public health facility serving American Indian, military, or underserved populations throughout Arizona, in selected sites outside Arizona,  or Internationally. Graduates are prepared to practice in diverse settings with special emphasis on rural communities and other underserved populations through a curriculum centered in public health. Their capstone project requires the origination of a public health project that requires exhaustive assessment and planning. Projects are then implemented and outcomes are evaluated in a final written report.  This public health emphasis specifically prepares graduates to write grant proposals and serve in public health administrative roles. The future of dentistry is moving towards the development of a dental therapist; a new Masters prepared dental midlevel provider. Students graduating from NAU’s Bachelor of Science in Dental Hygiene are optimally poised to enter advanced dental therapy programs, work in independent practice, and/or work in affiliated practice.

The BSCS degree is accredited by the Computing Accreditation Commission of ABET and provides exceptional career flexibility and a broad range of opportunities in programming and software development. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, software developers are among the fastest growing and most rewarding occupations with an exceptionally strong job outlook through 2024 (17% growth).

Graduates with this degree are well-qualified to work for large software development companies like Microsoft, Apple, Google, IBM, Lockheed Martin, Intel, Honeywell, and other software-centric companies and startups. This degree provides a strong foundation for further graduate study in an MS or PhD program; students who are not planning on graduate study may also be interested in the BS in Applied Computer Science program.