Bachelor of Arts, Major in History

at San Jose State University USA

At the core of all science, physics helps us understand chemical reactions, protein folding, the Earth’s interior, and the life cycle of stars. Physicists invented the semiconductor, the laser, and the electron microscope. They play key roles in the design and operation of spacecraft and in the development of electronic and optical instrumentation. The Department of Physics and Astronomy offers a Master of Science in Physics and two concentrations: Computational Physics and Modern Optics. Our faculty are experts in lasers and optics, computational physics, condensed matter, astrophysics, and physics education research. The department receives on average approximately $1.8 million annually in external funding for sponsored research.

All students wishing to study graphic design, interior design or industrial design are admitted to the BA Design Studies Program. The BA Design Studies program is a liberal arts degree that allows students to choose from a broad range of university classes to curate their education with an emphasis on design. Students wishing to specialize in or achieve a  BFA in Interior Design, BFA in Graphic Design, or the BS in Industrial Design must successfully pass the required portfolio reviews held by each program.

If you see your future career as a call to adventure, the International Business concentration may be for you. The concentration provides a broad base of business courses and additional coursework focused on global business. As a graduate, you will be well prepared for a career with a global business or organization. Your further marketability will depend on your personal characteristics, your life experience, and your academic performance in the International Business concentration. Employing companies or organizations then provide further training necessary for the job. An undergraduate degree in International Business is not a professional degree or one that targets a specific job. Rather, it is an excellent base on which to build.

The Master of Science in Meteorology prepares students for high-level professional responsibility, independent research, and continued graduate work in atmospheric science. Graduate-level theoretical and applied meteorology courses and a substantial research project lead to the preparation of the master’s thesis, the culmination of the degree plan of study. Departmental opportunities for financial support include research and teaching assistantships.

The Department of Meteorology and Climate Science has one of the most active research programs at SJSU. The meteorology faculty has a wide range of expertise and supports a broad range of research activity. Their areas of specialization include Weather Analysis and Forecasting, Fire Weather, Urban Meteorology and Air Pollution, Atmospheres of Other Planets, Tropical Meteorology, Radar and Satellite Remote Sensing, Cloud and Aerosol Physics, Atmospheric Dynamics, Meteorological Data Processing, Data Communications, and Data Acquisition and Display.

The M.A. in Kinesiology with no concentration is designed to accommodate students who desire an interdisciplinary program of study in Kinesiology. Students work directly with their academic advisor to select a set of courses that will aid them in meeting their specific academic goals. This degree option is well-suited for students who wish to acquire greater breadth to their knowledge in Kinesiology, or students who simply want a generalized program of study.

The emphasis on applied economics provides training in practical, problem-solving techniques appropriate for careers in teaching, private business, the public sector, banking, and consulting. Although this program emphasize applied economics, it also guides students in the rigorous preparation necessary for doctoral programs.

Students in the BFA program will have accomplished these objectives and will have produced a portfolio of work that will enable them to apply to graduate schools. The required BFA Seminar gives students an opportunity to consider contemporary and historical issues and allows them to evaluate their work and the work of others within a broader context. BFA students are required to complete a senior project that reflects a personal direction. They exhibit the resulting body of work that is then reviewed by a committee of faculty members.

The overall objectives of the Pictorial Art Area are as follows: Visual sensitivity in the pictorial art is developed in a number of ways. In Beginning Drawing students learn to translate the perceived world into two-dimensional constructs such as line and tone. While formal elements of composition are specifically addressed in 2-D Concepts, they remain an integral part of all pictorial courses. As students progress through more advanced courses, they engage in more sophisticated levels of visual thinking. This will be reflected in their work in the utilization of more complex formal means, both representational and abstract, and to express content. In critique sessions, students are encouraged to articulate visual ideas.

In Pictorial Art, students learn to conceptualize their ideas and execute them. This is true on every level from introductory courses to the most advanced. In some courses, such as Expressive Drawing, the emphasis is on the discovery of personal content through abstraction of the observed world or through the development of non-representational vocabulary. In other courses, such as Representational Drawing and Life Drawing, the emphasis is on perception and learning more traditional methods of rendering and depiction. In more advanced courses students are given the opportunity to choose the stylistic means of expression which best gives form to their visual ideas.

Students in Pictorial Art area are exposed to a wide variety of techniques and technical processes. This ranges from the simple and straight-forward use of pencil and charcoal in drawing through the slightly more complex techniques of watercolor, acrylic and oil painting to the more involved processes of hand-drawn and photo-generated serigraphy, as well as the chemical processes of lithography and intaglio printing. By the time they graduate students will be proficient in several of these areas. The Art History requirements for the major give the students a broad understanding of the major movements of the past and present in both the Western and non-Western worlds. In addition, slide lectures and books presented in the classroom put course work into a historical and cultural context.

Professional degree programs lead to careers in performance, composition, jazz studies, and music education including a fifth year credential program. We highlight core courses in our curriculum that include experience in performance, music systems (theory), technology and improvisation. Beyond the core courses, individual contracts or concentrations within the BA and BM degree address professional opportunities that include:

• Credentialed school instruction
• Private school instruction
• Vocalists or instrumentalists for the concert stage, opera, musical theater, jazz
• Composers and/or arrangers for film, television, multimedia
• Sound engineering and music technology
• Conductors in all performance areas
• Arts and education administration
• Writer/scholar in Music or Dance

This is a flexible program of general studies with minimum performance requirements that allows students to combine studies in music with other fields of interest. An entrance audition is required. All students must complete the core classes and then consult the Music Advisor to design a Capstone that includes elective coursework from at least three different areas. BA students wishing to participate in private lessons must also be enrolled in an ensemble.

Our Counseling and Guidance MA degree program prepares individuals to apply the theory and principles of guidance and counseling to the provision of support for the personal, social, educational, and vocational development of students, and the organizing of guidance services within elementary, middle, and secondary educational institutions. It includes instruction in legal and professional requirements, therapeutic counselor intervention, vocational counseling, and related sociological and psychological foundations.

The Bachelor's degree in Recreation is a nationally accredited program comprised of a core set of classes and courses split generally between concentration courses and major electives. Graduates completing one of these concentrations are eligible to apply for national and state certification. While the general recreation degree is the most flexible in terms of choosing related electives, students may instead elect to complete a more specialized course of study in one of our two approved concentrations within the B.S. Recreation Degree.

The Recreation program's mission statement is: Through collaboration, applied learning and scholarship we ensure that individuals, diverse communities, and the Earth flourish by preparing innovative leaders of parks, recreation, tourism, and recreation therapy.

Our vision statement: The Recreation and Recreation Therapy programs will cultivate individual and societal wellness through a thriving transdisciplinary community of faculty, students, alumni and, partners who enjoy learning together and who excel in exploring and co-creating new frontiers of recreation, health, leisure, and play-related scholarship and services