Bachelor of Arts in Sociology

at Shorelight Group - University of Massachusetts - Boston USA

The IR major gives students the opportunity to explore how peoples and nations interact across political boundaries.  Students in the major study international relations from the perspective of multiple disciplines and examine topics such as:  international political economy, conflict and cooperation, human rights and international organizations, regional and socio-cultural studies, globalization and transnationalism, and international development.  Students in this major are able to take courses drawn from many different academic departments and programs at UMass Boston.

The Political Science major allows students to study political institutions, processes, policies, and problems in a manner that is both practical and evaluative. Students will develop both factual and analytic knowledge permitting them to evaluate political phenomena at the local, national, international levels. Courses typically draw on current data, historical studies, and theoretical approaches in an effort to formulate standards for the appraisal of political life and the performance of political institutions. Scholarship in political science touches on virtually every aspect of our encounters with other people — not merely how societies are governed but also the consequences of political structures, processes, and beliefs for human welfare.

Management major prepares students for specific management responsibilities and results in a bachelor of science degree from the College of Management (CM) at UMass Boston. The program is built on a solid foundation in the arts and humanities achieved by completing CM's general education requirements while also being immersed in business theory and practice.

The learning goals for the bachelor of science in management (BSM) program are for students to:

• Demonstrate proficiency in oral and written communication skills.
• Develop critical thinking and quantitative reasoning skills.
• Demonstrate sound ethical reasoning skills.
• Integrate understanding of issues concerning diversity and globalization in business.

The purpose of marketing is to find and keep customers. Employers in today’s economic environment actively seek competent, committed individuals for a variety of upwardly mobile careers in the field of marketing. The marketing concentration provides students with an in-depth understanding of the most current thinking and practices in strategic marketing techniques along with the analytical, communication, and computer skills their employers expect.

The Information Technology major offered through UMass Boston's College of Management is designed to offer pathways to highly-demanded careers in IT for both high school graduates and students of Massachusetts community colleges. Our small classes ensure personalized attention from IT faculty while our ties to the Greater Boston business and technical communities add an extra dimension of learning to our program of business information technology education. The IT major offers an “applications-path” format for students which includes a core of technical knowledge (nine courses), an area of specialization or track within IT (four or five courses, depending on track selection), three professional electives in an application or domain area (preferably outside of IT but within business), and two wrap-up courses (project management and IT capstone), in addition to general education requirements.

The IT major is project based.  Every exercise assigned throughout the BSIT is designed to be of the kind that a student might encounter in his or her work: collaboration, competence, and outcomes assessment are the hallmark characteristics of the program.  Students will learn how to use IT to solve real-world problems within the context of a field in which they wish to work. Graduates will be familiar with, and be able to apply, the following core information technologies to solve business problems:

• Programming
• Networking
• Databases
• Web technologies

In addition, the BSIT program offers four specialization tracks: business intelligence1, computer forensics1, information architecture1 and systems administration.

Computer Forensics Track
The Information Technology (IT) major is a jointly offered program between the College of Management (CM) and the College of Science and Mathematics (CSM) at the University of Massachusetts Boston. The IT major consists of a common core of ten courses, a track of four to six courses in a particular area of specialization (the computer forensics track requires five courses), a common capstone course, and three professional electives.

This interdisciplinary major introduces students to a number of perspectives from which to study American social and cultural life.  The work we do begins from the premises that “America” itself has been a contested term for centuries, and that the people who call themselves “American” have consistently been engaged in conversations over and around the meaning of that term.  Our courses offer investigations of America’s past and present in a global context through critical analysis of the ways that race, class, gender, and sexuality help constitute American institutions and people.

From our introductory courses (“American Identities” and “American Dreams, American Realities”) through a variety of intensive capstone seminars students develop the ability to understand the texts and contexts, and the representations and realities that have most powerfully shaped the political and aesthetic landscape of the United States.

The Philosophy and Public Policy major (PPP) is designed for students interested in the application of philosophical ideas and tools to the analysis of public policy issues. Its interdisciplinary approach combines a solid preparation in political philosophy with study of public policy issues in philosophy and other departments. This major prepares students for eventual careers in government, politics, or the law.

Preparing environmental policy and management professionals, our nationally-recognized BA in Environmental Science program integrates policy, management, and law with the natural sciences. Students gain practical experiences at the intersection of science and policy through coursework and real-world problem solving in our senior capstone course, internships, research, and cooperative education programs. Majors may focus their studies on policy and management (Policy and Management Track), policy-earth systems (Earth and Hydrologic Science Track), and policy-marine systems (Marine Science Track).

• Students will be able to apply the scientific method and design appropriate experiments to answer environmental science questions.  
• Students will understand the contributions of laboratory, field, and survey data collection and analysis for approaching environmental science problems.
• Students will be able to analyze and critique environmental questions across multiple natural and social science perspectives and research approaches.
• Students will demonstrate analytical and quantitative proficiencies to analyze environmental and/or social science data.
• Students will understand the system interactions and feedbacks between human activities and social institutions and the natural environment.
• Students will be experienced in communicating their learnings both in writing, visually, and orally, and for specific and general audiences.

UMass Boston's MBA is a streamlined 12-course, AACSB-accredited, immersive business program. focused on equipping you with the knowledge and skills you need to succeed as a business leader. The program is designed for professionals who want to gain a deeper understanding of the ever-changing business world to advance their career, change careers, or start their own business. Explore foundational business theories, gain experience with emerging technologies, and develop your analytical skills.

Advancements in IT have revolutionized nearly every facet of human existence. Individuals and organizations communicate, connect, collaborate, and compete through increasingly sophisticated computer networks, systems, and devices. In a rapidly globalizing economy, the knowledge of how to effectively deploy IT assets to manage customer relationships, data collection, and analysis, supply chains, workflows, or security concerns can make the difference between success and failure for individual managers and entire corporations. Coursework and student resources help students develop the communication, presentation, and analytical skills, as well as the technical, quantitative, and decision-making abilities required of contemporary managers.

The standard major in philosophy provides a general and comprehensive knowledge of the basic historical and systematic themes in philosophy. It will give a sound training both for those who anticipate going to graduate school or those who simply wish to acquire the broadly applicable skills of critical thinking and academic writing.

The majors in ethics, social, and political philosophy and in philosophy and public policy are intended for students who have a specific concern with questions of value as they apply to individuals, society, and public policy. These majors, in different ways, provide a broad outlook on these problems and attempted solutions to them, but should not in general be considered the best preparation for graduate work in philosophy. These majors, will, however, serve as a good liberal arts base for careers in government, the law, or social service.