Bachelor of Science in Biology

at Shorelight Group - University of Massachusetts - Boston USA

Our BS program in Computer Science is accredited by the Computing Accreditation Commission of ABET. ABET assures quality for degree programs in applied science, computing, engineering, and technology. The program provides a rigorous education in theory and practice of Computer Science in addition to outside science courses. A BS degree can be used as a basis for many jobs in industry or for graduate work in Computer Science and other fields. We have an Honors Program for students who complete an Honors Thesis.

We offer a curriculum stressing software development. It provides training appropriate for students with interests in areas such as cybersecurity, data mining, artificial intelligence, database management, and software engineering. An aptitude for logical reasoning and mathematics is needed to complete the major successfully, partly because designing programs to solve problems requires good problem-solving skills and partly because some of the requirements are relatively advanced theoretical Computer Science and mathematics courses.

Extremely broad, and relevant to almost everything in our daily life, electrical engineering ranges from fancy toys to highly sophisticated electronics like computers, audio equipment, and video components. A BS degree in electrical engineering prepares students for work in such diverse fields as telecommunications, microelectronics, power electronics, and RF electronics, working for such companies as Raytheon, BAE Systems, Draper Laboratory, and a host of small to medium-sized local and national start-up companies.

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 field of Africana Studies documents and disseminates a specialized body of knowledge about Africa, the Caribbean and especially the United States. We focus on the experiences of the African Diasporas – the global dispersion of peoples of African descent – its history, literature, culture, society, and contributions worldwide. Students are prepared for careers relevant to the development of the African world community and to the rectification of global social ills created by individual and institutional racism.  Students approach the field and subject matter from a rigorous curriculum rooted in the social and cultural history of Peoples of Africa and the Africa Diaspora, and designed to provide practical solutions to challenges facing them from both a local and global context.

The goal of the Criminology and Criminal Justice major is to provide social scientific grounding to issues of crime and criminal justice. Through classes, internships and projects, students explore the nature of criminal behavior, its causes, the role of punishment, and prison as a social institution. Students learn about the criminal justice system, including law enforcement, corrections, and the law. Classes focus on issues central to criminal justice policies and practices, including mental illness, substance use and abuse, racial and ethnic inequality, gender and immigration. Differences among societies and historical trends are also addressed.

A major focus of the criminal justice faculty is to help students connect theory and research with policy and practice in the “real world.” Using current events, their own research and observations, and critical study of criminal justice systems, students better understand broader trends and future options. For example, during classroom discussion and debate, students may consider the rapidly increasing prison population and high cost of incarceration and ask: Who is being incarcerated and why? Do prison alternatives work? How do incarceration policies affect families and communities?

Engineering physics is a branch of applied science that emphasizes both engineering and physics. It is a challenging general alternative to the traditionally more specialized undergraduate engineering curricula, offering flexible options for professional growth. The engineering physics curriculum is designed to provide a firm foundation of basic scientific principles, as well as the theoretical knowledge and skills required for specific engineering applications. The curriculum is equally suitable for students intending to pursue careers in industrial research and development, and for those preparing for graduate studies in a variety of scientific and technical areas.

The basic engineering physics curriculum consists of the first two years of a standard engineering program, followed by upper-division courses equivalent to those required for a bachelor of science degree in physics. Students select a concentration of technical electives in one of a number of currently marketable areas: applied physics, properties of materials, computer science, or digital electronics. Students receive realistic, practical, problem-oriented training in an advanced projects laboratory and seminar, designed with the cooperation of representatives from some of Massachusetts' outstanding high-tech industrial firms.

The Psychology major is a 12-course major.  The requirements of these 12 courses provide students with a foundation in each of five core areas of the discipline of psychology, upper-level coursework in one or more areas and basic information about the research practices used in the field.  The basic structure of the major is represented by four parts.

The description below provides an outline of the major.  The phrase “major requirements” refers to the minimum number and distribution of psychology courses a student must complete successfully in order to graduate as a psychology major. We encourage students to take more than the minimum number of courses in psychology and allied disciplines. Only one of the 12 required classes may be taken pass/fail; the other 11 classes must be taken for a grade.  Eight of the 12 courses for the major must be taken in residence at UMass Boston.

The Ethics, Social and Political Philosophy Major (ESP) is designed for students whose primary philosophical interests are in value questions as they relate to the individual, society and the state, who wish to pursue these questions systematically and in-depth, and who may seek careers in the law, government, social service, or other fields where moral issues and value questions frequently arise.

History courses don’t simply introduce past eras of the world:  they teach students to write, research, and argue effectively.  History majors gain the skills for a wide range of successful careers, from teaching to law to environmental science to business management. Small classes, student camaraderie, internship opportunities, and faculty mentoring in the History Department create a stimulating and rewarding undergraduate experience.

Our goal as a program is to engage UMass Boston students actively with Anthropology's long-standing attention to issues of cultural diversity and to economic stability in both Western and non-Western regions combines with the discipline's holistic, evolutionary, deeply historical, critical, and cross-cultural approaches to offer students powerful resources for understanding current trends that affect their workplaces and their communities.

The first step in becoming an anthropology major is to enroll in Anthropology 105, 106, or 107. These courses provide an overview of the various subfields of anthropology, and all majors are required to take all three courses, although the order in which they are taken is up to the student. One of these courses, and in some cases all three, are prerequisites to nearly all upper-level anthropology courses.