UC Santa Cruz Undergraduate Majors: A Comprehensive Guide
The University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC) offers a diverse range of undergraduate majors, catering to a wide array of academic interests and career aspirations. From the humanities and arts to the sciences and engineering, UCSC provides a stimulating environment for students to explore their passions and develop the skills necessary for success in a rapidly changing world. This guide provides an overview of the undergraduate majors available at UCSC, including combined majors and special programs.
Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) Degrees
UCSC offers a broad selection of Bachelor of Arts degrees, designed to provide students with a well-rounded education in the liberal arts. These programs emphasize critical thinking, communication skills, and a broad understanding of different disciplines.
Anthropology
The Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology explores the diversity of human experiences through time and across the globe, teaching what it means to be human through a social justice lens. The program is structured to provide a broad understanding of three main subfields: archaeology, biological anthropology, and cultural anthropology.
Agroecology
The Bachelor of Arts in Agroecology focuses on solving human problems by understanding the intersections between agriculture and the environment. Drawing on biology, environmental studies, sociology, economics, and more, students learn about sustainable farming, soil health, plant ecology, biodiversity, resource management, and conservation.
Business Management Economics
The Bachelor of Arts in Business Management Economics combines the analytical tools of economics with management theory and practice. Students take courses in accounting, finance, and marketing while building strong quantitative skills in statistics and mathematics. This degree is ideal for students who want to pursue careers as consultants or project managers or are considering post-graduation certifications in accounting or finance.
Read also: A Guide to Santa Clara University Academics
Community Studies
The Bachelor of Arts in Community Studies couples social justice-based core coursework with electives tailored to each student’s unique topical focus area. A hallmark of the program is the mandatory six-month full-time field study, where students work directly with local, national, and global organizations engaged in social change.
Economics
The Bachelor of Arts in Economics prepares students with an understanding of how individuals, firms, governments, and other organizations within our society make choices, and how these choices affect the society’s use of its available resources. Curriculum focuses on a combination of theory and mathematical and statistical methods.
Education, Democracy, and Justice
The Bachelor of Arts in Education, Democracy, and Justice offers a thorough grounding in educational theory, practice, and research through a social justice lens. It encourages students to question dominant power structures and advocate for more inclusive and equitable educational practices for diverse cultural and linguistic groups. Note that the major and minors in education do not provide a California Teaching Credential. The state of California does not allow academic majors in education that lead to a teaching credential.
Environmental Studies
The Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Studies combines the natural and social sciences to provide a deep understanding of environmental issues and the skills and training needed to address them. Students may also choose to add a concentration in Geographic Information Systems, Global Environmental Justice, or Conservation Science and Policy.
Global Economics
The Bachelor of Arts in Global Economics provides a deep understanding of global economic systems, international trade and institutions, and the role of economic policy in a globalized world. It includes gaining language proficiency and cultural understanding of a specific region of choice in Latin America, Asia, Europe, or Africa.
Read also: Explore Santa Clara University
Global and Community Health
The Bachelor of Arts in Global and Community Health provides an interdisciplinary education on collective human health and wellbeing. Students understand the biological, environmental, social, cultural, institutional, and public policy-based dimensions of public health. This includes applying these competencies through informed-analysis and real-world practice, with endless opportunities for experiential learning.
Latin American and Latino Studies
The Bachelor of Arts in Latin American and Latino Studies explores the interconnection of people and regions across the Western Hemisphere. Students learn how to analyze contemporary social, political, economic, and environmental issues and apply their knowledge through faculty-mentored research, community-centered experiential learning, and study abroad.
Legal Studies
The Bachelor of Arts in Legal Studies examines how law intersects with our daily lives, including the impacts of the legislative process, political participation, and cultural values in shaping our society. Students choose from topical courses on subjects like legal theory, civil and human rights, American political development, and international law.
Politics
The Bachelor of Arts in Politics focuses on the ideologies, movements, and systems of power shaping our society and future. Students explore issues in historical, cross-national, cross-cultural, and theoretical contexts. Students learn to evaluate differing political arguments using evidence and logic.
Psychology
The Bachelor of Arts in Psychology helps students understand human behavior through an understanding of cognitive, developmental, and social psychology. This degree offers two distinct tracks, the general psychology major, and the intensive psychology major, for students who intend to pursue graduate education.
Read also: A Deep Dive into SCU's Undergraduate Enrollment
Sociology
The Bachelor of Arts in Sociology provides students with an understanding of the social forces, movements, and contexts that shape individual lives and actions, with a focus on social change and social justice. Coursework options include topics like political economies and ecologies, development, sustainability, human geography, media, culture, science and technology, and identity.
Bachelor of Science (B.S.) Degrees
UCSC offers a variety of Bachelor of Science degrees, focusing on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. These programs provide students with a strong foundation in scientific principles and hands-on research experience.
Cognitive Science
The Bachelor of Science in Cognitive Science explores the complexities of cognition using neural, embodied, social, and technological approaches. It prepares students to undertake research using multiple methodologies.
Other Bachelor's Degrees
Bachelor of Music (B.M.)
A Bachelor of Music (B.M.) degree in music also available.
Combined Majors
In addition to traditional majors, UCSC offers combined majors, allowing students to pursue interdisciplinary studies. These programs combine two fields of study, providing students with a unique perspective and skill set. Combined majors currently available include those in Earth sciences/anthropology, economics/mathematics, environmental studies/biology, environmental studies/Earth sciences, environmental studies/economics, Latin American and Latino studies/politics, and Latin American and Latino studies/sociology. Environmental Studies / Earth Sciences Combined B.A.
Concentrations
Some programs give students the option of following a general course of study or selecting a concentration; other programs require students to choose a concentration. A concentration is an emphasis within a program.
Five-Year Contiguous Bachelor's/Master's Pathways
UCSC offers several five-year contiguous bachelor's/master's pathways, allowing students to earn both a bachelor's and master's degree in a streamlined program. These pathways are available in various fields, including:
- Chemistry or biology programs (majors administered by the departments of MCD Biology, EE Biology, Chemistry and Biochemistry, and Biomolecular engineering) and the M.S.
- Earth sciences or environmental sciences and the M.S.
- Physics
- Applied mathematics, mathematics, computer science, robotics engineering, physics, applied physics, physics (astrophysics), and the M.S.
Graduate Programs
While this article focuses on undergraduate majors, it's worth noting some of the graduate programs offered at UCSC, as they may influence undergraduate choices for students considering advanced studies. These include:
- Feminist Studies Ph.D.
- Games and Playble Media Professional M.S.
- History M.A.
- Theater Arts M.A.
Education and Teaching Credentials
UCSC offers the professional clear Cross-cultural, Language, and Academic Development (CLAD) and Bilingual Cross-Cultural, Language and Academic Development (BCLAD) multiple subjects credentials, which are used in self-contained elementary classrooms (K-6) where all subjects are taught by the same teacher.
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