The bachelor of science (B.S.) in computer engineering prepares graduates for a rewarding career in engineering. UC Santa Cruz computer engineering graduates will gain a thorough grounding in the principles and practices of computer engineering and the scientific and mathematical principles upon which they are built; they will be prepared for further education (both formal and informal) and for productive employment in industry. Because computer engineering is so broad, the B.S. in computer engineering offers four specialized concentrations for completing the program: systems programming, computer systems, networks, and digital hardware

Systems Programming Concentration

The systems programming concentration focuses on software systems: courses include operating systems, compilers, software engineering, and advanced programming. Students finishing this concentration are very well prepared for building large software systems of all types. This concentration is the closest one to a computer science major-the main differences are that it does not require computer science theory courses, but because of the core computer engineering requirements, includes more hardware and electronics than a computer science bachelor's degree.

Computer Systems Concentration

The computer systems concentration provides a balance between software and hardware design. Students are prepared for a large variety of different design tasks, especially those requiring the integration of hardware and software systems, but may need further training for any particular specialization.

Networks Concentration

The networks concentration focuses on communication between computers, covering both network hardware and protocols. Students finishing this concentration are well prepared for the design of wired and wireless network systems.

Digital Hardware Concentration

The digital hardware concentration focuses on hardware design and includes more electronics than the other concentrations. Students finishing this concentration are well prepared for building hardware systems. This concentration is the closest one to an electronics major; the main differences are that it does not require as much electronics theory or analog electronic design, but because of the core computer engineering requirements, requires more software skills.

Program Learning Outcomes

For the Computer Engineering B.S. degree, the program learning outcomes are:

✔ An ability to apply knowledge of mathematics, science, and engineering;

✔ An ability to design a system, component, or process to meet desired needs within realistic constraints;

✔ An ability to function effectively on teams that establish goals, plan tasks, meet deadlines, and analyze risk and uncertainty;

✔ An ability to communicate effectively; and

✔ An ability to use the techniques, skills, and modern engineering tools necessary for engineering practice.

Founded in 1969, community studies is the oldest interdisciplinary academic program at UC Santa Cruz. The hallmarks of community studies are its focus on social justice and its distinctive pedagogy integrating classroom learning and extended field study. Community studies was a national pioneer in experiential education and its curricular model has been emulated widely. Community studies also was a pioneer in addressing principles of social justice, specifically inequities arising from race, class and gender dynamics in society, and in critically assessing social change strategies.

The undergraduate major offers highly motivated and focused students the opportunity to pursue a rigorous course of study combining on- and off-campus learning. On campus, students complete a core curriculum examining the histories and contemporary dynamics of social justice movements, the nonprofit sector, public policy, and social enterprise. The core curriculum works in tandem with topical coursework that develops social science knowledge related to the program's twin emphases of economic justice and health equity. Off campus, students spend six months on field study participating in the work of an organization, contributing to its mission and developing a critical analysis of its wider field of social action. Students work independently but with guidance from both campus faculty and an on-site supervisor from the field study organization.

The undergraduate core curriculum begins with the development of skills in social analysis and field observation/participation while deepening students’ knowledge of specific histories and theoretical perspectives essential to the study of communities and social transformation. Next, through the six-month full-time field study, students engage with specific communities through immersion and participation in an organization pursuing a social justice mission. This intensive and extended field study experience is a distinguishing feature of the community studies major. Finally, students return to campus to analyze their field study experience and its relation to their classroom-based learning. The major culminates with an original senior capstone integrating academic coursework with field study experience and analysis.

With the guidance of faculty and staff advisers, community studies students choose field placements related to the program’s areas of focus in health equity and economic justice. In the past, placements have been arranged with community health clinics, women’s and feminist organizations, immigrant rights centers, media advocacy organizations, homeless resource and support groups, sustainable development projects, queer and transgender organizations, neighborhood or workers’ collectives, civil rights groups, community food security programs, legal clinics, community-based cultural organizations, programs for seniors, tenant or labor unions, tenant organizing projects, HIV/AIDS advocacy groups, housing rights advocates, harm-reduction programs, government agencies and the offices of elected officials, and still other organizations committed to and working for social good. As political, economic, cultural and technological landscapes shift, so do the needs and opportunities for social justice organizing. Community studies is attuned to how social transformations generate new opportunities for field study learning. Students graduate from community studies having engaged with a dynamic world through a unique mix of traditional pedagogy and direct experience.

Program Learning Outcomes

Community studies identifies eight Program Learning Outcomes (PLOs) that capture exciting cross currents within the major. The PLOs combine classroom and experiential learning related to the social justice domains of health equity and economic justice. They also enumerate expectations for student achievement in social science research and writing and communication skills within a diverse society.

Critical Thinking

Students earning a B.A. in community studies will be able to:

✔ Demonstrate deep knowledge of the history, causes, and contemporary manifestations of specific social justice issues related to health and economic inequality;

✔ Deconstruct institutional power residing in private enterprise, government, the media, and/or the non-‐profit sector;

✔ Analyze how communities attempt to overcome problems associated with inequality, cultural stigma, prejudice, and discrimination;

✔ Articulate research questions, methods, and findings appropriate to social science inquiry; and

✔ Demonstrate analytical writing ability that effectively integrates theoretical and experiential knowledge about social justice.

Community Engagement

Students earning a B.A. in community studies will be able to:

✔ Identify, analyze, and help to construct strategies for social change through participation in the social justice work of an organization;

✔ Exhibit ethnographic observation skills by maintaining a regular record of detailed field notes;

✔ Demonstrate effective communication with the diverse constituencies involved in social justice work.

Cognitive Science has emerged in the last few decades as a major discipline that promises to be increasingly important in the 21st century. Focused on achieving a scientific understanding of how human cognition works and how cognition is possible, its subject matter encompasses cognitive functions (such as memory and perception), the structure and use of human language, the evolution of the mind, artificial intelligence, and more

Program Learning Outcomes

Students who complete the cognitive science major should demonstrate competency in:

✔ Application of knowledge with critical thinking skills. Students should be able to use critical thinking to evaluate and interpret evidence, and to apply cognitive science concepts, theories, and research findings to individual, social, and cultural issues.

✔ Application of research methods with values and integrity. Students should be able to apply basic research methods in cognitive science, with sensitivity to ethical principles.

✔ Communication skills. Students should be able to demonstrate effective communication skills following professional conventions in cognitive science appropriate to purpose and context.

✔ Awareness of methodological and theoretical diversity. Students should be able to understand the complexities of cognition using neural, embodied, social, and/or technological approaches.

Classical studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz, combines features of traditional programs, such as solid grounding in the ancient languages, with innovative, interdisciplinary approaches. While the core of the program is focused on courses in the ancient Greek and Latin languages, the program also encompasses courses in history, the history of art and visual culture, literature, philosophy, politics, and theater arts, from the Bronze Age through the Early Christian era. Recent offerings have included everything from introductory surveys in classical mythology and Greek and Roman history, to advanced courses in women and gender in Ancient Egypt and modern ancient drama. Students are encouraged to study the literary and material artifacts of Greece and Rome within the larger context of ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern cultures.

The classical studies program provides the nurturing atmosphere and personal attention associated with a small liberal arts college, in the context of a large university. We offer students an opportunity to work in small classes with a distinguished and dedicated teaching faculty and excellent fellow students. Public lectures, guest speakers, and frequent social events bring students and faculty together and strengthen the program.

Classical studies students have the opportunity to give close, sustained attention to an area of study, from an almost unlimited variety of perspectives. For example, students with an interest in contemporary philosophy and political theory might want to concentrate in Greek, taking upper-division courses in Greek, history, philosophy, and politics. Students with an interest in European literature might want to concentrate in Latin, taking upper-division courses in Latin, history, and literature in translation. Students planning on pursuing a classics degree at the Ph.D. level should concentrate most of their coursework in the Greek and Latin languages themselves.

Classical studies is excellent preparation for further study in a wide variety of graduate and professional programs including history, art history, comparative literature, English, philosophy, law, education, and publishing.

Program Learning Outcomes

Students who complete the classical studies major graduate with the following knowledge and skills:

Language

✔ Competence in one or more ancient languages. At present offerings include Greek and Latin (full curriculum offered yearly). Majors have also taken Biblical Hebrew and Hieroglyphics (offered less often).

Interdisciplinary Exposure

✔ Familiarity with one or more of the disciplinary approaches represented by the faculty in the program, as well as other relevant approaches in the division and the university. Courses at present credited for the major include (but are not limited to) offerings in: history, literature, philosophy, archaeology, art history, and theater arts. For the skills and outcomes fostered by these disciplines see the reports of the relevant departments.

Collaboration

✔ Provide constructive and effective critiques of each other’s work.

✔ Complete a shared research project.

Research, Critical Reading, Writing

✔ Gather and engage critically with primary sources.

✔ Evaluate competing interpretations and multiple narratives.

✔ Compile a bibliography.

✔ Present clear and compelling arguments, based on critical analysis of diverse historical sources, and effectively communicate your interpretations in written essays and/or other media.

Scope and Thematics

✔ Through completion of a combination of courses, become familiar with the ancient cultures of:

- the western Mediterranean

- the eastern Mediterranean

- the Near East

✔ Comparative study: whether of diverse ancient cultures or of ancient and later cultures

✔ Reception: ancient culture as understood by later traditions

Chemistry is central to modern science and, ultimately, most phenomena in biology, medicine, geology, and the environmental sciences can be described in terms of the chemical and physical behavior of atoms and molecules. Because of the wide appeal and utility of chemistry, UCSC offers many lower-division courses, differing in emphasis and style, to meet diverse needs. Students should also note the numerous upper-division course offerings and select those most suitable to their academic interests.

The bachelor of science major program is designed for students who intend to pursue a professional career in chemistry. It is rigorous and broadly covers all chemistry subdisciplines.

Program Learning Outcomes

Learning outcomes summarize the most important knowledge, skills, abilities, and attitudes that students are expected to develop throughout their studies.

Students graduating with a B.S. in chemistry should be able to:

✔ Demonstrate mastery of a broad set of chemical knowledge concerning the fundamentals in the basic areas of the discipline (organic, inorganic, analytical, physical, and biochemistry).

✔ Solve area-specific problems by identifying the essential parts of a problem, formulating a strategy for solving the problem, applying appropriate techniques to arrive at a solution, testing the correctness of the solution, and interpreting their results.

✔ Use modern library search tools (such as SciFinder, PubMed, or Web of Science) to locate and retrieve scientific information about a topic, chemical, chemical technique, or an issue relating to chemistry.

✔ Know and follow the proper procedures and regulations for safe handling and use of chemicals.

✔ Understand the objective of their chemical experiments, properly carry out the experiments, and appropriately record and analyze the results.

✔ Use computers in data acquisition and processing, and use available software as a tool in data analysis.

✔ Use standard laboratory equipment, modern instrumentation, and classical techniques to carry out experiments.

✔ Communicate the concepts and results of their laboratory experiments through effective writing and/or oral communication using the discipline standards for reporting and citation.

✔ Collaborate effectively as part of a team to solve problems, debate different points of view, and interact productively with a diverse group of team members.

The requirements for the bachelor of arts (B.A.) in chemistry have been kept to a minimum so that students may tailor their program to their own purposes (for example: to pursue a double major, to pursue more independent research, to complete major requirements late in their college career, to take more physical and biological science courses outside of chemistry to enter an interdisciplinary area such as health sciences or education, or to take more courses in other arts and sciences disciplines). While more flexible, the degree is still suitable for students who intend to pursue graduate studies or careers in chemistry.

Program Learning Outcomes

Learning outcomes summarize the most important knowledge, skills, abilities, and attitudes that students are expected to develop over the course of their studies.

Students graduating with a B.A. in chemistry should be able to:

✔ Demonstrate mastery of a broad set of chemical knowledge concerning the fundamentals in the basic areas of the discipline (organic, inorganic, and physical chemistry).

✔ Solve area-specific problems by identifying the essential parts of a problem, formulating a strategy for solving the problem, applying appropriate techniques to arrive at a solution, testing the correctness of the solution, and interpreting their results.

✔ Use modern library search tools (such as SciFinder, PubMed, or Web of Science) to locate and retrieve scientific information about a topic, chemical, chemical technique, or an issue relating to chemistry.

✔ Know and follow the proper procedures and regulations for safe handling and use of chemicals.

✔ Understand the objective of their chemical experiments, properly carry out the experiments, and appropriately record and analyze the results.

✔ Use computers in data acquisition and processing, and use available software as a tool in data analysis.

✔ Use standard laboratory equipment, modern instrumentation, and classical techniques to carry out experiments.

✔ Communicate the concepts and results of their laboratory experiments through effective writing and/or oral communication using the discipline standards for reporting and citation.

✔ Collaborate effectively as part of a team to solve problems, debate different points of view, and interact productively with a diverse group of team members.

Ethnic and Gender Studies is a major that gives you the intellectual knowledge and tools to be an agent of social change, to thrive professionally, and to flourish as a critic of social structures in the United States. Students in this major learn how multiple social identities – including ethnicity, race, class, gender, sexuality, and/or ability – intersect and shape our lives, contributing to our life experiences, our opportunities, and the challenges faced by members of our communities. Students also learn how communities can engage in collective action to resist and address oppression by affirming their agency and humanity. Students completing this major would be prepared to take what they learn and apply it to work as educators, community organizers, policy makers, advocates, and leaders, and are prepared to pursue many professions where knowledge of diverse communities is essential for success. Students in this major can also pursue law degrees, graduate studies in many fields including ethnic studies, feminist and gender studies, cultural studies, and American Studies.

Program Learning Outcomes

✔ Cultural Expression/Representations

Analyze the intellectual traditions, popular culture, and everyday practices of people of color/ethnic communities and how gender shapes these cultural expressions.  Explain how representations shape our understanding of race, ethnicity, and gender.

✔ Communities and Social Movements

Understand and evaluate how social structures shape the lived experiences and life chances of people in racialized and gendered ways and how people shape the conditions of their lives through collective action and coalition-building.

✔ Historical Formations

Describe and critically analyze the different historical dynamics, including colonialism and slavery, that have impacted the lived experiences of indigenous people, people of color/ethnic communities and different gendered groups in the United States and/or transnationally.

✔ Theories of Race and Gender

Recognize and apply key theoretical formations in ethnic and gender studies such as racial formation theory, intersectionality, racial capitalism, queer of color critique, Marxist feminism, relational-cultural theory and/or critical race theory.  Illustrate how histories of colonialism and slavery shape social categories of race and gender.

The Environmental Studies major provides you with a broad foundation in the environmental sciences, social sciences, environmental economics and policy, environmental history and communication. It also provides you with local, regional and global perspectives on current environmental issues and problems.

You will be able to think broadly on local, regional and global levels, understand and synthesize information from multiple disciplines and perspectives, communicate effectively and ethically, and to use your knowledge and skills to promote sustainable, equitable and healthy human and non-human communities.

Program Learning Outcomes

✔ MLO 1: Critical Thinking About the Complexity of Environmental Situations

Environmental Studies graduates will critically evaluate the balance involving multiple economic, social, and ecological stakeholder perspectives through written communication.

✔ MLO 2: Social Justice & Civic Engagement in the Enviroment

Environmental Studies graduates will practice civic engagement and reflect on their intercultural experiences in the promotion of sustainability and social justice across diverse communities.

✔ MLO 3: Communicating Science to Nontechnical Audiences

Environmental Studies graduates utilize scientific literacy, information literacy, technological tools and quantitative reasoning to translate environmental concepts to diverse audiences at local, regional, and global scales using oral communication.

✔ MLO 4: Specialized Knowledge

Environmental Studies graduates will demonstrate knowledge at a level appropriate for future professions and graduate school.

In the Environmental Science, Technology & Policy major you will learn about ecosystems, watersheds, plants, and animals. You will develop technical skills in quantitative analysis and geographic information systems, and learn how organizations work together to manage the environment in the context of environmental laws and policies. The major emphasizes:

Strong preparation for careers and graduate study in a wide range of fields including environmental resource assessment and management, environmental consulting, and science education

A rigorous, interdisciplinary science foundation integrating biology, chemistry, physics and the earth sciences

Hands-on experience with advanced technologies for collecting, analyzing, visualizing and communicating scientific data

Active, field-oriented learning through frequent outdoor field trips, field and laboratory experiments, community-based service projects and internships

Real-world application of science and technology for the benefit of society

An understanding of the social, economic and political processes that influence when and how scientific information can improve environmental decision making

Strong collaboration and communication skills, including written, oral, and multimedia communication formats

Program Learning Outcomes

✔ MLO 1: Quantitative and Communication Skills

ESTP graduates display and analyze data, use quantitative evidence to evaluate hypotheses and interpret environmental patterns and processes, and communicate their findings clearly in written and oral formats.

✔ MLO 2: Professional Standards

ESTP graduates work professionally and ethically to promote inclusive environmental decision-making based on diverse stakeholder perspectives.

✔ MLO 3: Environmental Science Knowledge

ESTP graduates demonstrate environmental science content knowledge appropriate for careers or graduate school.

✔ MLO 4: Integration and Application

ESTP graduates synthesize and apply scientific knowledge and skills to inform environmental management decisions.

If you transferred into CSUMB as an AS-T-certified student in Environmental Science, you must complete the following courses for the bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science, Technology, and Policy. If you are unsure about your transfer status, please talk to an advisor.