Twenty-first century science educators must be able to help their students develop and apply a scientific perspective to a wide range of information. The science education major is designed to prepare future secondary science teachers in California with a broad background across the sciences—the physical sciences, life sciences, Earth sciences, and space sciences—with advanced specialization in two fields of science (chosen from physics, chemistry, biology, and Earth sciences). The major integrates education coursework and middle and high school classroom internships designed to develop skills and knowledge relevant to teaching K-12 students in the state of California. The major is mainly intended to prepare students for teacher certification programs and the California Subject Examinations for Teachers (CSET), so that they can teach science in California high schools.

Cal Teach is one home base for all students in this major, no matter the choices for specialization. Cal Teach (CaT) provides the required sequence of middle and high school-based internships and associated courses in partnership with schools throughout Santa Cruz County. Each internship placement depends on school schedules and the intern’s schedule, interests, and academic preparation. The CaT seminar courses provide the framework for science education majors to develop classroom-management strategies, practice communicating scientific concepts for non-specialists (children), and design lessons to teach the science standards currently used in K-12 education. Departmental advising is provided by the Physics Department and the program faculty.

The program is designed to prepare outstanding candidates to enter teaching credential programs after completion. Students earn a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree. They do not earn a teaching credential. Most students elect to complete this after graduation. Details of how to prepare for admission to a teaching credential program are available on the Education Department's Careers in K-12 School Teaching page.

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. The program learning outcomes communicate the faculty’s expectations to students, provide a framework for faculty evaluation of the curriculum based on empirical data, and help improve and measure the impact of implemented changes:

✔ Students will demonstrate knowledge and an understanding of scientific connections across the broad spectrum of the sciences.

✔ Students will demonstrate advanced knowledge in two areas of specialization.

✔ Students will show that they have learned laboratory skills in multiple scientific fields, enabling them to take measurements in a laboratory and in the field and analyze the measurements to draw valid conclusions.

✔ Students will communicate scientific concepts effectively and accurately, both orally and in writing, for both college-level and secondary audiences

✔ Students will apply strategies to address a diversity of K-12 learners’ needs.

Psychology is the study of human behavior and the psychological, social, and biological processes related to that behavior.

At UC Santa Cruz, our psychology curricula foster an understanding of the whole person in the context of their lived experience. Our work is grounded in both basic science and real-world issues, with practical applications for individuals, families, schools, institutions, technological innovation, and public policy. We maintain a collaborative research environment that engages students in vital ways.

Program Learning Outcomes

Students who complete the psychology 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 psychological 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 psychology, with sensitivity to ethical principles.

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

✔ Awareness of sociocultural diversity and societal inequality. Students should be able to understand the complexity of sociocultural diversity and societal inequality in the inquiry and analysis of psychological issues.

The study of politics is a critical part of a liberal arts education. Since political issues and practices are embedded in and reflective of the whole experience of a community, the study of politics can constitute the center of a broad-based course of study drawing on history, sociology, anthropology, philosophy, political science, economics, literature, science, and law.

Politics students at the University of California, Santa Cruz have many opportunities for field work and for internship placements. Students are encouraged to develop their own extensive independent research projects. The Politics Department also encourages students to pursue additional academic opportunities while at UC Santa Cruz. Possible programs include: the UCDC program, a one-quarter program at the UC campus in Washington, D.C. that includes coursework and an internship, UC Sacramento, a one-quarter program at the UC Center in Sacramento, and the UC Education Abroad Program.

Politics faculty members give students individual attention to help them in their studies. Faculty members are firmly committed to the value of a liberal arts education, but they are also actively engaged in programs of research and writing. The research interests of the faculty range from questions of justice to the problem of war, from campaign strategy to relations between the rich and the poor countries of the world.

No specific courses at the high school level are required for admission to the major in politics at UCSC. Courses in history, literature, philosophy, and the social sciences, whether taken at the high school or college level, are appropriate background and preparation for the politics major.

A major in politics is appropriate for students interested in careers in law, journalism, or teaching; in political and governmental work from local to international settings; in non-governmental organizations; and in corporations dealing with regulatory or global issues. Many UCSC politics graduates have also gone on to do advanced work in distinguished graduate and professional schools. Others have found active and challenging careers in business and community organizing. Still others have turned to scholarship and writing. But regardless of career direction, the most significant purpose of the politics major is to help educate a reflective and activist citizenry capable of sharing power and responsibility in a contemporary democracy.

Program Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of the major, students will have met the following objectives:

✔ understand the origins, development, and nature of political institutions, practices, and ideas;

✔ place particular political phenomena in broader context (national, historical, cross-cultural, and theoretical, etc);

✔ demonstrate familiarity with various theoretical approaches to the study of politics, and their application in different geographic and substantive areas;

✔ critically evaluate arguments about political institutions, practices, and ideas based on logic and evidence;

✔ develop and sustain coherent written and oral arguments regarding political phenomena, theories, and values based on appropriate empirical and/or textual evidence and logic.

The University of California, Santa Cruz, has a strong program in the plant sciences (sometimes called botany). Resources that support the plant sciences major include state-of-the-art greenhouse facilities, natural ecosystems on the campus from coastal wetlands to redwood forests, the collections of the UC Santa Cruz Arboretum, and the Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems (including the UC Santa Cruz Farm and Garden). A hallmark of the major is the many field courses that introduce students to a diversity of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and the skills to conduct field research. See the Ecology & Evolutionary Biology undergraduate webpage for more information on these courses.

The plant sciences major is designed for students with an interest in plant biology and its associated curricular fields such as plant ecology and evolution, plant physiology, plant pathology, plant genetics, soils, and applied plant sciences. After completion of the core courses, students can proceed in one of several directions depending on their interests. For example, a more in-depth study of physiology and evolution courses can serve as preparation for work in biotechnology or plant breeding; further studies in plant ecology, tropical ecology, or restoration ecology can lead to careers in resource ecology and management or biodiversity exploration; upper-division training in agroecology can lead to careers in agriculture or food systems. There are many opportunities for internships both on the UC Santa Cruz campus and in the greater community.

Program Learning Outcomes

The undergraduate curriculum offered by the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (EEB) is designed to ensure that all students declared in any EEB-sponsored major will achieve the following seven program learning outcomes:

✔ Students will demonstrate broad-based knowledge of the fundamentals of ecology, behavior, evolution and physiology and the relationships among these disciplines.

✔ Students will demonstrate skills in the observation and experimental study of organisms, using both field-based and laboratory-based approaches.

✔ Students will demonstrate skills in identifying, accessing, comprehending and synthesizing scientific information, including interpretation of the primary scientific literature. This includes understanding key questions and hypotheses, interpreting results and conclusions, and evaluating quality through critique.

✔ Students will demonstrate the ability to conceive and execute independent scientific research, including developing their own questions and hypotheses, designing an appropriate theoretical or empirical/experimental approach, executing that approach, and analyzing and interpreting data.

✔ Students will demonstrate an ability to understand and apply fundamental quantitative skills, including models and statistical analyses, so as to properly interpret published research and apply such skills in their own research.

✔ Students will demonstrate the ability to communicate scientific work, such as a scientific paper, proposal, essay, or notebook, in written, oral or poster format.

✔ Students will exhibit strong teamwork and problem solving skills. They will demonstrate the ability to make arguments from evidence and work together to find optimal solutions.

Physics seeks to discover the fundamental regularities or “laws” that govern our universe and to apply these laws to explain the behavior of fundamental and complex systems. The Physics Department offers majors in physics, physics (astrophysics), and applied physics. Physics major students have an option to complete the Quantum Information Science concentration, while applied physics students are offered the Computational Physics concentration. These programs prepare students for graduate work in physics, astrophysics and astronomy, for engineering and other technical positions in industry, and for careers in education. With appropriate courses in other disciplines, these majors provide excellent preparation for advanced study in technical subjects such as biology, chemistry, engineering, geophysics, and the philosophy of science. The applied physics major is excellent preparation for positions in industry directly upon graduation.

For more information about the physics program requirements, please see the program description in the General Catalog.

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. The program learning outcomes communicate the faculty’s expectations to students, provide a framework for faculty evaluation of the curriculum based on empirical data, and help improve and measure the impact of implemented changes. Students graduating with a B.S. in physics will demonstrate:

✔ Ability to solve problems using concepts in classical and quantum mechanics, statistical mechanics and electromagnetism.

✔ Proficiency in mathematics and the mathematical concepts needed for a proper understanding of physics.

✔ Ability to take measurements in a physics laboratory and analyze the measurements to draw valid conclusions.

✔ Ability to communicate scientific content effectively, both orally and in writing.

Physics seeks to discover the fundamental regularities or “laws” that govern our universe and to apply these laws to explain the behavior of fundamental and complex systems. The Physics Department offers majors in physics, physics (astrophysics), and applied physics. Physics major students have an option to complete the Quantum Information Science concentration, while applied physics students are offered the Computational Physics concentration. These programs prepare students for graduate work in physics, astrophysics and astronomy, for engineering and other technical positions in industry, and for careers in education. With appropriate courses in other disciplines, these majors provide excellent preparation for advanced study in technical subjects such as biology, chemistry, engineering, geophysics, and the philosophy of science. The applied physics major is excellent preparation for positions in industry directly upon graduation.

For more information about the physics (astrophysics) program requirements, please see the program description in the General Catalog.

Program Learning Outcomes

Program learning outcomes (PLO) summarize the most important knowledge, skills, abilities, and attitudes that students are expected to develop over the course of their studies. The program learning outcomes communicate the faculty’s expectations to students, provide a framework for faculty evaluation of the curriculum based on empirical data, and help improve and measure the impact of implemented changes. Students graduating with a B.S. in Physics (Astrophysics) will demonstrate:

✔ Ability to solve problems using concepts in classical and quantum mechanics, statistical mechanics and electromagnetism.

✔ Proficiency in mathematics and the mathematical concepts needed for a proper understanding of physics.

✔ Ability to take measurements in a physics laboratory and analyze the measurements to draw valid conclusions.

✔ Ability to communicate scientific content effectively, both orally and in writing.

Philosophy investigates fundamental questions about the most basic facets of human thought and life, e.g., concerning knowledge and belief (epistemology), the nature of reality (metaphysics), and morality and aesthetics (value theory). Such questions can be studied by looking at answers that contemporary philosophers propose, by investigating the principles that other disciplines use to legitimate claims, or by learning how, historically, philosophers approached these issues. In this respect, “philosophy” names not only a historically defined subject matter, but also inquiry into any of the fundamental determinants of rational thought. Thus, students of philosophy can pursue a broad range of topics of the greatest historical, intellectual, social, political, and personal interest.

The department offers courses that relate these traditional philosophical questions to contemporary work in literature and the social and natural sciences. In addition, the department offers several courses that make a careful study of the classic texts in philosophy, ancient and modern. Moreover, the curriculum covers many of the dominant contemporary schools of philosophy in the Anglo-American and European traditions.

The study of philosophy enables students to expand their abilities in critical thinking and reasoning as well as to improve their skills in verbal and written communication. Students may major or minor in philosophy.

Philosophy prepares students for many careers as well as for most professional schools, including law, education, business, and non-profit management. Students who wish to go to graduate school in philosophy are encouraged to study logic at both the introductory and intermediate levels and any languages that are necessary for advanced scholarship in the different historical eras of philosophy.

Program Learning Outcomes

Students who complete the philosophy major should emerge with the following knowledge and skills:

✔ an ability to argue cogently for a philosophical point and to analyze and criticize the arguments of others;

✔ a familiarity with the central concepts and key debates in the core areas of contemporary philosophical thought, including ethics, metaphysics, and epistemology;

✔ a familiarity with the works of the major figures in the history of philosophy; and

✔ a familiarity with formal logic, including the ability to carry out proofs within symbolic formal systems.

Neuroscience, the study of the nervous system and behavior of animals, is a frontier area in biology, touching psychology on the one hand and computer science on the other. The neuroscience major provides students with rigorous preparation for graduate studies and research in the field of neuroscience. With proper advance planning, a student with virtually any degree can prepare a competitive application for medical school or health care professional school. Check our Health Careers webpage for more information on how you can academically prepare for a career in healthcare. Additional information is available at the UC Santa Cruz Career Center.

Program Learning Outcomes

Students who successfully complete the Neuroscience major will be able to:

✔ Demonstrate knowledge of how biochemistry, genetics, and molecular biology are used to elucidate both the function of cells and their organization into tissues.

✔ Recognize that biology has a basis in chemistry, physics, and mathematics.

✔ Describe how scientific method is used to explain natural phenomena.

✔ Use effective oral and written language skills to communicate scientific data and ideas.

✔ Understand safe laboratory practices and perform basic molecular biology techniques.

✔ Generate hypotheses, evaluate data, and design experiments to investigate a scientific problem.

✔ Present advanced knowledge in the specialized field of neuroscience.

The Bachelor of Arts in Network and Digital Technology at the University of California, Santa Cruz, provides students with in-depth knowledge of the underlying structure and function of networking and digital-computer technology and the design processes that make those technologies function. The program is tailored to students who wish to combine technology with other fields or have a general focus on software-based digital technologies that enable Internet services and computer networks. The B.A. in network and digital technology is not an engineering degree, but B.A. graduates will be prepared to work with technology development in other capacities, or join the computer networking workforce. Students interested in graduate study should pursue a B.S. program.

Program Learning Outcomes

For the Network and Digital Technology B.A. 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;

✔ An ability to communicate effectively; and

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

The Music Department supports an unusually diverse curriculum for a department of its size. By a choice of concentrations within the bachelor of arts (B.A.) degree, the student can emphasize different aspects of music. The “Contemporary Practices” and “Global Musics” concentrations offer a variety of modules (groupings of courses with various focuses) that students will be required to select from in addition to core requirements designed specifically for each concentration. All students pursuing the B.A. degree must select one of the three concentrations.

The concentrations and corresponding modules relevant to each concentration are:

Contemporary Practices Concentration. A concentration emphasizing composition and improvisation across multiple genres of music composition. Modules offered are:

    ✔ Global Art Musics

    ✔ Spontaneous Composition and Improvisation

    ✔ Experimental & Contemporary Musics. This module offers a variety of electronic music studio courses.

All module offerings are based on availability within the curriculum plan. Students should visit the Music Department website for a list of when each module’s courses will be offered.

Global Musics Concentration. A concentration emphasizing global music research, performance, and writing. Modules offered are:

    ✔ Africa and the Americas

    ✔ Asia

    ✔ Contemporary/Experimental

    ✔ Europe

    ✔ Jazz

    ✔ Popular Music

    ✔ World Music

All module offerings are based on availability within the curriculum plan. Students should visit the Music Department website for a list of when each module’s courses will be offered.

Western Art Music Concentration. A concentration emphasizing classical Western art music performance, theory and history. This concentration requires some performance ability on a standard orchestral instrument or voice in classical repertoire (or improvisational repertoire for drum set majors) upon entry to the concentration. This concentration does not have a set of modules, but rather has a set course list of requirements.

The list of course requirements and when the courses are offered can be found on the Music Department website.

Program Learning Outcomes

The Bachelor of Arts in Music program in music is designed to help students accomplish the following learning outcomes:

✔ Demonstrate critical familiarity with differences and commonalities among musical practices and their material conditions, across a diverse range of genres, cultures, and histories.

✔ Demonstrate familiarity with analytical tools arising in theories of music, including those in music theory, ethnomusicology, and sound studies, as they are applied to musical sounds, practices, and repertoires in diverse musical contexts.

✔ Demonstrate skills in listening, interpretation, and collaboration as they pertain to music-making across diverse oral and notational repertoires.

✔ Demonstrate performance proficiency on a specific instrument (including voice specializations) across a range of musical genres, periods, and/or practices.

✔ Demonstrate skills in music composition, improvisation and/or production including skills in audio technologies.

✔ Demonstrate working knowledge of social science, humanities, and/or arts approaches to research in music-relevant topics.This includes qualitative and quantitative research methods for, gathering or obtaining research data, finding/using primary sources, and other research approaches/methods.

✔ Demonstrate effective writing and interpretive skills to participate in disciplinary and interdisciplinary dialogue about musical practices, traditions, genres, ideas, and music-making spaces.