Majors & Minors

This program is intended for students with an interest in the physical sciences. The program is designed to allow students interested in teaching at the secondary level to enroll in courses required for the California Single Subject Teaching credential offered through the School of Education.

This program is intended for students with an interest in physics who may not intend to pursue a career in physics.

This program is intended primarily for students who are interested in a career in physics.

This program is intended for students with dual interests in physics and computer science who wish to complete the essential courses for both majors within their normal four-year career.

The physics minor is open to all students. Engineering students must take a minimum of three upper-division courses unique to the minor.

The plastics sustainability minor is designed for students interested in an interdisciplinary approach to addressing the proliferation of plastic waste, which is a pressing sustainability issue for the 21st century. The plastics sustainability minor confronts this issue through a program that educates students on both technical aspects of polymer manufacturing and circularity and the broader economic and societal drivers that must be understood to confront and solve the plastics problem.

The plastics sustainability minor requires a minimum of 23 units, as follows:

The minor is designed to give students a grounding in the history, theory, production and business of podcasting. Students will develop a discerning ear for quality audio content and the best practices for effective oral communication. Students will learn practical skills required for the production of a variety of podcast formats, from narrative storytelling to interview/conversational to fictional podcasts. In addition, the course work will expose students to non-production aspects of podcasting such as branding, marketing, distribution, analytics, monetization and legal issues. The minor will equip students to start a podcast or seek employment for podcast production jobs.

The Bachelor of Arts in Political Economy explores the intersection of economics with politics in domestic and international contexts. It prepares students for engagement with global and regional questions that require analysis of economic and political causes and consequences and provides a useful background for a wide variety of entry positions in the public and private sectors.

The digital environment is changing the face of political organization, both in domestic American electoral politics and in the methods used by transnational social movements to call attention to problems around the globe. Howard Dean's use of the Internet to fund his 2004 presidential campaign has made other candidates aware of the political power of the Web in fundraising and grass-roots orchestration of local (and "global") events.

This minor should be of interest to students majoring in international relations, political science or other programs who plan to use technology to affect contemporary national and international affairs. As with all minors, students must choose four courses dedicated exclusively to this minor and four courses outside their major departments. These may, but need not be, the same four courses.

This minor is intended to help students engage in domestic and international political organizing by creating Websites, podcasting and using other new technologies. It should help students secure internships and jobs with political and international organizations, and generally improve their abilities to change the world.

Department majors are required to take ten courses (40 units) in political science.