Program Missions & Objectives

1. Mission Statement: The mission of the American Studies BA degree program is to provide a holistic education and interdisciplinary understanding of American culture and society. The American Studies BA degree program provides graduates who have achieved a senior level understanding of the diversity of American experience through history and the complexity of American socioeconomic processes in the global digital age. These graduates work in business, non-profit organizations, media and culture industries. The B.A. in American Studies is also an excellent preparation for law school or graduate school.

2.1 Become educated participants in debates: Students will understand the history behind contemporary social, political, and cultural debates, and become educated participants in those debates.

2.2 Achieve excellence in critical thinking skills: Students will achieve excellence in critical thinking, writing, research, and communication skills. They will understand important issues in the U.S. and in the world. They will know how to do research on and write about important issues. They will be able to communicate clearly and effectively with others.

2.3 Analyze factors that shape culture : Students will gain a thorough knowledge of the ways race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexuality, economy, and technology shape individuals, institutions, and culture. They will be able to understand and comment on the implications of public policies and corporate behavior.

2.4 Analyze popular texts and images: Students will become critical consumers of popular texts and images.

2.5 Apply global citizen perspective: Students will acquire the knowledge and perspective of global citizens. They will develop a better understanding of global conflicts, poverty, and environment issues.

1. Mission Statement: The mission of the Gender Studies Program is to provide a liberal education that equips students to live and work in a constantly changing world. This interdisciplinary Program is focused upon the ways gender shapes and is shaped by individuals, social institutions, and culture. The Program provides undergraduate students with opportunities to think critically about gender and to apply insights from the field to their work in social service, education, the arts and sciences, business, and the professions. The program's mission is accomplished through courses taught in gender studies, and in art, literature, history, psychology, sociology, politics, economics, and other disciplines, through internships, and outside programming (e.g., lectures, performances).

2.1 Examine gender as a system of ideas: Students will analyze gender as a system of ideas that affects women and men by privileging particular definitions of masculinity and femininity and regulating expressions of sexuality.

2.2 Recognize gender as a social construct: Students will analyze gender as a social construction that intersects with class, race, age, ethnicity, nationality, religion, sexual orientation, and sexual identity

2.3 Integrate insights about gender among sciences: Students will integrate insights about gender from the social and behavioral sciences, humanities, and the arts, and to use gender as a way to interrogate the boundaries between these existing bodies of knowledge.

2.4 Understand fundamental methodologies of gender study: Students will recognize, understand, apply, and evaluate the fundamental methodologies of women and gender studies.

2.5 Evaluate the logic informing gender-based claims: Students will evaluate the logic informing gender-based claims circulating in the larger culture, and recognize the social and political consequences of these claims

1. Mission Statement: The mission of the Interdisciplinary Studies BA degree program is to provide a typical liberal arts education in a flexible but structured format. The breadth of our program reflects the concept that it is not just what students know but how they can use their knowledge. Thus students are required to complete two foundations to provide them with knowledge in two separate fields of study. Then the students create a thematic concentration in their field of academic interest. Undergraduates who enroll in the Interdisciplinary Studies BA program are encouraged to pursue an individualized and interdisciplinary educational path that is not available in more traditional majors. In this manner, students can tailor their degrees to fit the individual career paths that they have chosen ranging from careers in the work place, in the teaching profession, in graduate school and in professional schools. Included in this flexible degree plan are courses in Statistics and Writing, so that students graduating from with a BA in IS have good writing and analytical skills, which enable them to go beyond mere surface comprehension to the interpretation of data presented to them by various forms of the media.Also the Interdisciplinary Studies BA program is designed to accommodate both traditional and non-traditional students with classes offered during the day and at night. Students can see their advisors by appointment during the day or early evening.Another goal for the BA in IS is to provide a quality educational experience that is appreciated by our students. To that end, our academic advisors work toward helping students fulfill their educational goals and directing them toward appropriate campus resources to help them with personal problems which may be affecting their academic performance.The flexibility in the BA in IS helps students combine classes from the wealth of courses available throughout the university and enables them to flourish in the ever changing academic, teaching and business environment.

2.1 Demonstrate solid communication skills: Students will demonstrate an ability to communicate effectively.

2.2 Achieve diverse education in three fields: Students will achieve diverse education in three separate fields exemplified by their abilities to communicate with experts in disciplines as well as serve as interdisciplinary communicative liaisons.

2.3 Meet constant changes of global society: Students will be prepared to meet the constant changes of a global society by designing their own degree plans that arise from their analysis of what will be society's demands and how those demands fit their own skills and talents.

1. Mission Statement: The mission of the Interdisciplinary Studies BS degree program is to provide a typical liberal arts and science education in a flexible but structured format heavily weighted toward science. The breadth of our program reflects the concept that it is not just what students know but how they can use their knowledge. Thus students are required to complete two foundations to provide them with knowledge in two separate fields of study. In the BS in IS one of the foundations must be Science. Then the students create a thematic concentration in their field of academic interest. (The concentration must contain three additional science courses plus a statistics course.)Undergraduates who enroll in the Interdisciplinary Studies BS program are encouraged to pursue an individualized and interdisciplinary educational path that is not available in more traditional majors. In this manner, students can tailor their degrees to fit their individual career paths. These range from careers in the work place, in the teaching profession, in graduate school and in professional schools. Included in this flexible degree plan are courses in Calculus, Statistics and Writing, so that students graduating from with a BS in IS have good writing and analytical skills, which enable them to go beyond mere surface comprehension to the interpretation of data. Also the Interdisciplinary Studies BS program is designed to accommodate both traditional and non-traditional students with classes offered during the day and at night. Students can see their advisors by appointment during the day or early evening. Another goal for the BS in IS is to provide a quality science oriented educational experience that is appreciated by our students. To that end, our academic advisors work toward helping students fulfill their educational goals and directing them toward appropriate campus resources to help them with personal problems which may be affecting their academic performance.The flexibility in the BS in IS helps students combine science classes in new and different combinations from the wealth of courses available throughout the university and enables them to flourish in the ever changing academic, teaching and business environment.

2.1 Apply knowledge of science, mathematics and statistics: Students will demonstrate an ability to apply their knowledge of science, mathematics and statistics in varied contexts.

2.2 Demonstrate an ability to communicate effectively: Students will demonstrate an ability to communicate effectively

2.3 Meet the constant demands of a global society: Students will be prepared to meet the constant changes of a global society by designing their own degree plans that arise from their analysis of what will be society's demands and how those demands fit their own skills and talents.

1. Mission Statement: The mission of the Chess in Education Certificate is to provide educators with practical examples of using chess in K-12 classrooms to teach critical thinking, mathematics, social skills, and reading. The Chess in Education Certificate provides educators with the skills needed to develop chess curricula that help students reach educational goals. These educators are prepared to improve the academic performance and develop the humanistic potential of their students by exposing them to chess. Educators are further enabled to propose, and pursue funding for, chess educational efforts at their institutions.

2.1 Demonstrate Knowledge: The student will be able to explain the rules of chess, apply basic strategies in playing chess, notate, and analyze a chess game.

2.2 Improve Curricular Process: The student writes lesson plans that combine chess and educational goals, teaches those plans, and reflects on what could be improved in this curricular process.

2.3 Research and Develop: The student researches and develops a proposal for a chess program for members of a particular community institution (such as a school, library, recreation center, prison, retirement home, etc.).

1. Mission Statement: The Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies is designed for students who wish to continue their intellectual development within an interdisciplinary framework and for those with specialized training who wish to broaden their education. The program provides students the opportunity to study and investigate topics and problems from the perspectives of more than one discipline and to develop a better understanding of many of the social, cultural, and scientific forces which affect the individual and society.

2.1 articulate critical contemporary questions: The student will articulate critical contemporary questions using interdisciplinary techniques.

2.2 Align program of study to career goals: The student will align their program of study to their specific career goals and show evidence of personal growth.

2.3 Interdisciplinary depth in concentration area: The student will demonstrate fundamental knowledge, a firm understanding of the methodologies and interdisciplinary depth in a concentration area.

2.4 disciplinary approaches to interdisciplinary problems: The student will apply analytical, methodological, and disciplinary approaches to study interdisciplinary problems using multiple perspectives with rigor.

2.5 conceive, formulate and report: The student will formulate and report on an interdisciplinary project that utilizes an integrated approach to the topic and synthesizes the knowledge from more than one discipline.

1. Mission Statement: The UTD Teacher Certification program provides rigorous, university-based education to students interested in making elementary or high school teaching and/or administration their career. The UTD Teacher Certification Program offers prospective pre-college teachers extensive field experience with preparation options for both undergraduate and post-baccalaureate students that include student teaching or a supervised post-baccalaureate internship. With careful use of electives, students from any academic program in the University can complete both an academic degree and teacher preparation within their regular degree plan. Graduates of the UTD Teacher Certification Program are certified by the State of Texas as highly-qualified for pre-college teaching.

2.1 Analyze Human Developmental Processes: Students will analyze human developmental processes and develop a personal philosophy for teaching based on their study of the history of American public schooling and the issues critical in a diverse democratic society for a well educated populace.

2.2 Create Positive/Productive Classroom Environment: Students will master the elements required to create a positive, age-appropriate, and productive classroom environment for their certification field and level

2.3 Ability to Design Assessment/Instruction Modules: Students will demonstrate a mastery of the content in their teaching field and demonstrate their ability to design instruction and assessment modules and lesson plans which promote student learning.

2.4 Complete Student Teaching Requirement: Students will demonstrate the successful practice of the art and science of classroom teaching by successfully completing a 12-week student teaching requirement or a one-year internship in a public school

2.5 Student performance on State certification exams: In Texas, all teacher certification programs are evaluated by the performance on two state-mandated exams (TExES) of all the students who complete the program