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Interdisciplinary education is a hallmark of Albright College. Albright has been a leader in this area for more than 40 years, and created the nation's first undergraduate psychobiology program in the early 1960s.
Today, more than ever, the world demands solutions to challenges never imagined by earlier generations. Albright believes that our graduates must have the ability to understand the world from multiple perspectives and to make new connections. Success requires a willingness to reach across boundaries, disciplines, languages and cultures.
Albright faculty actively encourage interdisciplinary thinking. They also regularly cross the boundaries of disciplines to create new interdisciplinary concentrations and programs.
In addition to the following interdisciplinary concentrations, Albright students have almost unlimited options for expanding the limits of a single field of study by combining areas of concentration to create unique paths tailored to their own skills and interests. Faculty not only support students in crossing disciplines, they encourage it. Nearly half of Albright students graduate with combined or interdisciplinary concentrations.
A student is permitted to combine an interdisciplinary concentration with another concentration provided that he or she satisfies the 14-course requirement of the interdisciplinary concentration and an additional seven courses for the added combined concentration. The same course cannot be counted for both the interdisciplinary concentration and again for the combined concentration.
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Accounting, Economics and Finance
The interdisciplinary concentration in accounting, economics and finance blends coursework in accounting, economics and finance to create an integrated foundation for professional careers or further study in accounting and financial analysis. The concentration enables students to enhance their understanding in these fields by adding dimensions not possible in the regular or combined concentrations in accounting, economics and business administration- finance.
Students whose primary focus is accounting, but who wish to add an emphasis in financial analysis, should take the accounting track within the interdisciplinary concentration in accounting, economics and finance.
Students whose primary focus is financial analysis need a strong understanding of both business financial statements and the methods of economic analysis. These students should take the Chartered Financial Analyst® (CFA®) track within the interdisciplinary concentration in accounting, economics and finance. The CFA® track is designed to prepare students in areas of academic study that are foundational for the CFA® Level I Examination study program of the CFA Institute®.
Students graduating with the interdisciplinary concentration in accounting, economics and finance must complete the core concentration requirements below and either the accounting track requirements or the CharteredFinancial Analyst® (CFA®) track requirements listed below.
Core Concentration Requirements:
• ACC 101, 201, 202, and 325
• BUS 345, 347, 355, and 485
• ECO 105, 207, 313
• One From: BUS 366, SPI 260
Accounting Track Requirements:
• ACC 330, 331, 338 and 408
Chartered Financial Analyst® (CFA®) Track Requirements
• BUS 346
• ECO 307, 335, 336
(Students intending to take the CFA® Level I Examination are encouraged to take ECO 301 as an elective course.)
(Chartered Financial Analyst® and CFA® are trademarks of the CFA Institute® and are used with permission.)
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American Civilization
The concentration in American civilization offers a framework for those students who wish to take an interdisciplinary approach to American culture. As it developed in the years following World War II, the American studies movement here and abroad included literary scholars who gave new weight to the historical context of the texts they read, as well as historians eager to move beyond the main lines of political and economic historiography into other fields of endeavor and forms of expression.
To these early forays were added contributions of art historians and musicologists, folklorists, and specialists in material culture. This mix of disciplines, methods, and objects has prompted earnest (and much debated) attempts to develop a unified methodology, and, at best, has elicited from American studies specialists an unusual degree of methodological self-consciousness. Interdisciplinary concentrators will gain a clear and responsible sense of the ways in which one may study American culture.
Much of the work of American civilization takes place in the History and English Departments.
See the History section for specific course requirements.
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Biochemistry
An interdisciplinary area of concentration in biochemistry is available for students interested in chemistry and the molecular phases of biology. It is particularly suitable for those who plan careers in biochemistry, pharmacology, toxicology, cellular biology, molecular biology, bacteriology, physiology and the medical professions. The biochemistry program has been approved by the Committee on Professional Training of the American Chemical Society.
See Chemistry and Biochemistry.
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Child and Family Studies
The child and family studies interdisciplinary concentration provides the student with comprehensive knowledge of child development as well as dynamics of family living. The psychosocial perspective of this program provides ideal academic preparation for students interested in working with children either in the context of education or human service.
See Sociology, Anthropology, Criminology & Family Studies section for specific course requirements.
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Crime and Justice
The Political Science, Psychology and Sociology Departments offer a crime and justice interdisciplinary area of concentration, which focuses on the legal, political, administrative, psychological and sociological analysis of criminal deviance and societal responses to crime.
The courses provide students with a broadbased understanding of traditional and contemporary theoretical explanations of criminal behavior; the current patterns related to the incidence and prevalence of crime and victimization in contemporary society; the methodological and statistical techniques used to measure and analyze criminal deviance; the implications and ramifications of criminal deviance for society in general and for its individual members; and an understanding of the broader political, legal, and ethical contexts in which the criminal justice system operates.
See Sociology, Anthropology, Criminology & Family Studies section for specific course requirements.
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English-Theatre
Winston Churchill famously said that Britain and America are two nations separated by a single language. The same is true of the two departments
involved in this concentration. Literature people read texts written to be performed, and theatre people perform texts that were written in the first place; theatre people forget the literacy frame of the text and literary people forget its dramatic matrix. Falling in the gap between the two approaches is the curiously intermediate phenomenon of dramatic art itself, the enactment of a text. The primary goal of the English-Theatre interdisciplinary concentration is therefore to offer students a systematic way to try to fill that gap, so that, for instance, the function of metaphor will be as vivid to the theatrical as to the literary person and the function of the performance will be as significant to the literary as to the theatrical person.
Students interested in this concentration should contact Professor Cacicedo in the English Department or Professor Matthews in the Theatre Department.
See English section or Theatre section for specific course requirements.
Environmental Science
The interdisciplinary nature of the environmental science concentration allows students to address a wide range of contemporary questions through the natural sciences of biology, ecology, earth sciences, chemistry and the social sciences including political science, sociology, economics, psychology and philosophy. The concentration is designed for science students wishing to pursue careers in environmental research/technology and resource management or pursue graduate study in an environmental field.
Students interested in this concentration should contact Professors Osgood or Mech in the Biology Department.
See Environmental Areas of Concentration section for specific course requirements.
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Environmental Studies
Students who wish to learn about the environment from the perspective of the social sciences and humanities may choose a concentration or combined concentration in environmental studies.
This field of study is rooted in the liberal arts tradition of diversity and critical thought and requires coursework in the anthropology, economics, politics, psychology and sociology of the environment. In addition students take specified courses in the humanities and natural sciences which have an environmental focus. Students concentrating in environmental studies also receive credit for experiential learning including study abroad, an internship or independent study arranged with an affiliated instructor.
This interdisciplinary concentration or combined concentration helps prepare students for careers in government, public advocacy, consulting or for graduate study in law or other fields involving environmental issues.
Students interested in environmental studies should contact Professor Barton Thompson, director, Professors Marsha Green or Chenyang Xiao.
See Environmental Areas of Concentration section for specific course requirements.
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International Relations
Our world is interconnected - this was most visibly brought home to citizens in the United States through the events of September 11. Recognizing this interconnectedness, the interdisciplinary concentration in international relations provides students the tools they need to understand and evaluate relationships among nations, states and people. Students contemplating careers in government, international organizations, nongovernmental organizations, intelligence, international business, international law and diplomacy should consider this concentration.
Students interested in international relations should contact Professor Irene Langran or Professor Theresa Smith.
See the Political Science section of the catalog for specific course requirements.
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Latin American Studies
Latin America and the Caribbean have always occupied a place of unique and singular importance for the United States. For instance, the Panama Canal, the economic embargo of Cuba, NAFTA, the preservation of the Amazon rainforests, drug trafficking, etc., are just a few of the many subjects that have consumed the imaginations, the interests and the energies of U.S. business people, politicians, students and even tourists.
In fact, the regions of North, Central and South America, including the Caribbean, are becoming ever more intertwined culturally, linguistically, economically and politically. For the student interested in issues of bi-lingualism in secondary education, international trade and finance, foreign affairs, diplomatic history, modern foreign languages, etc., knowledge of Latin America and the region's relationship to the United States is becoming ever more indispensable. The Latin American studies curriculum offers students the opportunity to learn about Latin America from a broad-based interdisciplinary perspective.
Students interested in pursuing a course of study at Albright with the primary focus on Latin America have the option of selecting Latin American studies as an interdisciplinary area of concentration. Students wishing to complement a traditional disciplinary focus with a Latin American contextualization can choose to combine Latin American studies with another concentration.
Students interested in any of the Latin American studies curricular options should consult Professor Kiddy, director of the Johnson Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies.
See Latin American Studies section for specific course requirements.
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Psychobiology
The bachelor of science in psychobiology is intended for students with interest in organismic biology and natural science approaches to psychology. The concentration is ideal for developing an appreciation of the emerging fields of neuroscience, neuropsychology and health psychology. Individuals arrange courses to satisfy their particular interests and prepare for advanced study in psychology; psychobiology; veterinary medicine; biology; behavioral ecology; health professions (medicine, dentistry, physical therapy, occupational therapy and optometry); or employment in varied areas including pharmaceutical research or sales and allied health professions.
See Psychology section for specific course requirements.
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Women's and Gender Studies
The women's and gender studies interdisciplinary area of concentration offers a series of courses on women, gender and the family, providing a coherent grasp of women's achievements throughout history as well as a sense of female psychology and socialization. In offering students a systematic range of women's studies perspectives and fields, the program allows them the opportunity to relate the interdisciplinary study of women's experience to the content of their major academic field of study.
More specifically, the concentration has the following goals:
- To develop the leadership potential of women by exposing them to women's history and their achievements in various fields
- To offer male students the opportunity to study the history of women's contributions in the arts and sciences and to understand fully the unique nature of women's experiences
- To understand the ways in which women's works in art, literature, history, science, religion and philosophy have been inspired and influenced by a tradition of women's works in all creative and academic fields
- To identify the particular circumstances of working class and minority women and understand how the forces of gender, race and class shape their lives and determine their works
See Women's and Gender Studies for specific course requirements.
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