Humanities
The Engineering Physics major provides a rigorous foundation in physics and engineering while emphasizing problem-solving, experimentation, and computational modeling. Students apply advanced mathematics and scientific principles to understand physical systems and address real-world engineering challenges.
Students learn to read, interpret, and analyze literary and cultural works alongside historical primary sources. They consider the social, political, economic, historical, and artistic contexts that shape the texts and cultural products they study.
Students engage diverse experiences and perspectives, examining how literature, history, and culture represent questions of race, gender, class, sexuality, ethnicity, religion, and international identity. Through this work, students develop a deeper understanding of how people and societies make meaning.
Students learn to bring multiple ways of thinking and knowing together. Coursework across history, literature, humanities, Spanish, world cultures, and related disciplines encourages students to make connections across fields rather than studying ideas in isolation.
Students also develop advanced skills in critical thinking, research, and communication. They learn to form original theses, construct coherent arguments, support ideas with textual evidence, and incorporate relevant primary, secondary, theoretical, and historical sources.
The History, Literature, and Culture major leads students through an interdisciplinary curriculum centered on four foundational themes: Being Human, Justice, Gods and Faiths, and Social Change. Students then customize their studies through upper-level coursework in areas such as English, history, humanities, Spanish, and world cultures.
The major also includes Writing and Argument and a 400-level capstone experience. Together, these courses help students develop the research, writing, analytical, and communication skills needed to engage complex questions and produce original work.
Because the major crosses multiple disciplines, students can shape their coursework around their particular interests. A student might focus on literature and culture, historical analysis, global perspectives, religion, social change, or a combination of these areas.
The skills developed through History, Literature, and Culture are valuable across careers that require research, communication, critical thinking, cultural understanding, and the ability to work with complex information. Graduates can apply these skills in education, communications, public service, nonprofits, law, business, media, and many other fields.
The major also provides a strong foundation for graduate and professional study. Students interested in teaching can pursue pathways toward English or social science certification, while others may continue into graduate programs in the humanities, law, public policy, communications, history, literature, or related fields.
Potential career paths include:
Physics teacher
Students develop research skills throughout the major by working with literary and cultural works, historical primary sources, and scholarly research. They learn to investigate questions, evaluate evidence, and develop original arguments.
The 400-level capstone gives students an opportunity to bring these skills together through advanced research, analysis, writing, and communication. Students can use their capstone work to explore a topic connected to their academic interests and future goals.
Students interested in teaching English or social science in grades 9–12 in Missouri can pursue teacher certification through the Secondary Education program while completing the required content coursework.
Students may also complete the History, Literature, and Culture BA and pursue a Master of Arts in Teaching for a pathway toward English or social science certification. Additional certification, testing and coursework requirements apply.
