Southern Virginia University - Buena Vista

The art major fosters the student's effort to develop a personal creative style, encouraging exploration of various artistic media and appreciation of the work of artists working in other times and places. Students acquire a foundation in studio art, art history, and design while learning to express themselves formally, skillfully, and with creativity.

The major gives students an understanding of the fundamental economic and organizational principles, theories, and practices that comprise the historical and modern business world. It enables students to influence and contribute more fully to the business world and to society as a whole through virtuous, intelligent, and effective decision-making and leadership.

Computer science is the systematic study of computational systems and computability. It includes theories for understanding the analysis, design, implementation, validation and verification of solutions to complex problems, and for the elicitation, representation, manipulation and visualization of knowledge. More simply put, computer scientists learn to understand what a computer can and cannot do, how computers can efficiently perform specific tasks, how computers can store and retrieve specifics type of information, how computers can most effectively organize and display information, and how computers can appear to behave intelligently. Building on the core ideas of a liberal education, the Computer Science major combines theory with practical experiences to develop skills in problem solving, programming, communication, and collaboration in order to help students realize their potential to assume leadership roles in an increasingly technical world. Computer Science majors can prepare for careers in research, development and teaching by pursuing graduate degrees, or they can apply their skills in virtually any industry, from business to biochemistry, and from education to entertainment.

History, the disciplined study of the past, uses rigorous methods and diverse sources to understand the changes that occur over time. Historians seek to address the human need to know who we are and where we came from. They seek out the continuities between remote times and our own day, while imaginatively recapturing lost worlds vastly different from our own. History can focus on both ordinary people and on famous names. Studying ideas, belief systems, political institutions, and social and economic structures can help make events and facts more meaningful to people. History also entails understanding the writings, methods, and attitudes of earlier historians, whose views and narratives contributed to older and newer debates about the past. Far more important than merely mastering dates and details is the greater respect for the past and greater humility about the present gained by students of history. History students learn to appreciate the lesson that deliberate actions often have unanticipated consequences. They learn to see individual intentions and actions in context, and they question commonly-held assumptions about the natureless or inevitability of our own ideas and ways of doing things. In seeking to understand the past, students of history hone their skills as writers, readers, researchers, and critical thinkers.

English study is tremendously rewarding and has much to offer both the practical and the inquiring student because of its focus on the essential human endeavors of reading, critical thinking and interpretation, and writing. English study enhances aesthetic perception and engages us vicariously through literature with the perennial themes and questions of the human condition with the aim of understanding our own lives in today's world. Students study literary and other texts in English in generic, aesthetic, historical, religious, and other contexts, including the theoretical and interdisciplinary contexts the faculty bring to the courses they teach.

The Spanish major covers the language, literature, and culture of the Spanish-speaking world. Spain has a rich heritage dating from pre-Roman times to the present. It includes the drama of conquest and reconquest, the resulting mixture of Visigoth, Roman, Arab, and other cultures, and the adaptation of the Spanish people to the diverse landscape of the Iberian Peninsula. The recorded history of Latin America, by contrast, is relatively short. Latin America nonetheless offers a panorama of geographical regions, each with its own history and culture -- from the Gauchos of Argentina to the ancient Incas of the Andes, from the conquest of the Aztecs by the Conquistadors to the African influence on Caribbean culture. Understanding these cultures better prepares one to be a citizen of the world. In addition, the study of Spanish language and its development expands students' understanding of how languages work, including English. This in turn helps one think more logically and express oneself with more imagination.

Historically, the liberal arts were considered the branches of study fit for free men (liber is Latin for "free"). They were contrasted with skills needed for more mechanical trades and professions. Today a liberal education befits the members of all classes and genders. Rigorous thought, aesthetic sensibility, appreciation of historical context, an understanding of the natural world, awareness ofof one's own and others' institutions and culture, and an aptitude for creative expression should belong to anyone wishing to live a meaningful life and to participate constructively in society. The liberal arts major aims to produce these and related abilities. The liberal arts student also fulfills, at least in part, the injunction to "become acquainted with all good books, and with languages, tongues, and people" (Doctrine and Covenants 90:15). When suitably completed or supplemented, the liberal arts major is excellent preparation for a career or graduate program in law, business, medicine, education, public service, the arts, and other fields.

The music major provides an understanding of the elements of music, an historical perspective on music, and the opportunity to develop talents and skills by practice and performance. It prepares one to teach music, perform in community or church events, and evaluate performance quality.

Philosophy wrestles with fundamental questions in all areas of human knowledge and activity. Such questions include: How does knowledge differ from mere belief? Do I determine my actions or are they determined by causes other than myself? Is my mind different from my body? What makes an action right? What makes a life good? What makes a society just? What makes a work of art beautiful? Struggling with and developing reasoned views about such issues enlarge one's capacity for clear thinking, effective writing, and persuasive speaking. Philosophy encourages the intellectual curiosity necessary for a life of sustained inquiry and cultivates a taste for matters of importance over matters of show. Moreover, philosophy's preference for rational persuasion over compulsion prepares one for responsible citizenship in a diverse nation and world