Santa Clara University

LIBERAL STUDIES PROGRAM

Professors: Timothy C. Urdan, Eleanor W. Willemsen (Interim Director)
Associate Professor: Carol Giancarlo Gittens
Assistant Professor: Brett Johnson Solomon
Lecturer: Leslie Carson

The Liberal Studies Program offers a degree program leading to the Bachelor of Science in Liberal Studies. The liberal studies major is designed for undergraduates interested in a career in elementary school teaching or students seeking a broad background in the liberal arts and sciences. Completion of the liberal studies major prepares students broadly in the Arts and Sciences and provides background in subject matter taught in the elementary grades. The teaching credential itself requires the completion of an approved credential program, which can be completed as a fifth year of study. Information about the teacher credentialing process and preteaching advising is available to all Santa Clara students through the Liberal Studies Program Office.

The Liberal Studies Program was developed by a faculty committee representing the social sciences, mathematics, natural sciences, and the humanities in consultation with faculty from the Department of Education. The curriculum encourages critical thinking, sensitivity to human values and ethical principles, and a respect for and appreciation of diverse cultures. By learning how to learn and how to teach others, students in the Liberal Studies Program help prepare themselves and future generations to understand and cope with a challenging and ever-changing world.

REQUIREMENTS FOR THE MAJOR

In addition to fulfilling University Core Curriculum requirements for the Bachelor of Science degree, students majoring in liberal studies must complete the following departmental requirements:

• ENGL 160
• EDUC 184
• MATH 44 and 45
• PHYS 19
• BIOL 19 or ENVS 131
• CHEM 19
• HIST 96A or 96B, 104, 105, and 184
• ANTH 3 or SOCI 1
• POLI 1
• Four units of music, theatre, or dance courses
• ARTS 100 or an approved substitution
• PSYC 2, 134, 185
• LBST 70, 75, 197
• EDUC 70, 106, 138, 198

LOWER-DIVISION COURSES

EDUC 70. Community Health Education
Seminar addresses current health issues, reviews a variety of health education instructional materials, and includes group activities to enhance knowledge of health issues. Designed to clear multiple and single-subject basic teaching credentials. (4 units)

LBST 70. Movement Education
Learn the movement concepts and skill themes central to any physical education program for children. Develop sound instructional approaches for teaching physical education, dance, and athletics and for creating kinesthetic lesson plans to teach all academic subjects. Exploration of developmentally appropriate themes and activities that foster the interaction of physical, social, cognitive, and motor learning and will learn movement analysis techniques. Teaching simulations and working with children. Movement lab included. (4 units)

LBST 75. Technology and Learning
Examination of the relationship between learning and technology to acquire and develop lifelong learning skills. Hands-on introduction to the computer, multimedia stations, and the Internet as learning tools and analysis of the impact of technology on society and learning. (4 units)

UPPER-DIVISION COURSES

EDUC 106. Urban Education and Multiculturalism
This course will survey some of the historical, cultural, economic, educational, moral, and political forces, which confront urban educators with a view toward understanding the impact of these forces on teaching and learning. Students in this course will be exposed to academic and community resources. They will be given an opportunity to become active members of an urban community, study theories of urban practice, and reflect on both. This course is designed for undergraduates who have sophomore standing or higher and are considering a career in teaching or a related field. Requires Arrupe placement. (5 units)

EDUC 138. Exceptional Child
Introduction to childhood mental retardation, learning disabilities, behavior disorders, communication (speech and language) disorders, hearing impairments, physical and health impairments, severe handicaps, and the gifted and talented. The impact of these differences in comparison with normal development. Visits to institutions that serve these children. (5 units)

EDUC 184. Introduction to Reading
This course provides an introduction to the developmental and learning processes involved when children become readers. Students will learn to develop and demonstrate instructional strategies that foster a holistic view of learning to read and write—to emphasize connections among all areas of the curriculum and the interrelatedness of knowledge and the mutually reinforcing skills of reading, writing, listening, speaking, viewing, and representing visually. (5 units)

EDUC 198A. Elementary Teaching Practicum and Social Foundations
Seminar and directed readings address field-related problems and issues, classroom dynamics and curriculum. Required: 32 hours as a volunteer teacher aide in an elementary classroom. (5 units)

EDUC 198B. Secondary Teaching Practicum and Social Foundations
Seminar and directed readings address field-related problems and issues, classroom dynamics and curriculum. Required: 32 hours as a volunteer teacher aide in a secondary classroom. (5 units)

LBST 134./PSYC 134. Psychology of Education
The role of educational psychology is to understand and improve educational practice through the study of learning and teaching. Students enrolled in this course will be exposed to a variety of topics that relate to the study of learning and teaching. Such topics include: cognitive development and language; personal, moral, and social development; learner differences and learner needs; culture and community; behavioral views of learning; motivation in learning and teaching; creating learning environments; and evaluation, measurement, and success. Students in this course will gain their knowledge in several contexts including readings, community-based learning, lecture, discussion, and group work. (5 units)

LBST 197. Senior Seminar
Integration of methodological and epistemological features distinctive to the humanities, social sciences, and physical sciences using collaborative research methods. Examination of an issue of concern to U.S. elementary and secondary education. Open only to senior liberal studies majors, senior EFTP students, or senior urban education minors. Students enrolled in LBST 197 must have completed or be enrolled concurrently in EDUC 198A. (5 units)