Mark

Chemistry Welcome

April 29, 2012 By Mark

The chemistry program at the University of Portland is renowned in the Pacific Northwestfor its rigor, creativity, and high-level of undergraduate research. The quality and rapid growth of this program necessitated a modern and sophisticated home for the University’s biology and chemistry laboratories of instruction and research. In the summer of 1999 theUniversity of Portland opened its award-winning interactive laboratory facility, Swindells Hall.

The University of Portland serves a student body of ~3,000 undergraduates, 63% of whom are female. Chemistry majors at the University of Portland have unique opportunities to grow in their pursuit of knowledge, application of technique, and serve the university and their community.

The University of Portland’s ACS-certified chemistry program allows students to become active learners of chemistry, while the curriculum is designed to cultivate independent and critical thinking skills.

In addition, the department has an excellent array of state-of-the-art facilities and instrumentation available to chemistry students and faculty.

The University continues to attract and retain very talented students in the sciences. The chemistry department is currently made up of nine full-time faculty members all of whom are active scholars in their respective sub-disciplines.

We invite you to explore our programs, and to contact us if we can answer any further questions for you.

Sincerely,

Kevin Cantrell
Chair, Chemistry Department
cantrell@up.edu

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Catholic Studies Welcome

April 29, 2012 By Mark

The Catholic studies minor is a university wide, interdisciplinary minor sponsored by the College of Arts and Sciences. Through this minor, students will seek to understand the mutual influences of Catholic Christianity and world cultures over the course of 2,000 years. Drawing on the resources of many departments at the University of Portland, students will study how faith and reason have shaped Catholic texts, systems of thought, institutions, and devotional practices and how Catholic Christianity has contributed to world cultures through works of charity, justice, and peace up to the present day. At the same time, students will engage in rigorous assessment of the Church’s contributions to intellectual, cultural, spiritual, and social developments, in order to achieve a mature understanding of the Church’s role.

Besides providing opportunities to explore the dynamic and mutual interaction between the Church and cultures, the minor challenges students to add their own transformative contributions to the rich and living tradition of Catholic Christianity.

The Catholic studies minor provides opportunities for students to engage in sustained reflection on the Catholic tradition and to experience its many facets – intellectual, spiritual, liturgical, artistic, and service. Because it is necessarily interdisciplinary and promotes the study of faith and service, the Catholic studies minor clearly manifests the mission of the University of Portland.

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Biology Welcome

April 29, 2012 By Mark

The faculty in the Department of Biology are dedicated to excellence in teaching and mentoring students in the biological sciences and related fields of study. Students in our program acquire a wealth of knowledge, practical experience, and analytical skills while reflecting on the ethical values that link science and society.

The Department of Biology offers two bachelor’s degree programs. The B.S. in Biology provides students with a comprehensive background in the biological sciences, along with extensive supporting coursework in chemistry, physics, and mathematics. The B.A. in Biology provides more flexibility to allow students to combine their study of biology with additional coursework in other disciplines, such as psychology, business, education, theology, social sciences, or communication.

The Department of Biology also participates in offering an interdisciplinary B.S. degree in Environmental Science with a concentration in biology. For more information about this program, follow this link to the Environmental Science web page.

The Department of Biology plays an integral role in the new neuroscience minor offered in conjunction with the Department of Psychology, and other academic departments across the University. The Department offers several courses that are part of the minor including anatomy, physiology, neurobiology, and animal behavior. For more information about this new minor, please visit the neuroscience minor web page.

Undergraduate research is integrated throughout the curriculum to promote independent learning and enable students to develop their talents in observation, experimental design, data analysis, and problem solving. Investigative projects are key components of many of our courses, and students have ample opportunities to collaborate with the biology faculty in faculty research programs.

Our goal is to foster the development of the whole person with excellent instruction, guidance, and individual attention in the classroom, in the laboratory, and in the field.

Sincerely,

Jacquie D. Van Hoomissen
Chair, Biology Department
vanhoomi@up.edu

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Neuroscience Minor Welcome

April 29, 2012 By Mark

Neuroscience is an interdisciplinary area of study that brings together courses in psychology, biology, and philosophy in seeking to understand how the brain and nervous system acquire, process, and integrate information from the environment, how this information brings about complex behaviors of the organism, and how this impacts our understanding of the nature of the human person.

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Communication Studies Welcome

April 29, 2012 By Mark

Welcome to the Department of Communication Studies. We’re dedicated to explaining how people use communication to exert influence and construct knowledge, identities, relationships, and societies. Here you’ll find exciting courses, motivated professors, and challenging major options that help you build the communication insights, ethics, and skills that give you a big advantage in 21st century life and work.

“Communication” is the key term of the age in which we all live, which increasingly advantages those who can explain and shape communication dynamics in everyday living. Persuasion, leadership, and cultural influence take place in settings ranging from face-to-face negotiation to media outpouring that reaches millions in a moment. As a communication studies major, our programs offer you three unique advantages:

consistent focus on key leadership abilities,
access to the best available theory and scholarship on communication processes, and,
hands-on practice using your growing insights.

Your coursework helps you learn to negotiate and persuade, orally communicate ideas and plans, probe for underlying meanings, teach others, and solve problems in teams, abilities that key success in a wide variety of occupations and settings. Your classes and projects reflect state-of-the-art insight in building and evaluating powerful messages: our program’s unique mix of social science, humanism, and professional training assures you’ll have the insight, abilities, ethical basis, and knowledge employers prize and healthy communities need.

We offer both undergraduate and Masters-level programs of study. Our Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree offers liberal arts concentrations in media studies and journalism. Our Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree program in organizational communication gives more specialized instruction in professional aptitudes associated with workplace and community roles, readying you for skilled work managing human resources, public relations, and other key roles. And our courses in the University’s core curricula develop the interpersonal, speaking, and teamwork facilitation abilities you’ll need to succeed as a student and beyond.

At the graduate level, Communication Studies’ Master of Science (M.S.) program in management communication – offered in cooperation with UP’s Pamplin School of Business Administration – develops students’ professional aptitudes in workplace settings. Our Master of Arts (M.A.) program more broadly enables students to advance their abilities and understandings within a range of rhetorical, journalistic, and organizational communication expertise.

The complexity and challenges of our world demand rigorous preparation, and you’ll find that in your studies here. Our curriculum is led by eight full-time faculty members dedicated to excellence in teaching and mentoring students; each is an active scholar and valued contributor to professional, campus, and community conversations. We’re all devoted to helping you develop the knowledge, ethical foundation, and abilities necessary for success, service, and satisfying living.

We hope you’ll visit to meet our faculty, staff, and students. Please contact our office at (503) 943-7229 or (800) 227-4568 with any questions or requests for more information. We look forward to meeting you.

Cordially,

Jeff Kerssen-Griep
Chair, Communication Studies Department
kerssen@up.edu

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