Two seemingly disparate fields have been brought together in the College of Arts and Sciences’ new Bachelor of Arts in Computer Science and Computational Thinking (CSCT). This program is designed for students who want to enter the job force with a degree and training in computer science, but also wish to gain the educational advantages provided by the study of the humanities, sciences, and social sciences.
From smartphones to email to network infrastructure, technology has become an essential part of the modern world. Because of this, computer science is an important and growing field. It’s easy to understand why many college students relish the idea of creating software with world-changing potential.
The new degree offers an alternative to the B.S. in Computer Science offered through the School of Engineering and Applied Science. The B.S. degree focuses heavily on math and science, often leaving little room in a student’s schedule for liberal arts. Studying the humanities has many proven benefits, including increased critical-thinking skills, communication skills, and an aptitude for lifelong learning.
Thus, the new Computer Science and Computational Thinking degree was created. Professor Rob Bryant, director of the CSCT program, explains that students will have a dualistic experience: “They’ll be taking computer science classes through the School of Engineering and Applied Science, but they’ll still be students of the College of Arts and Sciences. So they’re really getting the best of both worlds.”
In addition to the computer science coursework through SEAS, each student will choose a concentration or “Discipline for Computational Thinking” within the College of Arts and Sciences, such as art, environmental studies, English, or philosophy. This allows students to gain an interdisciplinary, well-rounded education, and trains them to think critically in a computational world.
In order to make room for this and other liberal arts requirements, CSCT students will not be required to take as many math courses as their SEAS counterparts. And while B.S. in Computer Science students must take at least eleven credits of science electives, students working toward a B.A. need only take four.
Students in the College of Arts and Sciences will have more freedom in choosing the additional computer science electives necessary to complete their degree, giving them the liberty to pursue a wide and ever-growing range of topics, such as artificial intelligence, robotics, and computer graphics.
“Recent graduates in Computer Science have been able to get jobs at big companies— Apple and Microsoft, for instance,” Professor Bryant says. “Many are also choosing to work at smaller start-ups. It’s a very promising field, and the job prospects are amazing. By combining this with the benefits of liberal arts, the possibilities are wide ranging.”
The Computer Science and Computational Thinking degree began enrollment in the fall of 2016 and continues to grow.