Physics (BA)
Description
The B.A. degree in physics is suggested for students wishing to teach physics in high school or to enter graduate or professional schools, such as medical school or law school. The department also offers a special B.A. curriculum for pre-medical students, which includes physics courses that are especially useful for medical students. It is recommended that students interested in teaching high school physics obtain a B.A. physics degree and a secondary education certification.
Minimum Total Credit Hours: 120
Degree Requirements
The academic regulations for this degree program, as entered in the University of Mississippi Catalog, are in effect for the current or selected academic year and semester. The University of Mississippi reserves the right to
- change or withdraw courses;
- change rules for registration, instruction, and graduation; and
- change other regulations affecting the student body at any time.
General Education
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Select one of the following First Year Writing I courses: | 3 | |
| Introduction to College Writing | ||
or WRIT 1010 | First-Year Writing I | |
| Select one of the following First Year Writing II courses: | 3 | |
| First-Year Writing II | ||
or LIBA 1020 | First Year Seminar | |
| Select six hours of literature survey from the following: | 6 | |
| Survey in Literary History | ||
| Survey of World Literature to 1650 | ||
| Survey of World Literature since 1650 | ||
| Survey of American Lit to the Civil War | ||
| Survey of American Lit since Civil War | ||
| Survey of British Lit to 18th Century | ||
| Survey of Brit Lit since Romantic Period | ||
| Select six hours at the 2000 level or above in one modern or ancient language 1 | 6 | |
| Select six hours in History (HIST) 2 | 6 | |
| Select three hours of humanities courses from the following areas: 3 | 3 | |
African American Studies | ||
Classical Civilization | ||
| Humanities and the Environment | ||
| Introduction to Gender Studies | ||
| Introduction to Queer Studies | ||
| Topics in Gender and Culture | ||
| Women, Gender & the Environment | ||
| Theories in Gender | ||
| Men, Women, and Greek Life | ||
| Gender and Sexuality in Cinema | ||
| Gender and Sexuality in the Media | ||
| Advanced Queer Studies | ||
Philosophy | ||
Religion | ||
Southern Studies (Any 1000 level only) | ||
| Introduction to Rhetoric | ||
| Interdisciplinary Humanities | ||
| Humanities and the Experience of War | ||
| Advanced Interdisciplinary Humanities | ||
| Select three hours of of fine arts from the following: | 3 | |
Art History | ||
| Dance Appreciation | ||
| Introduction to Music Literature | ||
| Fundamentals of Music Theory | ||
| Introduction to Music | ||
| Introduction to World Music Cultures | ||
| Music Theory and Analysis I | ||
| Appreciation of the Theatre | ||
| Introduction to Cinema | ||
| Introduction to the Fine Arts | ||
| Interdisciplinary Arts | ||
| Advanced Interdisciplinary Arts | ||
| Select three hours of Math at the 1000 level 4 | 3 | |
| Select six hours of social sciences from the following areas: | 6 | |
Anthropology | ||
Economics | ||
Political Science | ||
Psychology | ||
Sociology | ||
| Interdisciplinary Social Sciences | ||
| Advanced Interdisc Social Science | ||
| 3 science courses, of which 2 must have labs 5 | 9-11 | |
Astronomy OR Physics (must be 2 courses in Astronomy or 2 courses in Physics) | ||
Biology | ||
Chemistry | ||
Geology | ||
| Integrated Science I | ||
| Integrated Science II | ||
| Interdisciplinary Sciences | ||
| Interdisciplinary Lab Sciences | ||
| Advanced Interdisciplinary Sciences | ||
| Advanced Interdisciplinary Lab Sciences | ||
| Total Hours | 48-50 | |
- 1
Modern Languages: Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, & Swahili.
Classics: Ancient Greek and Latin.
Communication Sciences & Disorders: American Sign Language
Philosophy and Religion: Hebrew
- 2
Freshmen may not register for 3000 level courses.
- 3
In addition, gender studies courses that are cross-listed with African American studies, classical civilization, English, modern languages, philosophy, or religion curses will satisfy this requirement.
- 4
-
Except for MATH 2451 Mathematics for Elementary Teachers I and MATH 2452 Mathematics for Elementary Teachers II.
- 5
-
Courses may be chosen from astronomy, biology, chemistry, geology, LIBA 2050 Interdisciplinary Sciences, LIBA 2051 Interdisciplinary Lab Sciences, LIBA 1500 Integrated Science I, LIBA 1510 Integrated Science II, LIBA 3150 Advanced Interdisciplinary Sciences, LIBA 3151 Advanced Interdisciplinary Lab Sciences and physics. Two semesters of coursework in one subject and one semester in a subject from another department are required. Each course must be a minimum of 3 credit hours. At least two of the courses taken must include laboratories. For some classes, the required laboratory will be an additional 1-hour course. For example, a student might take two 3-hour lecture courses in chemistry along with the two associated 1-hour laboratory courses, and one 3-hour course in biology without laboratory. As a second example, a student might take two 4-hour lecture/laboratory courses in geology and one 3-hour course in astronomy. As a third example, a student might take two chemistry courses, one with lab and one without, and a geology course with lab. Note that a student taking the required 6 hours of one subject (astronomy or physics) from the Department of Physics and Astronomy must take the remaining 3 hours from another department. ASTR 1110 Descriptive Astronomy does not include laboratory work; ASTR 1212 Intro Astronomy of the Solar System and ASTR 1312 Intro Astronomy of Stars and Galaxies include laboratory work and satisfy the requirements for lab-based science credits. A student may not receive credit for taking ASTR 1110 Descriptive Astronomy with either ASTR 1212 Intro Astronomy of the Solar System or ASTR 1312 Intro Astronomy of Stars and Galaxies.
Major Requirements
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Select one of the following physics tracks: | 11 | |
| Track 1: | ||
| Physics for Science & Engineering I | ||
| Physics for Science & Engineering II | ||
| Lab Physics for Science & Engineering I | ||
| Lab Physics for Science & Engineering II | ||
| Physical Theory and Techniques | ||
| Track 2: | ||
| General Physics I | ||
| General Physics II | ||
| Laboratory Physics I | ||
| Laboratory Physics II | ||
| Physical Theory and Techniques | ||
| Select sixteen hours of PHYS electives at the 3000 level or higher 1 | 16 | |
| Up to 6 hours of Astronomy courses at the 3000 level and higher | ||
| Select six hours of physics courses at the 4000 level and above, at least two but no more than three hours must be chosen from: | 2 | |
| Senior Seminar | ||
| Senior Research Project | ||
| Senior Research Project | ||
| Total Hours | 29 | |
- 1
The special B.A. physics curriculum for pre-medical students uses the same two tracks, but specifies that the 16 hours of physics electives must be chosen from the following group of courses: PHYS 3310 Introduction to Modern Physics I, PHYS 4252 Digital Electronics & Microprocessors, PHYS 3232 Optics, PHYS 3252 Electronics, PHYS 4410 Introduction to Biophysics, PHYS 4312 Modern Physics Laboratory.
Major Requirements II
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| MATH 2611 | Unified Calculus & Analytic Geometry I | 3 |
| MATH 2612 | Unified Calculus & Analytic Geometry II | 3 |
| Total Hours | 6 | |
PHYS Residency Hours
Students must earn at least 12 hours of their major courses in residence.
Overall Major GPA
An overall major GPA of 2.0 is required.
Resident Major GPA
A resident major GPA of 2.0 is required.