Degrees & Majors
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The information shared here is intended to provide an overview of Georgia State's offerings. For details on admissions requirements, tuition, courses and more please refer to the university catalogs.
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Data Science and Analytics, M.S., Concentration in Big Data and Machine Learning
The Big Data and Machine Learning (BDML) concentration of the Master of Science in Data Science and Analytics is a three-semester program designed to train professionals in the rapidly growing field of data science. Data science lies at the intersection of computer science, statistical methodologies, and a wide range of application domains. It focuses on the generation, processing, and analyzing of vast amounts of data.
The BDML concentration responds to the growing need for highly qualified professionals who can transform big data into practical and valuable insights. In general terms, data scientists create actionable and valuable insights from data. Students in this program will gain the technical and soft skills that industry increasingly expects from data scientists. The concentration targets employment for students in industries related to the Internet of Things (IoT), robotics, health and remote‐sensing data, as well as top research and development (R&D) labs.
The BDML concentration offers strong preparation in statistical analysis, machine learning, information retrieval, and the management and analysis of massive data sets. The courses in the concentration focus on topics such as reproducible data analysis, collaborative problem solving, data and knowledge visualization and communication, as well as privacy and ethical issues that arise in data science.
Data Science, B.S.
The B.S. program in Data Science will provide students with a strong foundation in the mathematics and basic sciences, fundamental computer programming and algorithmic skills, strong foundations in data science fundamentals and methodologies, and a capstone experience to prepare students for a wide range of job opportunities. Students will also learn ethical standards related to the fast-growing field of data science.
Graduates of the program will be prepared to enter the job market or to pursue graduate study in data science, computer science or computer engineering.
Data Science, Undergraduate Certificate
The certificate in data science is designed to help meet the demand for computer scientists trained in managing large data sets, developing and utilizing computer systems/software to process data, extracting knowledge or insights from data in various forms and modeling predictive analytics.
Generating and collecting data has become ubiquitous with the proliferation of social networks and mobile computing, along with emerging areas such as the Internet of Things and cyber sensing and networking technologies. Businesses and industries are striving to use data analytics, data mining, machine learning and statistical models to make better data-driven decisions using vast amounts of data.
The certificate in data science consists of 16 credit hours at the 4000 level from a restricted set of courses. Students in the program are typically declared as computer science majors to meet the requirements of this certificate. See the course catalog for more details.
Digital Filmmaking, Virtual Production & Visual Effects Concentration, M.F.A.
Creative Media Industries Institute
The Georgia State program in Virtual Production and Visual Effects provides advanced post-production technology and content creation training for media professionals.
Housed at the Creative Media Industries Institute (CMII), the program provides students access to the most advanced motion and performance capture technologies in industry use and opportunities to create multimedia content in virtual production tools.
Students will create polished, finished products through advanced coursework in video editing, game design, volumetric and motion capture software packages. A key focus of the concentration is its emphasis on the examination of real-time workflow models, including production work connected to LED and virtual previsualization technologies, which are available to students in the new CMII production studios.
The benefits of close industry collaboration and advanced production tools
The special effects used to capture performances for games and film/television are technologically aligning. For example, the software most commonly used in game design, Unreal Engine, was also used to accomplish virtual preproduction and animation work in the film Lion King, in The Mandalorian and Ford v Ferrari. The Creative Media Industries Institute trains students in the high-end content creation technologies now central to big-budget filmmaking and game development.
Is this graduate program for me?
The program is organized to meet the needs of industry professionals, responsive to Georgia’s growing demand for above the line qualified production and post-production professionals, in these categories:
- Mid-career film/TV production and post-production professionals, where training in advanced technology tools is useful as they undertake supervisory roles in production companies or need to retool for work connecting to virtual production.
- Industry professionals wishing to undertake new forms of work in the content creation industries, including, for example, workers who want to shift their work from a film-industry-focused career path into animation or game design, or vice versa.
- Early-career media professionals who wish to continue their production educations, where access to sophisticated industry tools facilitates portfolio building and early festival submissions utilizing state-of-the-art VFX. The unique technology advantages of the CMII program will, we hope, be especially attractive to students who received basic film training elsewhere and are looking to specialize in virtual production.
- Industry professionals who wish to shift into a higher education teaching career, for which the MFA provides a terminal degree qualification suitable for tenure-track employment in a university setting or teachers for whom the MFA enables an educational promotion path while equipping them to run educationally housed new media and film production centers.
- Newly graduating students with a passion for visual effects or virtual production and a desire to pursue an M.F.A.
We also welcome applications from individuals seeking mid-career transitions (such as veterans training for second careers and teachers shifting areas of instructional focus) and from applicants who are passionate about content creation who may not have had prior access to advanced technology tools necessary to launch first career-ready projects.
The M.F.A. in Digital Filmmaking offers two concentrations. The Visual Effects & Virtual Production concentration is offered through the Creative Media Industries Institute (CMII). The Filmmaking concentration is administered through the School of Film, Media & Theatre. Applicants applying for the Filmmaking concentration should visit the School of Film, Media, & Theatre.
English majors study language and literature alongside the craft of writing, developing skills considered integral to education in the humanities and prized by employers around the world. We examine language, literature and culture in ways that help communities connect with broader audiences, expand access to knowledge and address pressing social issues.
Undergraduate coursework in English guides students in thinking critically, reading widely and writing imaginatively. Many classes also explore practices that are not, strictly speaking, “writing” at all, such as oral compositions, hypertexts, podcasts and folk art.
At Georgia State, English majors can select from several areas of concentration:
- Literature,
- Rhetoric and Composition,
- Creative Writing,
- Pre-education and
- British-American Joint Studies (partnership with Northumbria University)
Majors in each concentration complete their course of study with a focused Senior Seminar that invites students to demonstrate their abilities as writers and thinkers working in a specific discipline.
English, B.A., English Education, M.A.T.
English, B.A., English Education, M.A.T.
Georgia State University's Dual Degree (or 4+1) program allows students to earn a B.A. in English and an M.A.T. in English Education in as little as five years, saving time and tuition dollars.
The English education master's program is designed for students who seek an initial teaching certification in secondary English (grades 6-12). This program leads to a master of arts in teaching (M.A.T.) and a clear and renewable (T5) induction certificate in the state of Georgia.
English educators are responsible for constructing learning environments that support students’ development in reading literature, writing for multiple audiences, expressing ideas and opinions in speech and interpersonal communication and exploring the potential of the arts in language arts.
This program will allow you to build a foundation to transform your passion into a professional career, providing an initial certification for teaching English language arts for 6th-12th grades, and recognition of master’s level proficiency in the subject area, putting you into a higher pay grade in Georgia school systems.
At the undergraduate level, the accelerated program is designed for English majors concentrating in Pre-Education.
English, B.A./M.A.
English, B.A./M.A.
Students interested in earning a bachelor's and master's in English at Georgia State University can save time and tuition dollars through the dual-degree program. Qualified, full-time students can complete both programs in just five years. The accelerated path to a graduate degree affords graduates an advantage in competitive career fields and a richer grasp of their chosen specialty. The dual-degree program also offers students interested in earning a Ph.D. intensive preparation for doctoral study.
The department offers two dual-degree programs:
— Dual B.A./M.A. in Literary Studies
— Dual B.A./M.A. in Rhetoric and Composition
Both programs allow English majors to enroll in graduate courses late in their undergraduate program and apply the coursework toward both the bachelor’s and master’s programs.
The M.A. program in Literary Studies fosters an environment of critical engagement with the most pressing questions in contemporary literary and cultural studies. Students work with some of the profession’s most talented and productive teachers, scholars and theorists in the fields of American, British and world literatures, cultural studies and folklore.
Students in the M.A. program:
- Undertake coursework that exposes them to the breadth of literature in English from the Middle Ages to the present and to the methods and theories that have shaped literary criticism and scholarship
- Regularly deliver papers at international, national and regional conferences
- Gain valuable professional and organizational experience through participation in the South Atlantic Modern Language Association, an organization of teachers and scholars in modern languages and literatures that is headquartered in the department
- Work as editorial and research assistants with the department’s academic journals, Studies in the Literary Imagination and Eudora Welty Review
- Gain pedagogical and leadership experience through tutoring positions in the department's Writing Studio
- Pursue interesting internship opportunities with local businesses and nonprofit organizations
- Receive preparation for further graduate study in prestigious national and international doctoral programs
English, M.A., Rhetoric and Composition
We offer the largest Rhetoric & Composition program in the Southeast, with eight specialized faculty members in rhetoric, composition, digital media and communication, writing center theories and pedagogies, and language studies.
Within our distinctive curriculum, students can combine areas of interest across historical periods, current composition studies, rhetorical theory, visual and digital rhetoric, new and emerging media, advanced academic writing, language studies, writing center studies, writing program administration, and professional writing. No other university in Georgia offers these comprehensive graduate academic programs in rhetoric and composition. We provide internship opportunities for graduate students with our department publications, nonprofits, and other Atlanta-based organizations, and we offer mentoring and training in the teaching of writing and writing program leadership.
The Writing Studio is an on-campus tutoring and teaching site serving Georgia State students from all majors and providing our graduate students with an active academic research site where they can pursue theses in writing center strategies and pedagogy. Graduate student staff members have presented conference papers, published articles, book chapters and book reviews, and have received International Writing Center Association Research Grants.
Writing Across the Curriculum is a faculty development program geared toward helping faculty use learner-centered, active pedagogical strategies for developing all students’ writing and communication abilities across the undergraduate curriculum. Its faculty participants have made significant contributions to the scholarship of teaching and learning.
English, Ph.D., Creative Writing Concentration
The Ph.D. program in English, Concentration in Creative Writing, is one of the top 15 in the U.S., as ranked by Poets & Writers. The program offers graduate students the opportunity to work closely with our award-winning faculty while living and writing in Atlanta, an international city with a vibrant literary culture.
Our students publish—recently with Random House, Algonquin Books, St Martin’s, Alice James Books, Bloomsbury, Anhinga Press and Louisiana State University Press—and win important prizes and fellowships, including the National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowship, the Philip Levine Prize for Poetry, the Walter E. Dakin Fellowship from The Sewanee Writers’ Conference and the Georgia Author of the Year Award.
Our faculty include Danielle Cadena Deulen, Beth Gylys, John Holman, Sheri Joseph and Josh Russell. Visiting writers & editors enrich the program by giving readings and leading workshops and Q&As.
Students may qualify for teaching assistantships, editorial assistantships and fellowships.