Bachelor of Arts in Microbiology
The requirements for our Bachelor of Arts in Microbiology represent our consolidation of the specifics indicated by prospective employers and feedback from graduates into what is reasonable for a good, average student in our baccalaureate program. Our Bachelor of Arts degree is designed to be flexible, and yet provide disciplinary breadth for pre-professional students and students interested in an entry-level career in microbiology, the life or health sciences, or environmental sciences.
Included in this program of study are:
- A set of core courses
- Focus groups from which students choose electives to provide breadth -
(biomedical, integrated, and advanced core courses)
The program is intentionally broad in focus within the discipline in order to expand the opportunities of the graduate. The curriculum requires a set of core courses needed by all microbiology majors, focus courses that provide more breadth in coverage of disciplines within the field, and elective courses to complement the students' career objectives.
Student Learning Outcomes
Our curriculum is designed to educate our majors in a variety of important microbiological disciplines, as well as to promote and develop skills and competencies that have enduring value beyond the classroom. These include:
- Molecular Microbiology: the physiology, biochemistry, and genetics of microorganisms, including such topics as structure, function, diversity, metabolism, and the genetics of metabolic regulation;
- Microbial Pathogenesis: the immune response and disease-causing microorganisms, including aspects of the humoral, cell-mediated, and non-specific immune responses, as well as the molecular basis for pathogenesis;
- Environmental Microbiology: the taxonomic, ecological, and genetic relationships among microorganisms, including such topics as nutrient cycling, microbial diversity, and the biotechnological application of microorganisms to solve environmental problems;
- Scientific Method: hypothesis generation and testing, including the development of theoretical and practical skills in the design and execution of experiments; and
- Scientific Communication: the development and execution of oral and writing skills necessary for effective communication of experimental results, the ability to think critically regarding a discipline topic, and the conveyance of scientific principles to audiences of both scientists and non-scientists.
Specialized Knowledge
Students graduating with a B.A. in Microbiology will be able to:
- Define/explain within multiple microbiology disciplines the core theories and practices;
- Describe/explain the processes used by microorganisms for their replication, survival, and interaction with their environment, hosts, and host populations;
- Explain the theoretical basis of the tools, technologies, and methods common to microbiology; and
- Demonstrate practical skills in the use of tools, technologies, and methods common to microbiology, and apply the scientific method and hypothesis testing in the design and execution of experiments.
In addition, in upper-level courses, students will be able to:
- Evaluate and respond to a complex question or challenge, using perspectives and scholarship drawn from microbiology and from cognate and non-cognate fields;
- Construct a summative project or paper that draws on current research, scholarship, and/or techniques in microbiology.
Intellectual Skills – Communication Fluency:
Within the framework of specialized knowledge developed in our courses, our students will communicate science as assessed by their ability to:
- Utilize microbiological concepts to summarize, analyze, and synthesize scientific and microbiology-related literature,
- Describe methodological information,
- Apply microbiological concepts and basic research findings through description, interpretation, and analysis,
- Articulate conclusions and implications of research, and
- Communicate with both specialist and non-specialist audiences using genres commonly used in microbiology.
Sample Plan of Study
This schedule integrates requirements for the major, the College of Arts and Science (CAS), and the Miami Plan, and provides a structure for completing them over a 4-year period.
The required and recommended courses in the major are specifically noted because many of them must be taken in sequence, and some of them may be offered only once a year. To fulfill the Miami Plan and CAS requirements, you will take a certain number of credit hours from several categories of courses. Progress towards the fulfillment of the requirements for the major is provided online for each student (and their advisor) through their Degree Audit Report (DAR).
All students in the College of Arts and Science must pass the CAS A requirement for a foreign language, which is to complete a course at the 202 level or higher. Although we have built in a two-year sequence beginning with 101 in our suggested schedule, you may be able to leverage your previous foreign language study in high school and bypass some of the introductory foreign language coursework. Alternatively, the schedule will accommodate the study of a new language.
Ask your advisor how certain elective courses may contribute to your particular professional goals. Some students will devote their elective course hours to obtain a second major or co-major, such as Chemistry, Spanish or Premedical Studies; other students may use these hours for additional preparation for professional school standardized tests.
Fall Semester | Spring Semester |
---|---|
Biological Concepts II: MBI 116 (4) | General Microbiology: MBI 201 (4) |
General Chemistry: CHM 141, 144 (3,2) | General Chemistry: CHM 142, 145 (3,2) |
Composition and Literature: ENG 111 (3) | Miami Plan/CAS Requirement/ |
Foreign Language: 101 (4) | Foreign Language: 102 (4) |
Introductory Seminar: MBI 147 (1) | -- |
Fall Semester | Spring Semester |
---|---|
Modern Microbiology Applications: MBI 255 (4) | Molecular and Cell Biology: MBI 365 (3) |
Organic Chemistry: CHM 231 (4) or CHM 241/244 (5) | Biochemistry: CHM 332 (3) or CHM 242/245 (5) |
Calculus: MTH 151 (5) or Statistics: STA 261 (4) | Miami Plan/CAS Requirements/ |
Foreign Language: 201 (3) | Foreign Language: 202 (3) |
Fall Semester | Spring Semester |
---|---|
Microbiology Focus courses* (3-7) | |
Physics: PHY 161 (4) or PHY 191 (5) [formerly PHY 171/173 (4) or 181/183 (5)] |
Physics: PHY 162 (4) or PHY 192 (5) [formerly PHY 172/174 (4) or 182/184 (5)] |
Miami Plan/CAS Requirements/ |
Miami Plan/CAS Requirements/ |
Fall Semester | Spring Semester | Fall or Spring Semester |
---|---|---|
Microbiology Focus courses* (3-7) | Microbiology Focus courses* (3-7) | Undergraduate Seminar: MBI 490 (1) Note: beginning with students admitted in Fall 2013 |
Miami Plan/CAS Requirements/ |
Miami Plan/CAS Requirements/ |
-- |
Fall Semester | Spring Semester | Fall or Spring Semester |
---|---|---|
Immunology Principles & Practice: MBI 415 (4) or Immunology Principles: MBI 414 (3) |
Medical Bacteriology: MBI 405 (4) | Epidemiology: MBI 361 (3) Note: Not offered every year |
Structural Genomics: MBI 424 (4) Note: Not offered every year |
Human Viruses: MBI 464 (3) | -- |
Microbial Physiology: MBI 425 (4) | Microbial and Molecular Genetics Laboratory: MBI 465 (2) | -- |
Microbial Genetics: MBI 445 (3) | -- | -- |
Medical Mycology: MBI 435 (3) Note: Not offered every year |
Microbial Ecology: MBI 475 (4) | -- |
Bacterial Cell Biology: MBI 495 (3) Note: Not offered every year |
Principles of Bioinformatics: MBI 485 (3) | -- |
Fall Semester | Spring Semester | Fall or Spring Semester |
---|---|---|
Bacteriophage Biology: MBI 223 (1) Note: for first-year students only |
Bacteriophage Genomics: MBI 224 (1) Note: for first-year students only |
Topics in Microbiology: MBI 250/350/450 (1-4) Note: Offered only occasionally |
Field Ecology: MBI 333 (3) Note: Not offered every year |
Programming in Life Sciences: MBI 256 (3) | Senior Internship: MBI 410 (2-4) Note: enroll in either Fall, Spring or Summer semester during the senior year |
Geomicrobiology: MBI 402 (3) Note: Not offered every year |
Biological Concepts I: MBI 115 (4) | Research Problems: MBI 440 (2-4) Note: enroll in either Fall, Spring or Summer semester during the senior year |
Bioinformatics Computing Skills: MBI 466 (3) | -- | Independent Study: 477.R (2-4) Note: enroll in either Fall, Spring or Summer semester during the senior year |
-- | -- | Departmental Honors: MBI 480 (1-6) Note: enroll in either Fall, Spring or Summer semester during the senior year |