Text II-C.

UNIVERSITY STRUCTURE.

SCIENTIFIC DEGREES.

Institutions of higher education in the US for the most part are referred to as colleges or universities. The first American universities divided courses into various fields of learning and called the departments (each teaching one branch) colleges or schools. Within a university they may be similar in structure to the “department ” at different universities all over the world, such as School of Business, Law School, or College of Chemistry, etc. Thus a university is made up of schools and colleges. The word “college” may also mean a separate institution which specializes in a specific branch of knowledge, like College of Engineering.

The number of departments, their titles and the subjects they teach varies from one university to another. Here is the list of basic departments and subjects they teach:

- Department of Arts (the Humanities) includes English, modern languages and classics (both languages and literature), History, Philosophy, sometimes Drama;

- Department of Science (or Natural Sciences, or pure science) teaches natural sciences, like Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Geology, Geography;

- Department of Engineering (or technology, or Applied Science);

- Department of Social Science (s) teaches Economics, Sociology, Political science;

- Department of Business Administration (or business studies) is a fairly new speciality combining the study of Economics, Accountancy, Commercial Law, Marketing;

- Department of Medicine, usually called medical school;

- Department of L aw;

- Department of Education.

 

The dean is in charge of students and educational matters. He or she is assisted by Faculty Board including both professors and students.

A distinctive feature of American university is its two levels. The first level is Undergraduate School that lasts four years. The first two years (the freshman year and the sophomore year) are aimed at providing general education, i.e. broadly-based studies in the humanities, social sciences, applied and natural sciences. In the spring of the sophomore year students choose an area of concentration. During the last two years (the junior and the senior years) the students (the undergraduates) major in one special subject, so they take the majority of courses in this one area. Juniors are usually engaged in independent work and seniors - in a year-long project, thesis. This undergraduate education culminates in a Bachelor’s degree. These degrees are usually referred to by their initials, both in speech and writing: BA (Bachelor’s of Arts), B.Sc. (Bachelor of Science), BEd (Bachelor of Education). Bachelor’s degrees are at two levels: Honors and General/Pass. At some institutions an Honors degree, abbreviated as BA (Hons),is awarded after a more specialized course, at others the course is the same for everyone and Honors degree is given to those students who are more successful in their examinations.

A Bachelor’s degree can be often considered as a background for a higher, or advanced, or further degree, that is awarded after further study, usually involving research. There are two levels of higher degrees: the Master’s degree and Doctor’sdegree usually called the Ph.D. They can be obtained in Graduate School, which is the second level of university education. To obtain the Master’s degree a graduate student should work for two or sometimes three years. During this time he takes courses, passes exams, does some laboratory research guided by a competent professor, masters a foreign language, and submits a thesis (though a thesis is not always required). The name of the degree depends on the field of specialization, thus there are: MA (Master of Arts), MSc (Master of Science), MBA (Master of Business Administration), etc.

The highest degree in the American graduate school is the research doctorate, or Doctor of Philosophy, often referred to as the Ph.D. This name is invariable for all specialities. If a the graduate student is accepted into the Ph.D. program, he takes two or three years of advanced studies in his field of interest, passes the exams and does independent research, which culminates in a written dissertation. The dissertation must be an original contribution to knowledge. The candidate for Ph.D. should defend the conclusions of his dissertation before a panel of experts who finally decide whether he deserves the degree.

 

Vocabulary:

institution - учреждение;

to be referred to - называться;

to divide - (под)разделять;

field - сфера, область;

department - факультет;

specific - определенный;

within - внутри, в пределах;

similar (to) - подобный, сходный (с);

Law School - Юридическая Школа/колледж;

thus - таким образом;

to be made up (of) - состоять (из);

separate - отдельный;

engineering - инженерное дело;

number - число, количество;

title - название;

to vary - варьировать, различаться;

list - список;

art - искусство;

humanities - гуманитарные науки;

to include - включать;

natural sciences - естественные науки;

pure - чистый;

applied - прикладной;

political science - политология;

fairly - здесь: сравнительно;

to combine - соединять;

accountancy - бухгалтерское дело;

commercial law - торговое право;

dean - декан;

to be in charge (of) - быть ответственным, отвечать (за); возглавлять;

matter - вопрос;

faculty - профессорско-преподавательский состав; преподаватели;
Board - Совет;

distinctive - отчетливый;

feature - черта;

level - уровень;

freshman - первокурсник;

sophomore - второкурсник;

to be aimed (at) - иметь своей целью;

to provide - обеспечивать;

general - общий;

to last - длиться;

broad - широкий; свободный;

concentration - здесь: специализация;

to major (in) - специализироваться (в);

majority - большинство;

junior - младший;

senior - старший;

to be ingaged (in) - заниматься (чем-то);

independent - независимый;

thesis - диссертация;

to culminate (in) - завершаться (чем-то);

Bachelor's degree - степень бакалавра;

initials - инициалы (начальные буквы слов);

with Honors - c отличием;

background - образование; опыт;

further - дальнейший;

to award - вручать;

the same - одинаковый, тот же самый;

to be considered - рассматривать(ся), считаться;

Master - магистр;

Ph.D. = Doctor of Philosophy - доктор (ученая степень);

graduate - выпускник;

to obtain - получать;

research - научно-исследовательская работа, исследование;

guided by - под руководством;

to master - овладевать;

to submit - предоставлять;

to require - требовать(ся);

to depend (on) - зависеть (от);

invariable - неизменный;

to accept - принимать;

advanced - продвинутый, повышенного типа/уровня;

contribution - вклад;

to defend - защищать;

conclusion - вывод;

panel of experts - совет экспертов/специалистов;

finally - в конечном итоге;

whether - ли;

to deserve - заслуживать.