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CHASS offers 14 Ph.D. programs - in Comparative Literature, Dance History and Theory, English, Hispanic Studies, History, Philosophy, Religious Studies, Music, Anthropology, Economics, Ethnic Studies, Political Science, Psychology and Sociology. A new Ph.D. in Ethnic Studies has just received final approval and will recruit its first class during the 2008-09 academic year. It is one of only three Ethnic Studies Ph.D. programs in the UC system, along with UC Berkeley and UC San Diego. The Ph.D. program in Music is currently recruiting its first class, while the Ph.D. program in Religious Studies is recruiting its third. A new M.A./Ph.D. program in Women's Studies is currently moving through the various approval stages and a new Ph.D. in the History of Art is in the planning process.
Along with M.A. and M.F.A. degrees in standard fields, CHASS also offers a number of innovative graduate programs. The M.F.A. program in Creative Writing and Writing for the Performing Arts, offered jointly by the departments of Creative Writing and Theatre, offers writers the ability to move within the genres of poetry, fiction, nonfiction, playwriting, screenwriting and multimedia studies. A parallel version of this innovative graduate degree is also offered through the new UCR Palm Desert campus. The M.F.A in Dance provides working choreographers the opportunity to focus on experimental choreography informed by dance studies. The M.A. in Southeast Asia: Texts, Rituals, in Performance (SEATRiP) studies Southeast Asia through the interdisciplinary lens of literature, religion, visual art, theatre and dance focusing on cultural and literary translation, ethnomusicology, ritual and religious studies, and gender and sexuality issues.
On the undergraduate level, as well, CHASS offers innovative programs along with more standard departmental majors and minors and area studies. The new major in Global Studies offers a broad-based study of processes and problems that transcend national boundaries. Focusing on transnational processes rather than relations between nations, the major prepares students to become global thinkers and problem-solvers for the 21 st century. Likewise, the new Public Policy major and minor instruct students in the use of decision-making theory and evidence-based methods for the study of public policy problems. The new Department of Media and Cultural Studies grew out of the major and minor in Film and Visual Studies. In the new department, students acquire both critical skills in reading and analyzing media texts and production training in video, photography, multimedia production and screenwriting. CHASS also offers unique majors in Creative Writing, Liberal Studies and Law and Society as well as a minor in Lesbian, Gay Bisexual, Intersexual and Transgender Studies.
CHASS incorporates a number of research centers. Among these are:
The Center for Ideas and Society , which aims to foster collaborative and interdisciplinary research, pe dagogy, and creative production. The Center is distinguished from other humanities research institutes by the importance it attaches to work in the arts and social sciences for humanistic interdisciplinary collaboration, as well as by its emphasis on intellectual history and the exploration of the social context of ideas, artifacts, and events.
The California Center for Native Nations seeks to link the research and learning capabilities of the university with the resources and culture of California Native Americans. The Center facilitates and conducts research by, about, and with American Indian people, works to preserve the history, culture, language, and sovereignty of California 's first nations and serves tribes by connecting them to expertise found at UCR.
The Presley Center for Crime and Justice Studies examines, evaluates and disseminates information about crime and justice in California and across the nation. The Center's interdisciplinary research focuses on youth and ways to prevent crime, violence and associated behaviors such as substance abuse, status offending, and school failure.
The Center for Family Studies also uses interdisciplinary approaches to understand how diverse families are influenced by various social contexts and how they affect the development and well being of children and society.
The Center for Bibliographical Studies was established in 1989 to promote the Eighteenth Century Short-Title Catalogue and soon took responsibility for the California Newspaper Project, funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. The Center develops internationally recognized bibliographic resources for scholars through the use of digital searchable text-conversion. Within the UC system and in Southern California the Center promotes and coordinates programs related to bibliography, the history of the book and related subjects. Nationally and internationally the Center develops national bibliographies and helps to establish standards for bibliographical records.