UD Major Finder

Curriculum Guide

Department Website

Career Services

As we enter the new millennium, computer science is an enormously vibrant field. From its inception just half a century ago, computing has become the defining technology of our age. Computers are integral to modern culture and are the primary engine behind much of the world's economic growth. The field, moreover, continues to evolve at an astonishing pace. The rapid evolution of the discipline has a profound effect on computer science education and research.

AREA OF EMPHASIS AT DELAWARE

The Department of Computer and Information Sciences (CIS) offers two computer science degree programs. The majority of computer science majors pursue the Bachelor of Science in Computer Science (BSCS) degree, a focused technical course of study. The Bachelor of Arts in Computer Science (BACS) is a more flexible liberal arts program. The Information Systems major of the CIS Department is described in a separate curriculum guide. Within the BS program, students are encouraged to explore how other subject areas impact and are impacted by computer science through a four-course concentration in a related discipline such as management information systems, linguistics, mathematics, cognitive science, artificial intelligence, or many others. The curriculum emphasizes software applications and computer theory with the goal of teaching students how computers are used to solve real-life problems. Majors develop excellent programming skills as they build a solid foundation in the theory and practice of computer science. All of the 17-plus members of the department's faculty hold doctorates, and most are actively involved in research. The research of the faculty falls into seven broad areas: artificial intelligence and natural language processing, networking, high performance computing systems, multimedia, bioinformatics, theory and algorithms, and computer algebra. These research areas are well reflected in the upper level course offerings.