Program Overview

Undergraduate Programs

Bachelor of Arts in Tourism Studies

The mission of the Tourism Studies program is to provide a nationally and internationally recognized program of excellence in teaching, research, and service in leisure, specifically in the areas of tourism, heritage, cultural tourism, and tourism planning and management. This program aims to educate, train, and assist students, individuals, businesses, and other stakeholders to take full use of the opportunities available through the use of responsible tourism development.

Program Objectives

• Basic knowledge of different components and sectors in the tourism industry.
• Competence to address and provide critical insights of the interrelationship between stakeholders, components, and sectors in the tourism industry.
• Solid knowledge about planning, managing, operating, and promoting cultural, heritage, environmental, and leisure tourism resources and products.
• Practical knowledge of planning, developing, managing, operating, and promoting sustainable destinations.
• Ability to conduct research with the focus on the relationships between tourism, culture, heritage, and sustainable development.
• Communication skills, managerial skills, and analytical skills, to enter the junior management level of different sectors in the tourism industry.

Program Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this program, students will be able to:

• Identify the facilities, resources, products, stakeholders, and operational organizations in different sectors of the tourism industry as well as describe their structures and characteristics.
• Demonstrate ethical reasoning in relation to tourism issues.
• Identify the necessary resources of developing tourism products and analyze the factors affecting the successfulness of tourism products.
• Analyze the current and upcoming trends of the tourism product development in the local, regional, and international level.
• Identify the influence of tourists and the tourism industry on cultural and heritage assets, societies, and environments.
• Synthesize the cultural, heritage, environmental, and leisure tourism resources and facilities for sustainable development of a destination.
• Examine materials, reports, and statistics related to tourism, cultural, and heritage study and sustainable development.
• Communicate effectively in both oral and written form to various audiences.

Degree Requirements

Required Credit Hours: minimum 120 hours

General Education (Req. CH: 21)

• Theme 1: UAE National Identity (3 hours)
  • GEEM110: Contemporary Emirati Studies (3 hours)
• Theme 2: Academic Language Proficiency (3 hours)
  • GEAE101: Academic English for Humanities and STEM (3 hours)
• Theme 3: Innovation (3 hours)
  • GEIT113: Introduction to Artificial Intelligence (3 hours)
• Theme 4: Entrepreneurship (3 hours)
  • GEIE222: Fundamentals of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (3 hours)
• Theme 5: Sustainability (3 hours)
  • GESU121: Sustainability (3 hours)

Students shall register 6 CH from the 6 following themes (a maximum of 3 CH from each theme)

• Theme 6: Quantitative Reasoning and Critical Thinking (3 hours)
  • PHI180: Critical Thinking (3 hours)
  • MATH120: Contemporary Applications of Math (3 hours)
  • STAT101: Statistics in the Modern World (3 hours)
  • ECON110: Principles of Economics (3 hours)
• Theme 7: Humanities (3 hours)
  • GEIS100: Islamic Culture (3 hours)
  • GEIS101: Biography of the Prophet "Sira" (3 hours)
  • HSR120: Introduction to Heritage & Culture (3 hours)
  • HSR130: Introduction to Language & Communication (3 hours)
  • PHI101: Introduction to Philosophy (3 hours)
  • TRS200: Introduction to Translation (3 hours)
  • MSC200: Introduction to Mass Media (3 hours)
• Theme 8: Behavioral and Social Sciences (3 hours)
  • AGRB210: Introduction to Agribusiness (3 hours)
  • CURR103: Early Childhood Development & Learning (3 hours)
  • FOED102: Professional Ethics in Education (3 hours)
  • GEBS280: Future Workforce Skills (3 hours)
  • GEO200: World Regional Geography (3 hours)
  • HSR140: Introduction to Society & Behavior (3 hours)
  • HSR150: Introduction to Government Policy & Urban Structures (3 hours)
  • PHI226: Human Rights Theory (3 hours)
  • PHIL120: Principles of Professional Ethics (3 hours)
  • PSYC100: Introduction to Psychology (3 hours)
• Theme 9: Natural Sciences (3 hours)
  • ARAG205: Introduction to Fish and Animal Science (3 hours)
  • ARAG220: Natural Resources (3 hours)
  • CHEM181: Chemistry in the Modern World (3 hours)
  • GEOL110: Planet Earth (3 hours)
  • PHYS100: Astronomy (3 hours)
  • PHYS101: Conceptual Physics (3 hours)
• Theme 10: Health and Wellness (3 hours)
  • FDSC250: Contemporary Food Science & Nutrition (3 hours)
  • GEHP111: Happiness and Wellbeing (3 hours)
  • NUTR100: Nutrition and Well-being (3 hours)
  • PHED201: Physical Fitness and Wellness (3 hours)
  • PHED211: Health and Movement (3 hours)
  • SLP101: Language Development and Impairment (3 hours)
  • SPED101: Education of Exceptional Children (3 hours)

College Requirements

• Required Courses (6 hours)
  • HSSR101: Fundamentals of Humanities and Social Sciences (3 hours)
  • HSSR103: People, Places, and Society (3 hours)

Tourism Major (Req Ch: 45)

• Required Courses (45 hours)
  • TOR101: Introduction to Tourism (3 hours)
  • TOR140: Introduction to Museology (3 hours)
  • TOR205: Introduction to Cultural Tourism (3 hours)
  • TOR222: Principles of Tour Guidance (3 hours)
  • TOR263: Tourism Resources in the UAE (3 hours)
  • TOR350: Tourism and the Environment (3 hours)
  • TOR403: Tourism and Society (3 hours)
  • TOR404: Sustainable Tourism Development & Planning (3 hours)
  • TOR416: Travel Writing & New Technologies (3 hours)
  • TOR421: Intensive Research in Tourism (3 hours)
  • TOR485: Integrated Capstone (3 hours)
  • HIS121: World History: Origins to 1500 (3 hours)
  • HIS133: Introduction to Art History (3 hours)
  • HIS212: History of the UAE (3 hours)
  • HIS381: UAE Architectural Heritage (3 hours)

Internship (Req Ch: 6)

• Required Course (6 hours)
  • TOR440: Internship in Tourism & Archaeology 1 (6 hours)
  • Note: The internship is conducted over a complete semester. No courses are allowed to be registered during the internship.

Elective Courses (Req Ch: 21)

• Cluster 1: (Students must take three courses from the below list:) (9 hours)
  • HIS312: Historical Preservation (3 hours)
  • PSG120: Government & Politics of UAE (3 hours)
  • PSG250: Principles of International Relations (3 hours)
  • MKTG200: Principles of Marketing (3 hours)
  • MGMT201: Fundamentals of Management and Organizational Behavior (3 hours)
  • TOR202: Fundamentals of Heritage Management (3 hours)
  • GEO432: Geography of the UAE (3 hours)
• Cluster 2: (Students must take four courses from the below list:) (12 hours)
  • HIS122: Modern World History (3 hours)
  • HIS215: Ancient History & Archaeology of Near East (3 hours)
  • HIS217: Material Culture of Islamic World (3 hours)
  • HIS310: Introduction to Archaeology & Museum Studies (3 hours)
  • HIS318: History of the Arabian Gulf (3 hours)
  • HIS372: Arch. of UAE & A. Gulf States (3 hours)
  • HIS440: Oral History (3 hours)
  • HIS471: Modern and Contemporary History of the Arab Gulf (3 hours)
  • TOR322: Gulf art and design (3 hours)

Supplement Languages (Req Ch: 9)

• Students should select 3 courses from either Korean or German or Spanish or French or Chinese. (9 hours)
• Chinese Language (9 hours)
  • CHIN101: Chinese 1 for Beginners (3 hours)
  • CHIN102: Chinese 2 for Beginners (3 hours)
  • CHIN201: Intermediate Chinese (3 hours)
• French Language (9 hours)
  • FCH101: French 1 for Beginners (3 hours)
  • FCH102: French 2 for Beginners (3 hours)
  • FCH202: Intermediate French (3 hours)
• Korean Language (9 hours)
  • KOR101: Korean 1 for Beginners (3 hours)
  • KOR102: Korean 2 for Beginners (3 hours)
  • KOR202: Intermediate Korean (3 hours)
• Spanish Language (9 hours)
  • SPN101: Spanish 1 for Beginners (3 hours)
  • SPN102: Spanish 2 for Beginners (3 hours)
  • SPN201: Intermediate Spanish (3 hours)
• German Language (9 hours)
  • GER101: German 1 for Beginners (3 hours)
  • GER102: German 2 for Beginners (3 hours)
  • GER201: Intermediate German (3 hours)

Free Electives (Req. Ch: 12)

• Free Electives (12 hours)