A Bachelor of Arts (B.A., BA, A.B., or AB), from the Latin ''artium baccalaureus'', is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both. Bachelor of Arts degree programs generally take three to four years depending upon the country, academic institution, and specific majors or minors.

Diplomas generally give the name of the institution, signatures of officials of the institution (generally the president or rector of the university as well as the secretary or dean of the component college), the type of degree conferred, the conferring authority and the location at which the degree is conferred. Degree diplomas generally are printed on high quality paper or parchment; Individual institutions set the preferred abbreviation for their degrees.

Regional differences

The Bachelor of Arts degree is usually attained in four years in Lebanon, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Brazil and the rest of Latin America, Canada, Egypt, Iran, Japan, Nigeria, Serbia, Pakistan, the Philippines, Thailand, the Russian Federation, Scotland, South Korea, Iraq, Tunisia, Turkey and the United States.

In contrast, the Bachelor of Arts degree course generally lasts three years in nearly all of the European Union countries. It also takes three years in Australia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, India, Israel, New Zealand, Iceland, Norway, Singapore, the Caribbean, South Africa, Switzerland, and the Canadian province of Quebec.

Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa

In universities in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, the B.A. degree can be taken over three years of full-time study. Students must pursue at least one major area of study, and that subject is studied in all of the three years. At some universities students may choose to pursue a second major; alternatively, the remainder of the degree is taken up with a minor area of study (in the first two years) and other individual or stream-based subjects make up the degree. Unlike in other countries, students do not receive an overall grade for their Bachelor of Arts degree with varying levels of honours. Instead, students have the option, after their third year of study and provided they have achieved a minimum average grade in their major area, of a further one year honours course. Thus, to achieve an honours degree, an extra year must be completed; see Bachelor's degree: Honours Degrees and academic distinctions.

Canadian universities typically offer both a 3 yr B.A. or 4 yr honours B.A. At most universities a B.A. program lasts 4 years, and a honours designation can be earned through various means such as additional course work, a minimum grade average, the completion of a thesis or dissertation, depending on the University and region of the country. On graduation, students are permitted to append the post-nominal letters "B.A." to their name; those who have successfully completed the honours year may style themselves "H.B.A." or "B.A. (Hons.)" depending on the style the granting university chooses.

In general, in all four countries, the B.A. (Hons) degree (or its equivalent international degree) is the basic qualification required to pursue higher degrees by research, including the M.A. and Ph.D degrees. For entry to professional programs such as law, or to the MBA, the situation once again differs: in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and in Ontario, the general 3-year B.A. is typically accepted (provided that the grade average is sufficient); in Canada, outside of Ontario, a four year B.A. is required.

Netherlands / Europe

In the Netherlands, the Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees were introduced in 2002. Until then there was a single program which led to the doctorandus degree. This comprised the same course load as the Bachelor and Master programs combined. (The title ''doctorandus'' was used in almost all fields of study; other titles were used for legal studies (''meester'') and engineering (''ingenieur'').) Those who had already started the doctorandus program could, upon completing it, opt for the doctorandus degree (entitling them to use "Drs." in front of their name), or could use the Master’s degree (post-nominal letters) in accordance with the new standard. A similar practice has been introduced in other EU countries, according to the Bologna Process.

United Kingdom and Ireland

In the United Kingdom (excluding Scotland) and Republic of Ireland, the first degree course normally lasts 3 years, but nomenclature varies: 19th-century and later universities usually distinguish between arts and sciences subjects by awarding either a B.A. or B.Sc. degree. However, some older or ancient universities, such as Oxford, Cambridge and Dublin traditionally award B.A.s to undergraduates having completed the final examinations (e.g. Part II Tripos (Cambridge), Final Honour Schools (Oxford), Moderatorship (Dublin)) in most subjects including the sciences. The degree of M.A. can be claimed for a nominal administrative fee, usually 21 terms after matriculation. For many centuries, the bachelor's degree was an intermediate step and was awarded for much of the work carried out in later times at secondary schools. The names of the final secondary school exams in France and Spain (and increasingly in Britain - the International Baccalaureate) come from this: le Baccalauréat and el ''Bachillerato'', respectively.

Scottish Universities award a Master of Arts degree to humanities or arts graduates, but a B.Sc. to science graduates. This course takes 4 years for an honours degree and three for an ordinary (in Scotland it is possible to opt to take an ordinary degree rather than this simply ranking below a third class honours).

A Bachelor of Arts is entitled to the designation B.A. for an ordinary/pass degree and B.A. (Hons.) for an honours degree (but the latter is often abbreviated to simply B.A.).

United States

In the United States, the Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) or Artium Baccalaureus (A.B.) is one of two basic undergraduate degrees. The other is the Bachelor of Science. At most institutions, the B.A. and B.S. have all but identical requirements of 120 semester hours or 180 quarter hours for a basic undergraduate degree. Curricula leading to the B.A., however, often require a certain minimum number of the total degree credits be drawn from coursework in topical areas historically associated with the liberal arts - such as language, literature, humanities, mathematics, history, physical sciences, and social sciences. At Eastern Michigan University, for example, 75 of the minimum 124 credits must be earned in these subject areas - whatever the student may choose as a major or minor subject - including one year of study over two consecutive semesters of one foreign language.

See also

Associate of Arts

Lady Literate in Arts

Bachelor of Fine Arts

Bachelor of Science

Educational attainment in the United States

Notable Bachelor of Arts graduates

References

Arts, bachelor

de:Bachelor et:Bachelor of Arts es:Bachelor of Arts fr:Baccalauréat en arts is:Baccalaureus Artium it:Bachelor nl:Bachelor of Arts pl:Licencjat pt:Bachelor of Arts sv:Filosofie kandidat ur:فاضل الفنیات zh:文学士

Name	Chen Show Mao
Constituency mp	Paya Lebar Division, Aljunied GRC
Parliament	12th Singapore
Party	Workers' Party of Singapore
Predecessor	Ms Cynthia Phua (PAP) }}

Chen Show Mao, J.D. (; born 1961) is a Singaporean politician and lawyer. He is a member of the opposition Workers' Party, and has been a Member of Parliament for the Aljunied Group Representation Constituency since 7 May 2011.He is in charge of the Paya Lebar ward, replacing PAP's Cynthia Phua.

Personal profile

Chen was born in Taiwan and moved to Singapore at the age of 11. He studied at Nanyang Primary School, Catholic High School and Anglo-Chinese School. Chen was the president of the students’ council at National Junior College and graduated as the top student in Singapore for the 1979 “A” level examinations, scoring straight As in Biology, Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics B as well as A1s for General Paper and Chinese. Although Chen had yet to become a Singapore Citizen, he chose to serve National Service. During National Service, Chen served as an infantry platoon commander at the Fifth Singapore Infantry Regiment (5SIR) and as Brigade Adjutant, or DYS1, at the headquarters of the Third Singapore Infantry Brigade (3SIB). He took up citizenship in 1986, six years after serving National Service.

Despite graduating as the top student for the 1979 “A” level examinations, Chen did not gain admission into the local medical school. Thereupon, he pursued his undergraduate studies with Major in Economics at Harvard University. Chen graduated from Harvard University in 1986 and from Corpus Christi College, Oxford University in 1988, where he was a Rhodes Scholar. In 1992 Chen received his Juris Doctor from Stanford Law School and in 2005 received his M.A. from Corpus Christi College, Oxford University.

Legal career

Chen is a partner in the Corporate Department of Davis Polk & Wardwell and a managing partner of the Beijing office. An experienced lawyer, he has practiced in the New York office since 1992, the Hong Kong office since 1999 and the Beijing office since 2007.

Chen advised the Agricultural Bank of China on its recent US$22 billion initial public offering (IPO), which was the second largest IPO in history. He also advised the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) on its US$21 billion IPO, as well as China National Offshore Oil Company (CNOOC) on its proposed US$19 billion acquisition of Unocal. Chen also completed the global IPOs of Air China, China Construction Bank, China Unicom, Metallurgical Corp. of China, Sinopec, as well as offerings by the Ministry of Finance of the People’s Republic of China (PRC).

Besides China, Chen has completed international securities offerings and M&A; transactions by various companies including Acer, ASE, Asus, AU Optronics, BHP, Foxconn, Freeport-McMoran, HTC, Quanta, TSMC and UMC. He also worked with financial institutions such as JP Morgan Chase and Morgan Stanley, and the Ministry of Economic Affairs of the Republic of China (ROC).

Beyond that, Chen has worked with sovereign wealth funds such as The China Investment Corporation (CIC), the Development Fund of the ROC and also advised the Shanghai, Hong Kong and Taiwan Stock Exchanges on proposed regulations. Chen was named one of American Lawyer’s 2010 "Dealmakers of the Year" in April 2011.

On 1 July 2011, Chen announced on his Facebook page that he had retired from active practice as partner of his law firm given his new responsibilities as MP. The decision was made so that he can spend more time with his family, to better serve his constituency and country, and that he would be exploring alternative work arrangements.

Political career

During his time abroad, Chen regularly returned home to Singapore to visit his parents, his sister and her family. In 2007, he visited the headquarters of the Workers’ Party of Singapore, and found, over a period of time, a meeting of minds on their shared goals for Singapore's future. Subsequently, he became a member of the Workers’ Party of Singapore. Upon his entry into Singapore politics, he was referred to as the Workers' Party "star catch" by the local press. This was mainly because Singapore's opposition parties had previously struggled to recruit top-calibre candidates with profiles comparable to Chen.

Chen stated that he joined the Workers' Party because he believed that "the best way to ensure good governance for Singapore is through the growth of a competitive opposition that offers a credible alternative to the party in government". During an interview, Chen frankly explained why he decided to join the Workers' Party of Singapore: :Certainly, my friends in the PAP are in a better position to formulate policy and implement policy in the short term, and therefore, have a greater impact on people's life, people's livelihood over the short term. But I think what I am doing is just as important. Perhaps more important over the long term and that is to help build up a credible opposition that in time is capable to form an alternative government.

On 27 April 2011, Chen submitted his candidacy for the five-member Aljunied Group Representation Constituency with the Workers' Party of Singapore Secretary-General Low Thia Khiang, Chairman Sylvia Lim, Pritam Singh, a postgraduate law student, and Muhamad Faisal Abdul Manap, a freelance counsellor. The incumbent team included two cabinet ministers and one Senior Minister of State, and was helmed by the prominent Minister for Foreign Affairs, George Yeo.

During the intense nine-day campaign period that followed, Chen was singled out by leaders of the ruling People's Action Party (PAP) for criticism. The PAP's Organising Secretary and Minister for Education, Dr Ng Eng Hen, questioned Chen's motives for entering politics in a letter to The Straits Times. Ng also questioned whether Chen would be able to relate to the aspirations of Singaporeans after having spent most of his career in the United States and China. The PAP's co-founder and former Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew also suggested that Chen could return to China after losing in the election.

Throughout the campaign, Chen kept a low profile when the WP was faced with tough questions, instead allowing frontman Low Thia Khiang to take the heat. He continuously sought to emphasize his close ties to Singapore and Singaporeans, to the extent of addressing crowds at rallies with smatterings of Malay and Hokkien to dispel the notion that he was a "foreigner", as he had spent many years abroad. He also highlighted at a Workers' Party rally that he came to Singapore at a young age with his parents and sister, that he served National Service, and that he owns an apartment in Bishan and frequently commutes by MRT train.

On 7 May 2011, Chen and his Workers' Party team won the Aljunied GRC with 54.71% of the total votes cast, with Yeo's PAP team obtaining 45.29% of the votes. The victory was considered historic because it was the first time in history that a GRC had been captured by an opposition party, and the first time ever that two cabinet ministers had lost their seats in a general election. Chen became the first foreign-born opposition MP in the history of Singapore, while his teammates Sylvia Lim and Muhamad Faisal Manap became the first-ever female opposition MP and the first-ever Malay opposition MP respectively, since independence. Also, together with Pritam Singh and Muhamad Faisal bin Abdul Manap, he became the first 3 opposition MPs to be elected into parliament at the first attempt.

Current posts

Council Member, Workers' Party of Singapore

Advisor, Aljunied Constituency Committee (AJCC)

References

External links

Profile at Workers' Party of Singapore website

Offices

Category:Workers' Party of Singapore politicians Category:Singaporean lawyers Category:Singaporean people of Chinese descent Category:Living people Category:Anglo-Chinese School alumni Category:Singaporean Rhodes scholars

zh-min-nan:Tân Se̍k-bō͘ zh:陳碩茂

playername	Lance Watson
fullname	Lance Watson
dateofbirth	October 06, 1983
cityofbirth	Nederland, Texas
countryofbirth	United States
height
position	Midfielder/Defender
currentclub	Austin Aztex
clubnumber	6
youthyears1	2002–2005
youthclubs1	New Mexico Lobos
years1	2004
clubs1	Indiana Invaders
caps1	13
goals1	3
years2	2005
clubs2	Chicago Fire Premier
caps2	5
goals2	0
years3	2006–2009
clubs3	Kansas City Wizards
caps3	36
goals3	0
years4	2010–
clubs4	Austin Aztex
caps4	24
goals4	2
nationalcaps1	| nationalgoals1
pcupdate	October 1, 1010
ntupdate	}}

Lance Watson (born October 6, 1983 in Nederland, Texas) is an American soccer player currently playing for Austin Aztex in the USSF Division 2 Professional League.

Career

College and Amateur

Watson played college soccer at the University of New Mexico from 2002 to 2005. He finished his career with 22 assists, good enough for second all-time in school history, and helped lead the Lobos to the 2005 NCAA Championship game. He also played in the USL Premier Development League, for Indiana Invaders in 2004 and Chicago Fire Premier in 2005.

Professional

Watson was drafted in the second round, 16th overall, by the Kansas City Wizards in 2006 MLS SuperDraft. After four seasons with the Wizards, Watson was released on March 1, 2010. On March 30, 2010, the Austin Aztex announced the signing of Watson to a two-year contract.

Watson signed a two-year deal with USSF Division 2 club Austin Aztex in March 2010.

References

External links

Austin Aztex player profile

Category:1983 births Category:Living people Category:American soccer players Category:Indiana Invaders players Category:Chicago Fire Premier players Category:Kansas City Wizards players Category:Austin Aztex FC players Category:New Mexico Lobos men's soccer players Category:USL Premier Development League players Category:USSF Division 2 Pro League players