Bachelor of Arts in English

at State University of New York at New Paltz USA

This program offers students education and training in the field of behavior analysis, the history of autism spectrum disorders, characteristics of autism, family systems, educational strategies, and interdisciplinary approaches to providing services and supports for individuals with autism and their families. The program meets the educational content requirements for New York State Licensed Behavior Analyst (LBA) licensure as well as the coursework requirements for Behavior Analyst Certification Board’s (BACB) certification as a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA).

Behavior Analytic Coursework

• Students learn the foundational concepts and principles of the science of human behavior and learning that are the basis of the field of behavior analysis. The mission of our program is to train practitioners who make ethical, collaborative, culturally responsive, and data-based decisions in their practice in order to support and improve the lives of their students and clients.

Interdisciplinary Autism Studies

• The interdisciplinary component of the program provides candidates with a comprehensive perspective on autism spectrum disorders, by incorporating coursework from several disciplines, including special education, communication disorders, human services, music therapy, and psychology.

The nationally accredited MFA program offers varied and extensive opportunities for graduate study in a unique setting. Our location is just 90 minutes north of New York City in the historic Hudson River Valley, allowing access to cutting-edge artists, historians, critics, and curators. The campus features expansive facilities, private and semi-private secure studios, and extensive computer labs and digital fabrication technologies. Additional exhibition spaces complement the prestigious Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art.

Printmaking - Specialization
The Printmaking program views the field expansively, honoring tradition while moving the medium ever forward through the use of digital, sculptural means to create two and three-dimensional and installation-based works. The program encourages students to formulate and articulate their philosophical and personal concepts and translate them into visual works, meeting these objectives by offering a mix of intensive studio experience with critical and theoretical dialogue. The printmaking studios are state-of-the-art facilities containing a full range of new and top-of-the-line equipment and presses. In our 10,000 square foot studio spaces students have the capability of working with intaglio, lithography, silkscreen, monotype, woodcut, and hand-papermaking as well as contemporary photography, digital, and mixed media printmaking processes. Access to the Art Department’s stellar Wood Studio and Digital Fabrication labs round out the offerings within the printmaking area.

The Ceramics program cultivates the conceptual, technical, and professional growth of its graduate students by providing an environment balanced among pragmatic skill development, critical and theoretical dialogue, and intensive studio research geared toward a process of making and thinking, resulting in innovative and dynamic outcomes. We encourage students to have a strong sense of responsibility, self-reliance, and confidence. Faculty guide students in independent research and individual approaches to their practice. The curricular structure challenges students to critically evaluate their work within a material-specific and an interdisciplinary framework, as well as in theoretical and professional contexts. Students are encouraged to work with methodologies that explore the boundaries of the field while demonstrating an understanding of historic and contemporary ecologies. With private graduate studios within the program's expansive 10,000 square foot facility and access to a broad range of traditional and contemporary technologies, the program provides students with the resources and the latitude necessary to develop an authentic, significant contribution to the field.

The Department of Economics offers a program leading to a Bachelor of Art or a Bachelor of Science in Economics. It is designed to prepare students for careers in private and public sectors, non-profit organizations, and for graduate work in economics and business administration.

In addition to a broad General Economics track, students may complete prescribed clusters of upper-division elective courses to concentrate their studies in Business Economics or International Economics tracks.  Students who intend to pursue graduate study in economics are advised to complete additional courses in mathematics.

The concentration areas within the program are designed to enable students to combine a liberal arts education with their individual graduate work or career objectives. Prospective majors are strongly advised to plan their program of study in consultation with the department chair or another member of the Economics faculty.

• Geography is a diverse and integrative discipline that allows students to explore and make sense of place, space, and landscape and the connections between them, while also learning to analyze problems from multiple perspectives. Our programs are designed to prepare students for graduate study in geography or for employment in fields actively seeking geographers. Students may choose the general Geography major, leading to a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree, or Geography concentrations in environmental geography and in urban planning, leading to a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree. The concentration in urban planning is for students who wish to undertake graduate study in planning or to obtain employment in that field. A Geographic Information System (GIS) sequence is offered in addition to courses in Cartography and Remote Sensing.
• Environmental Studies is an interdisciplinary major drawing on social and physical science, the humanities and the arts to provide students a broad understanding of the relationship between humans and the earth. The Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) program emphasizes environmental policy and social and economic aspects of the environment while providing a background in earth science. Much of environmental studies focuses on public and political discourse about scientific uncertainty, assessment of risks, and economic costs and benefits. Students majoring in Environmental Studies gain theoretical perspective and practical experience through a combination of coursework, activism, policymaking, applied-learning opportunities, and a capstone seminar.

The nationally accredited MFA program offers varied and extensive opportunities for graduate study in a unique setting. Our location is just 90 minutes north of New York City in the historic Hudson River Valley, allowing access to cutting edge artists, historians, critics, and curators. The campus features expansive facilities, private and semi-private secure studios, and extensive computer labs and digital fabrication technologies. Additional exhibition spaces complement the prestigious Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art.

Sculpture - Specialization
The graduate Sculpture program embraces and cultivates the diversity and complexity of what is defined as sculpture today. The program supports investigations that encompass installation, intervention, performance, sound, video, new media as well as more traditional approaches to sculpture. The Sculpture program encourages independent exploration, experimentation, critical awareness, and engagement in the issues, forms, and contexts of contemporary, professional investigation. The program challenges and expands on the individual graduate student’s rationale and modes of working. In a flexible program encompassing the breadth of today’s sculptural possibilities, each student has the opportunity to articulate an individual vision and make a significant contribution to the discipline.

The overall footprint of the sculpture facilities encompasses 10,000 square-feet of space, which is divided into individual studio space for MFA and BFA students, general class workspace, an area for woodworking, welding, and metal fabrication. The facilities also include a separate room for experimental work such as installations. Equipment includes welding and metalworking tools and machinery, woodworking tools and machinery, video and sound equipment, and a computer lab for digital imaging, sound and video production.

The Department of Digital Media & Journalism represents disciplines that combine methods from both the humanities and social sciences in the study of how people share and represent ideas through the mass media. Building upon a solid liberal-arts foundation, students in our programs develop theoretical and practical knowledge through challenging and engaging coursework and hands-on experiences that will support their intellectual and professional growth and prepare them for careers and graduate study.

Geology offers both undergraduate and graduate degree programs. Through formal courses, field work, and research projects, students develop an awareness of the geological processes that shape our planet, and their impact on society and the environment. The undergraduate major in geology offers concentrations in General Geology and Environmental Geoscience and leads to either a Bachelor of Arts (BA) or a Bachelor of Science (BS) degree. The BS degree in Geology is licensure qualifying: its coursework meets the education requirements for Professional Geologist licensure in New York State. 

The Political Science/International Relations programs at New Paltz are designed to be both academically sound and responsive to student desires for practical experience and career preparation. A wide range of courses is offered in American government, international relations, political theory, comparative politics, law and law-related fields. In addition to the regular offerings, a number of "selected topics" courses may be given to serve student and community interest in current domestic and international issues.

We offer two majors -- one in Political Science and one in International Relations -- and minors in each of these disciplines, as well as a minor in Law and Politics.