Bachelor of Science in Liberal Studies

at State University of New York College at Brockport USA

This dual certification major is designed to prepare students for initial certification (single certification) in both French and Student with Disabilities (SWD)-Generalist in grades 7 to 12, with extension to teach French in grades 5 and 6. As with all other undergraduate degrees, students in this major must also complete the General Education program requirements. Students who plan their schedules carefully and take courses that count for general education as well as the major or teacher certification requirements may be able to also pursue a minor or participate in a study abroad program in a French-speaking country. Students may have the opportunity to student teach in Alaska or abroad.

What You’ll Learn

Upon completion of the program, students will be able to:

• Narrate and describe using a variety of time frames, extended discourse, and specialized vocabulary.
• Deliver oral presentations on a wide variety of topics, using a variety of strategies to tailor the presentation to the needs of their audience.
• Narrate and describe in all major time frames with good control of aspect and a range of general vocabulary in writing for personal and professional needs.
• Identify the main facts and many supporting details in conventional narrative and descriptive oral texts.
• Identify some of the essential points of argumentative texts in areas of special interest or knowledge.
• Explain key perspectives of some French-speaking cultures within a comparative framework and connect them to cultural products and practices.
• Interpret and synthesize ideas and critical issues from a wide range of historical and contemporary cultural artifacts

The Major in Biology Adolescence Education includes 36 credits of pedagogy courses and 57-58 credits to complete the Biology Content Core. As for other undergraduate programs, students in the program will have to complete 23-25 credits of General Education courses.

The Biology Teacher Education program leads to initial single certification in Adolescence Biology Grades 5-12.

Student Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of the program, students will be able to:

• Demonstrate a basic understanding of life processes at the biochemical, molecular, cellular, and organismal levels.
• Demonstrate an understanding of developmental and physiological processes.
• Understand the learning needs of all students, and utilize their professional knowledge and skills, including the implementation of assessments and technology, to create effective learning experiences.
• Continuously evaluate the impact of their work with students, reflecting on their success as teachers and addressing their needs for continuing professional improvement.
• Practice professional ethics, including dedication, respect, intellectual integrity, positive outlook, self-awareness, and professionalism.
• Produce evidence that they engage students in meaningful activity that promotes the development of critical thinking, problem-solving, and performance skills

The English Major Adolescent Education Track leads to initial certification as a teacher of English in grades 5-12. It enables students to prepare for the English CST alone, without the requirements related to the SWD Generalist certification. Students in this track may pursue either the Literature or Creative Writing concentrations.

The English major is designed for students who wish to pursue a passion for reading and writing, and for those who seek a versatile education as they prepare for careers in education, law, business administration, public relations, advertising, government, or any field where analytical excellence and effective use of the English language are essential. English majors choose between a literature or creative writing concentration, where their course work is designed to develop analytical, research, and creative skills.

The major in English Adolescent Education (EAE) includes 36-39 credits of EDI/PRO courses and 36 credits to complete the English major. It is designed so that students can complete the program in 120 credits, including the required 32-35 credits of General Education courses. This allows students the flexibility of taking up to 13 credits of electives. This curriculum meets the requirements for initial certification as outlined by the State Education Department for Adolescent Education (grades 5 through 12). Students will have an assigned advisor in the English department who will work closely with colleagues in the Department of Education.

Student Learning Outcomes:
Upon completion of the program,

Creative Writing Track students will be able to:

• Analyze the relationship between literary form and meaning, taking into consideration literary techniques and devices.
• Construct arguments about literary works using historical contexts.
• Apply basic elements of creative writing craft, including such elements as control of form and figurative language.
• Identify reputable and relevant sources, and incorporate the words and ideas of others without misrepresentation and with appropriate documentation practices.
• Write in conformity with standard usage and grammar.

Literature Track students will be able to:

• Analyze the relationship between literary form and meaning, taking into consideration literary techniques and devices.
• Construct arguments about literary works using historical contexts.
• Argue with a command of the rhetorical strategies, terms, and major interpretive methods characteristic of academic writing in the Humanities.
• Identify reputable and relevant sources, and incorporate the words and ideas of others without misrepresentation and with appropriate documentation practices.
• Write in conformity with standard usage and grammar.

Sociology explores how our lives, behaviors, and identities are shaped by our ties to others, from intimate spheres to global ones. Completing the Sociology major gives you the tools to understand the complex structures of the social world and how they interact. Sociology courses at Brockport include topics as diverse as sport, health, race and ethnicity, food, gender, education, and human rights.

At the core of sociology is what C. Wright Mills calls "The Sociological Imagination," the awareness that "neither the life of an individual nor the history of a society can be understood without understanding both." Rigorous research and creative concepts enable sociologists to, in Pierre Bourdieu's words, "think in a completely astonished and disconcerted way about things you thought you had always understood."

Both scientific and humanistic, sociology is a classic, liberal-arts discipline. Sociology students learn to examine both cultures and social structures, gaining significant insights into society, social change, and their own social identities. Research and analytical skills, combined with an emphases on effective communication and critical thinking, prepare sociology students for success in graduate school or careers in the social service, nonprofit, public-sector, and business fields.

Student Learning Outcomes:

Upon completion of the program, students will be able to:

• Apply sociological theories to understand social phenomena
• Explain how culture and social structure shape individual experiences and opportunities
• Rigorously analyze social science data
• Effectively communicate sociological concepts and empirical findings

Create marketing plans, collect and analyze consumer data, and develop advertising campaigns for traditional and digital media. Attend guest lectures from seasoned international marketing professionals, complete case analyses, work on marketing simulations, and complete course projects to promote local businesses.

You will have access to our trained staff who will help you obtain internships with regional businesses or non-profits, enhance your interviewing skills, and get your resume job ready. 

What You’ll Learn

You will be introduced to the marketing concepts and tools that are important to succeed in today’s world. Prepare for a career in domestic or global brand management, digital marketing, market research, advertising, or brand consulting.

The MA in English, Creative Writing and Literature tracks, introduces graduate students to advanced study in the art of language. Courses provide an opportunity for deep and sustained analysis of a variety of literary texts, emphasizing advanced critical and theoretical approaches. The program encourages students to work closely with faculty mentors and culminates in a substantial (and potentially publishable) independent project focusing on an area of the student’s interest and emerging expertise. Graduate students additionally have the opportunity to meet with nationally and internationally recognized authors through Brockport's visiting writers series, The Writers Forum.

For accepted students exhibiting superior promise, the department has a limited number of assistantships available that provide a stipend and a tuition scholarship for up to nine graduate credits per semester. They are awarded on a competitive basis with an April 15 application deadline. Further information on assistantships may be obtained from The Center for Graduate Studies.

Student Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of the program, all students will be able to:

• Construct an advanced scholarly argument about a subject situated within at least one period of English Literature
• Construct an advanced scholarly argument about a subject situated within at least one period of American literature
• Construct an advanced scholarly argument about a subject situated within at least one area of World literature

Literature Track students will be able to:

• Participate in the literary-critical conversation
• Practice standards and techniques of advanced academic research and writing
• Discuss and respond appropriately to questions about their advanced project argument.

Creative Writing Track students will be able to:

• Employ professional standards in constructive critical commentary on peer writing and in revising their own work in required workshop courses
• Practice forms and techniques in the genres of poetry and prose.
• Articulate the place of their own work in contemporary literary practices

From asylum-seekers at our nation’s borders to concerns about police-community relations, and fears over active shooters, our local communities and nation rely upon law enforcement and human rights professionals to deal with society’s complex problems, many originating systematically from macro process of globalization and economic restructuring.

Our Community Justice majors will be instructed in cultural competency, anthropological research methodologies (including forensics), the principles of the criminal justice system and the complexities of ethics and justice.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ predictions, by 2026, one can expect the addition of new jobs in the following occupations: 800 new jobs for emergency management directors, 8,200 for police, fire and ambulance dispatchers, 53,400 for police and detectives, and 65,000 for lawyers. Certain occupations relevant to this new major are forecasted to experience faster than average growth (7%), such as the following: Arbitrators and Mediators at 10%, private detectives and investigators at 11%, and community and service managers at 18%.

Student Learning Outcomes:

Upon completion of this major, students should be able to do the following:

• To articulate the discursive and theoretical complexities concerning what is community and what is justice and how these two concepts intersect.
• To demonstrate cultural competency and knowledge of human biodiversity through time and across cultures.
• To develop effective arguments using sound cross-cultural critical thinking when evaluating issues related to social control, crime prevention, community development, punishment, adjudication and human rights.
• To collect, analyze and present data (in oral and written language), in accordance with related ethical standards.

Physics is the study of the physical properties of the universe and of the fundamental properties and interactions of matter and energy. Physics has applications in every field of pure and applied science, such as engineering, optics, materials science, space science, and medicine.

The major in Physics Adolescence Inclusive Education is intended for students who want to become certified to teach both high school Physics and Students with Disabilities (SWD). It includes 53 credits in the Physics Content Core and 43 credits of Pedagogy Content offered by the Department of Education and Human Development (EHD). Because of the large number of required credits in this major, students should plan their time at Brockport carefully and consult with their advisors in both Physics and EHD.

The Physics Adolescence Inclusive Education major leads to initial dual certification (see 'Certification' below) under the 'Adolescence Physics Inclusive Generalist' category as outlined by the New York State Education Department (NYSED):

• Adolescence Physics, 7-12
• Adolescence Physics, 5-6 Extension
• Students with Disabilities, 7-12, Generalist

What You’ll Learn

Physics pursues answers to how the Universe works on scales both large and small. High school teachers get to share these answers with their students and spark their curiosity about the natural world.

Your Physics Inclusive Education degree will provide you with the content and skills necessary to become an outstanding educator in Physics and prepare you to teach in today's diverse classrooms. Our program stands apart from those at other schools because you will leave with an initial dual certification in teaching Physics and Students with Disabilities.

Political Science is the study of the state and of power relations within and among states, as they are and as they ought to be. It seeks a better understanding of political and governmental behavior and institutions in order to enable society to use its collective resources more effectively for the general welfare. The principal sub-fields of the discipline are: American politics, comparative politics, international relations and political theory.

Student Learning Outcomes:

Upon completion of the program, students will be able to:

• Students should have a college level understanding of American Government
• Students should have a fundamental understanding of the politics of at least 1 country/region/ system of government outside of the US
• Students will have a working familiarity with social science methodologies common to PLS/INS (including Theory and Quantitative methods)
• Students should have writing and speaking skills commensurate with BA/BS at SUNY Brockport

The study of philosophy is excellent preparation for a career in any field that requires clear, analytical thinking, writing, and speaking, including law, government, teaching and education, the ministry, business and management, publishing, and many other fields. Philosophy is traditionally considered the premier major for those planning to apply to law school. Philosophy majors score on average significantly higher on the Law School Admissions Test (LSAT) than do the majors in any of the humanities or social sciences, including political science, history, and English; and philosophy majors on average are accepted to law school at higher rates than are students majoring in many other popular pre-law fields. Philosophy is also an excellent double major.

The Department of Philosophy sponsors the College's chapter of Phi Sigma Tau, the International Honors Philosophy Society, which recognizes student academic excellence. The Department also operates the Center for Philosophic Exchange, which sponsors free public guest lectures on campus by distinguished philosophers and publishes the on-line journal, Philosophic Exchange.

Student Learning Outcomes:

Upon completion of the program, students will be able to:

• Present a philosophical problem, by (1) concisely and precisely stating a philosophical problem to be resolved by an argument or essay, (2) explaining why the problem is significant, (3) explaining the scope of the problem, (4) defining any terms necessary for understanding the problem.
• Explicate the meaning of a philosophical theory by (1) correctly deducing the logical implications of that theory, (2) describing those implications in terms of specific examples, (3) recognizing when another statement or theory contradicts the relevant theory explicitly, (4) recognizing when another statement or theory contradicts the relevant theory implicitly.
• Demonstrate understanding of evidence by (1) correctly stating what counts as relevant evidence for a philosophical position, (2) correctly stating what counts as relevant evidence against the argument for a philosophical position and recognizing that evidence as such, (3) explaining why any cited evidence is relevant or irrelevant to a philosophical position, (4) distinguishing evidentiary claims about a philosophical position from rhetorically persuasive but specious claims about a philosophical position.
• Demonstrate knowledge of logic, by (1) recognizing arguments, (2) constructing good arguments, (3) evaluating arguments, (4) avoiding fallacies (e.g. begging the question).
• Demonstrate knowledge of dialectical method in philosophy, by (1) formulating possible objections to the thesis of an essay, (2) formulating possible objections to the argument for the essay's thesis, (3) responding to possible objections to the essay's thesis by showing that they are mistaken, (4) responding to possible objections to the argument for the essay's thesis by showing that they are mistaken.