Bachelor of Science in Political Science

at State University of New York College at Brockport USA

As the nations of the world become more interconnected and interdependent, proficiency in other languages is a vital skill that allows you to engage with the world in a more immediate and meaningful way. Spanish language and culture studies prepare you for future opportunities to compete and succeed in the global economy. Through interdisciplinary instruction and the development of intercultural understanding, our curriculum is designed to help you become proficient in Spanish and prepares you to reach your career aspirations in your chosen field of interest. We encourage our students to double major and to participate in study abroad programs in Spanish-speaking countries sponsored by the Center for Global Education and Engagement.

The Spanish major consists of 33 credits and enables students to acquire an advanced level of proficiency in the language. Literature and culture courses are designed to provide a historical, political and social overview of the Spanish-speaking world. All courses are taught in Spanish.

Recent Modern Languages and Cultures' graduates have gone on to highly competitive Master's and PhD programs in Higher Education Administration, TESOL, French Literature, and Counseling at recognized research universities. Others have joined the workforce as Bilingual, French, and Spanish elementary and high-school teachers in Rochester and around NY state, ESL teachers for adult learners, translators, interpreters for defense attorneys, social workers, law enforcement officers, and health professionals.

Student Learning Outcomes:

Upon completion of a baccalaureate degree in Spanish, graduates 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 Spanish-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 bachelor of arts or bachelor of science in liberal studies degrees provide a wide range of educational options leading to an individualized educational program. The required seminar courses are offered online and through independent study while the electives may be completed online, hybrid or in a traditional classroom. The program focuses on social sciences, natural sciences, humanities/fine arts, and an individualized area of research.

Student Learning Outcomes:

Student learning outcomes (SLOs) for Liberal Studies students must be understood in the context of a multidisciplinary program with no prescribed core of specific courses (although there is a core of prescribed disciplinary categories), considerable variation in courses making up each Liberal Studies candidate's plan of study (POS), and each student's differing personal and professional goals. Nevertheless, a number of SLOs are expected for all Liberal Studies candidates. These include:

• Contributors to Knowledge – Examine the unique perspective of the arts and humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences as contributors to knowledge.
• Multidisciplinary Nature of Knowledge – Analyze the multidisciplinary nature of knowledge, and assess the value of a multidisciplinary approach to scholarship.
• Self and Nature within Contemporary Society – Provide examples of the way in which insights and methodologies from the arts and humanities, the social sciences and the natural sciences contribute to an understanding of one's self and nature within contemporary society.
• Knowledge Skills and Application – Assess interrelationships between areas of knowledge and skill within the Plan of Study, illustrate how these areas provide an integrated holistic overview.
• Critical Reasoning – Use critical reasoning skills to evaluate and synthesize knowledge from different disciplinary perspectives.
• Effective Communication – Employ effective communication skills through coherent and well-organized written and verbal presentations.

The 36-credit Master of Arts in Dance is a graduate program that offers students an opportunity to focus on intensive scholarly study in dance. Students may also develop an interdisciplinary focus in dance/movement studies, which might include coursework and research in areas such as theatre, music studies, recreation and leisure studies, health and wellness, or women/gender studies.

While at Brockport, graduate students may perform in faculty and guest artist work, choreograph their own work, or assist in directing departmental touring performances. They may also travel to regional/national conferences and festivals; to countries with complimentary foreign study programs such as Ghana, England, Brazil or Norway; or to New York and other locations for approved and credited apprenticeships, internships or dance study.

Upon completion of their degrees, Brockport MA students go on to become college and university faculty; PreK-12 teachers; performers and choreographers; dance administrators; private studio directors; independent movement practitioners; and teaching artists.  Others pursue doctoral degrees in dance or related fields.

The Department of Dance offers an MA in Dance, or an MFA in dance. The Department of Dance seeks to provide a rigorous and nurturing environment for the development of artists, scholars, choreographers, and educators. We support creativity through conceptualization and performance.

The department has some of the best dance facilities in the country, including its own fully equipped 300-seat proscenium dance theater, a 270-seat large-space studio theater, five studios, a body-conditioning lab, and computerized music and design studios. Faculty and professional staff are nationally and internationally recognized in their areas of expertise and are leaders in professional organizations such as CORD, NASD and NDEO. SUNY Brockport is an accredited institutional member of the National Association of Schools of Dance.

Student Learning Outcomes

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

• Apply artistry and individual expressivity across a range of movement aesthetics.
• Embody physical mastery of a variety of contemporary dance idioms.
• Generate and design choreography that demonstrates a sophisticated understanding of compositional tools and aesthetic framework.
• Articulate a critical understanding of aesthetics regarding dance styles through dance making, and/or oral and written forms.
• Summarize and synthesize concepts regarding history, aesthetics, and culture of dance.
• Identify and investigate an individual research agenda in creative and/or written scholarship.
• Situate individual interests in the context of the larger dance field.
• Exhibit appropriate professional conduct throughout choreographic process, performance, collaboration, and production.

The undergraduate Interdisciplinary Arts for Children major is committed to teaching, scholarship, creative expression, and service related to the education of children in and through the arts. This interdisciplinary major is unique to the SUNY system and the nation. It fulfills a major need in providing substantive arts-in-education training to prospective classroom teachers and others interested in the arts. Research shows that arts integration has perhaps the greatest potential to positively affect learning across academic disciplines. An interdisciplinary approach to learning helps students leverage new understandings that could not be obtained through singular discipline studies alone. 

What You’ll Learn

Our program is unique nationwide and within the SUNY system. It encourages students to think across disciplines, using arts integration as a focus.

Each student selects a specialty area as a focus for in-depth learning while taking courses across all of the arts disciplines. Our major is an excellent choice for those interested in education and other arts-related programs that involve working with children.

Our program will help you develop foreign language skills and cross-cultural competencies. You will also have opportunities to participate in an international exchange program and complete an internship to gain exposure on a global stage.  

The AACSB-accredited International Business Major provides an interdisciplinary education combining core courses in business and advanced courses in international business as well as courses in foreign language, culture, and opportunities for participation in study abroad and foreign internship. Graduates gain knowledge and skills for careers in business and other organizations with international operations. The program also prepares students for graduate study.

Students interested in business studies may also wish to consider the College's majors in accounting, business administration, finance and marketing.

What You’ll Learn

Our interdisciplinary degree in International Business equips you with in-depth knowledge and understanding of international business, marketing, finance, and economics. It will prepare you for a career in business anywhere in the world.

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

The program is designed to help students become scientifically and humanistically prepared to become professional nurses. The program also provides a foundation for graduate study in nursing. Beginning practitioners are most frequently employed in either hospital or community settings. Hospitals offer challenging opportunities for the baccalaureate graduate as do long-term health care facilities. In the community, nurses are employed by public health departments, health maintenance organizations, community and migrant health centers, outpatient clinics, physician’s offices, voluntary health organizations and hospice car settings. Increasingly, nurses have opportunities to participate in entrepreneurial endeavors as independent health care providers. The armed services also offer excellent career opportunities for graduates.

Licensed RNs with an associate's degree who wish to pursue their Baccalaureate degree in Nursing should review the RN-to-BSN Fast-Track major. Students that already have a Bachelor's degree and are interested in earning a nursing degree should review the Nursing Accelerated (Second Degree) BS to BSN.

What You’ll Learn

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

• Integrate theories and concepts from nursing, the liberal arts, sciences, and humanities into professional nursing practice in a world of global interdependence.
• Provide safe and holistic patient centered care for all ages in a variety of health care settings utilizing the nursing process, informatics, and emerging technology.
• Provide evidence based care of patients patients across the lifespan for the delivery of optimal health care.
• Articulate a professional philosophy that reflects autonomy, advocacy, social justice, accountability, responsibility and ethical decision making in the provision of patient centered care.
• Communicate and collaborate with individuals, families, communities, population and interdisciplinary team members fostering open communication, mutual respect and shared decision-making.
• Integrate processes and skills of critical thinking, management, and leadership to promote and continuously improve the quality and safety of health care delivery.
• Evaluate nursing care outcomes within the context of clients' values, preferences, and well-being.

Water resources majors must earn a minimum of 42 credits in required core courses. Additional requirements are two semesters each of calculus, college chemistry with lab, and college physics with lab. This major prepares students for careers in hydrology, resource management, and pollution control; the course of study includes courses recommended for federal employment as a hydrologist. The major is offered to meet the growing demand for hydrologists and other water resources professionals by federal, state and local government agencies; private sector environmental and consulting firms; and industrial and educational institutions.

Student Learning Outcomes

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

• Explain the manner with which variables and data, relevant for water resources, are properly collected using discipline appropriate methodology (fieldwork, instrumentation, remote sensing, or derived products from models).
• Properly interpret water resources data using discipline-accepted qualitative analysis.
• Properly interpret water resources data using discipline-accepted quantitative analysis.
• Define a scientific question and develop a methodology for answering it.
• Locate, evaluate and interpret primary source scientific literature.
• Effectively express water resources concepts and research results following the accepted written format for the discipline
• Explain water resources concepts and communicate research results following the accepted oral format for the discipline.

The MA in Psychology program is designed to prepare students for further study at the doctoral level and/or for careers in psychology and the helping professions. Students choose one of three tracks that best serves their educational goals:

• Clinical (with applied emphasis): a 48 credit program designed for students interested in developing clinical skills; it emphasizes diagnosis, assessment, and treatment of psychological and behavioral disorders, and it culminates in a semester-long practicum placement in an applied setting. *Please note that this track is currently on hiatus.  No new students are being accepted to this track.*
• Clinical (with research emphasis): a 39 credit program designed for students who want to move on to PhD programs, usually in clinical psychology; it emphasizes diagnosis, assessment, and treatment of psychological and behavioral disorders, but students in this track also engage in research; the culmination is a Master's thesis based on empirical research, rather than a practicum.
• General: a 30-36 credit program designed for students who want to move on to PhD programs, usually in non-clinical areas of psychology; through independent study and active research collaboration, this track provides the most opportunities for working closely with faculty mentors; the culmination is a Master's thesis based on empirical research.

All three tracks share a core set of courses, taken in the first year and building upon students’ undergraduate experiences, that provide advanced knowledge of scientific psychology, often in a seminar format. In the clinically-focused tracks, students are trained as scientists and practitioners, concerned with the application of psychological principles to the treatment and prevention of behavior disorders. Courses provide theoretical and practical training in contemporary methods of assessment, behavioral and cognitive-behavioral clinical intervention, and program evaluation.

Student Learning Outcomes

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

• Analyze the biological, developmental, and contextual determinants of behavior
  • Analyze the relationship between biological bases of behavior and human functioning
  • Describe the process of human development and acquisition of learned behaviors across the lifespan
  • Analyze how individuals' knowledge exists in the context of their environment (e.g., social, geographical, familial, institutional, cultural, etc.) and how the environment affects their functioning
• Critique and apply principles of research methods
• Apply psychological principles and evidence-based theories to practical problems in the field of psychology
• Synthesize clinical coursework and apply it outside the classroom (Applied Track)
• Produce a substantive research paper describing data that elucidates a psychological topic (Research Tracks)
• Apply ethical and professional standards to relevant research and/or clinical situations
• Explain the role of social and cultural diversity in human characteristics, experiences, and behavior
• Select appropriate intervention techniques, correctly administer tests, and accurately interpret results (Clinical Tracks)

This dual certification major is designed to prepare students for initial certification in both Biology and Student with Disabilities (SWD)-Generalist in grades 7 to 12, with extension to teach Biology in grades 5 and 6. In addition, this major prepares students for the Content Specialty Tests (CSTs) required for the dual certification.

The major in Biology Adolescence Inclusive (7-12) Education with Grades 5 and 6 Extension includes 43 credits of EDI (Education and Human Development), and 57-58 credits to complete the Biology Content Core. This curriculum meets the requirements for initial dual certification as outlined by The New York State Education Department (SED) for Adolescent Education (grades 5 through 12).

What You’ll Learn

This dual certification major is designed to prepare students for initial certification in both Biology and Student with Disabilities (SWD)-Generalist in grades 7-12 with extension to teach Biology in grades 5-6.

In addition, this major prepares students for the Content Specialty Tests (CSTs) required for the dual certification.