Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy

at State University of New York College at Brockport USA

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 (outlined below), where their course work is designed to develop analytical, research, and creative skills.

Preparing for Business, Law and Public Service: Literature courses which emphasize psychological, social and verbal analysis provide a solid basis for the type of critical thinking needed in professional positions, while courses in writing, business communication, journalism/ publication, etc. provide a solid basis in communication skills central to these areas.

Student Life: The Writers Forum connects students with significant contemporary writers and critics. The English Club offers a variety of activities, including the publication of a student-run literary journal. Sigma Tau Delta, an international honor society, recognizes significant academic accomplishment. Awards are available for student scholarship and outstanding literary-critical, fiction, poetry and non-fiction writing.

Study Abroad: A variety of study abroad programs are available and encouraged. Our students have spent semesters abroad everywhere from England and Australia to France and Spain. Contact the Center for Global Education and Engagement to explore these opportunities.

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.

The Biology major is designed for students with an interest in aspects of the life sciences, to provide excellent preparation for postgraduate education and careers in biomedicine, health and secondary education, as well as other fields that require an understanding and practice of scientific reasoning and methods.

Students build a scientific foundation for understanding how biological systems function through courses taken during the freshman and sophomore years. In the junior and senior years, students may concentrate in areas such as: pre-professional health, biotechnology, secondary education, or an individualized program. Research opportunities with departmental faculty as well as internships and cooperative programs with public and private organizations afford students the opportunity to apply their skills outside the classroom. Due to the complex biological issues that face modern society, the department also encourages non-majors to take selected courses in the biological sciences.

The AACSB-accredited Finance Major prepares students to assume professional positions in one of the many finance functions in business and non-profit organizations, such as financial banking, planning, cash management, and investment analysis. The program also prepares students for graduate study.

Class projects and trade case simulations will enhance your analytical skills through real world applications. Hear from industry professionals in the classroom and take advantage of our skilled staff to earn internships in the field.

With our Bloomberg Financial Markets Lab, our students gain a competitive advantage toward earning Bloomberg certification — a professional qualification recognized by global financial institutions.  

What You’ll Learn

You will gain a strong foundation in financial management. Learn how to assess financial markets, analyze companies, and plan for long-term financial health.

Anthropologists study human behavior and thought in both the past and the present with the goal of improving our world. We holistically draw on sociocultural, archaeological, and biological approaches to engage with humanity’s current challenges: the outcomes of the humanity-environment relationship; human rights abuses and the need for social justice; and the complexities of human heritage and identities. Whether through ethnographic fieldwork, archaeological excavation, biological lab work, or visual and material cultural analysis, our students and faculty collaborate closely to learn and improve our knowledge of human variation. This is an invaluable resource for our students as they prepare for a more complex future.

The Anthropology Major consists of 24 required course credits plus 12 elective credits that allow students to augment their education with a dual major or minor in another field applicable to their goals and needs.

Student Learning Outcomes

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

• Knowledge base. Students gain an understanding of the broad knowledge base of human biocultural diversity through time and across cultures, as provided through archaeology, biological and cultural anthropology.
• Methods. Students gain knowledge and skills in the different anthropological research methods used in the sub-fields of archaeology, biological or cultural anthropology.
• Theory. Students learn to define and describe anthropological theory as used in current and past practice by anthropologists, in archaeology, biological and/or cultural anthropology.
• Critical Thinking. Students develop the ability to question, reflect and critique the data and arguments upon which evaluations of human diversity, behavior and change are made.
• Analysis. Students learn to apply theories and methods to explain or interpret anthropological problems, including cross-cultural patterns of social behavior, human evolution, and social change over time and space.
• Ethics. Students learn the appropriate procedures and protocols for obtaining informed consent or access permissions, in order to avoid harm or wrong to one’s human or non-human subjects and descendants.

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.

The Department of Dance at SUNY Brockport 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 of Dance comprises artists, scholars, and educators who train dancers on the graduate and undergraduate level for a wide variety of careers in the arts.

The department has some of the best dance facilities in the country, including its own fully equipped proscenium dance theater, a large-space studio theater, five studios, a body-conditioning lab, costume and scene shops, 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.

Undergraduates with a strong foundation of dance training are invited to participate in the program by auditioning to enroll as dance majors or minors in the BA or BS programs, and are eligible to apply to the BFA program in the second semester. Additionally, the department offers three graduate degrees, and serves a large number of students through courses that fulfill General Education requirements.

Student Learning Outcomes:

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

• Apply artistry through qualitative and rhythmic phrasing, dynamic range & individual expressivity.
• Embody consistently clear physical knowledge, movement accuracy and technical expertise of contemporary dance idioms.
• Create choreography that integrates imaginative and structural concepts.
• Articulate an understanding of aesthetics through dance-making and/or oral and written forms.
• Analyze human movement from varied theoretical and experiential perspectives.
• Identify individual interests and abilities in order to situate within the larger dance field.
• Exhibit appropriate professional conduct throughout choreographic process, performance, collaboration, and production.

SUNY Brockport has a long history of social work education in the Greater Rochester Metropolitan area and beyond.

The mission of the Master of Social Work Program at SUNY Brockport, State University of New York, is committed to the promotion of human rights, social, economic, and environmental justice, and the elimination of poverty and oppression. Through teaching, service, and scholarship, we strive to prepare competent, self-aware, ethical, and culturally humble integrated practice social workers, with diverse populations, advocating for the well-being of all people in our shared global community.

As a reflection of its mission, the overall goals of the Master of Social Work Program are to:

• Provide advanced social work education incorporating theoretical knowledge and critical thinking within an advanced integrated practice framework; emphasizing an ecological, strength-based, community collaborative, empowerment model of practice to promote social and economic justice.
• Educate social work practitioners who are ethical, critical thinkers engaged in ongoing inquiry and life-long learning.
• Develop practitioners who provide autonomous social work practice and leadership in health, human service, and other community organizations in diverse communities to assist high need or at-risk populations.
• Infuse a critical understanding of cultural humility and gender sensitive advanced practice in working with diverse groups, and to adapt social work knowledge and skills to meet the needs of disenfranchised and historically oppressed groups.
• Educate social work practitioners to use evidence and knowledge to improve the effectiveness of social work practice, policies, and programs.
• Promote the health and well-being of individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities by advancing social justice in a changing environment and in a global society.

The program is fully accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) and is registered with the New York State Education Department.

Curriculum

• The Advanced Standing, 36-credit program is offered to students who earned a Bachelor of Social Work within the past eight years from a CSWE accredited program.  This program can be completed full-time in three semesters or part-time in five semesters.
• The 60-credit program is offered to students who earned a bachelor's degree in a discipline outside of Social Work. The 60-credit program can be completed full-time in two years or part-time in three years.

Student Learning Outcomes

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

• Demonstrate Ethical and Professional Behavior
• Engage Diversity and Difference in Practice
• Advance Human Rights and Social, Economic and Environmental Justice
• Engage in Practice-Informed Research and Research-Informed Practice
• Engage in Policy Practice
• Engage with Individuals, Families, Groups, Organizations and Communities
• Assess Individuals, Families, Groups, Organizations and Communities
• Intervene with Individuals, Families, Groups, Organizations and Communities
• Evaluate Practice with Individuals, Families, Groups, Organizations and Communities

Administered by the Department of Journalism, Broadcasting and Public Relations, the major in Journalism and Broadcasting (JRB) prepares students for careers in online, TV, radio, newspaper and magazine journalism; public and community relations; public information; advertising; corporate communications; television and radio station sales, promotions and management, independent and corporate production studios, corporate media centers and government service.

What You’ll Learn

The media impact our politics, economy, and culture. Prepare yourself to enter the fast-growing field of journalism, broadcasting, and public relations. Learn to craft compelling stories, research sources and subjects, pitch stories to the media, and perform production work in the field and the studio.

Choose from four concentrations: Multimedia Journalism, Media Production, Media Studies, or Public Relations.

Recreation management, therapeutic recreation, and tourism are some of the most exciting and diverse human service professions. The field provides opportunities to work with all types of people in a variety of settings, to strengthen communities and improve quality of life through recreation. Students are required to choose one of three concentrations.

• Students studying recreation management will prepare for employment in a variety of settings including municipal parks and recreation, non-profit recreation services, and commercial recreation.
• Students studying therapeutic recreation will prepare for employment in community agencies and clinical settings, such as hospitals, nursing homes, schools, transitional or residential centers, treatment centers, physical medicine and rehabilitation and psychiatric institutions.
• Students pursuing the tourism management concentration will prepare for professional positions in resorts, attractions, destination marketing organizations, and wedding and event planning.

All of the concentrations provide students with academic and experiential opportunities that foster an enriching undergraduate experience and launch an exciting career.

Student Learning Outcomes

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

• Students graduating from the program shall demonstrate the following entry-level knowledge: a) the nature and scope of the relevant park, recreation, tourism or related professions and their associated industries; b) techniques and processes used by professionals and workers in these industries; and c) the foundation of the profession in history, science and philosophy. (COAPRT 7.01)
• Students graduating from the program shall be able to demonstrate the ability to design, implement, and evaluate services that facilitate targeted human experiences and that embrace personal and cultural dimensions of diversity. (COAPRT 7.02)
• Students graduating from the program shall be able to demonstrate entry-level knowledge about operations and strategic management/administration in parks, recreation, tourism and/or related professions. (COAPRT 7.03)
• Students graduating from the program shall demonstrate, through a comprehensive internship of not less than 400 clock hours and no fewer than 10 weeks, the potential to succeed as professionals at supervisory or higher levels in park, recreation, tourism, or related organizations. (COAPRT 7.04)

Chemistry is used in fields as varied as medical and criminal investigations, pollution remediation or conservation, and preserving cultural treasures including rare books and documents and fine art.

Our chemistry degree will give you a foundation in organic, inorganic, analytical, and physical chemistry to prepare you for a wide range of careers. With electives, you can build on these bases and tailor your education to your goals.