Master of Science in Biology

at State University of New York College at Brockport USA

Our biochemistry degree opens doors to cutting edge knowledge — molecular biology, chemical biology, neuroscience, pharmaceuticals, and more. Our electives build on these foundations so you can tailor your education to your goals.

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.

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.

Earth science majors must earn a minimum of 36 core and elective credits (in Earth Science and Geology) and an additional 12 credits in related lab sciences and mathematics. The core and elective courses that constitute the curriculum of this interdisciplinary major embody the knowledge base and methodologies of geology (solid earth and its resources), meteorology (the atmosphere and its movement), and hydrology (water and its cycling through the environment). As such, this major offers a flexible and broadly based program of study that is well suited for students who are preparing for a career in environmental regulation, resource management or park service. By supplementing the major-related course work with additional electives, or an appropriate minor, a student may structure her/his study toward a special interest area, such as journalism, technical writing, business, or graduate study in geography, resource management, urban planning, or museum science.

Student Learning Outcomes

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

• Explain the manner with which variables and data, relevant for earth science, are properly collected using discipline appropriate methodology (fieldwork, instrumentation, remote sensing, or derived products from models).
• Properly interpret earth science data using discipline-accepted qualitative analysis
• Properly interpret earth science 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 earth science concepts and research results following the accepted written format for the discipline.
• Explain earth science concepts and communicate research results following the accepted oral format for the discipline.

This major is designed to prepare students for initial certification (single certification) as a French teacher for grades 7-12 with extension to teach in grades 5 and 6. As with all other undergraduate degrees, students in this major must also complete the General Education program. 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

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.

Neuroscience is a growing interdisciplinary field that draws upon the knowledge-base from biology, chemistry, and psychology. You will learn how to effectively communicate and work with experts across all three fields as well as how to apply their varied approaches to problem-solving. Select from many upper-division courses to deepen your knowledge in what interests you the most about neuroscience.

SUNY Brockport is one of the first SUNY institutions to offer an undergraduate degree in neuroscience.

You will have the opportunity for hands-on instruction through lab and field courses as well as high-impact experiences through undergraduate research and internships.

What You’ll Learn

You will receive a solid foundation in biology, chemistry, and psychology in order to communicate and work with experts to uncover the how our brain and nervous system work.

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 Communication Studies major explores human communication in a variety of contexts, including interpersonal, professional, public, mediated, and cross-cultural settings, and examines the social influence of language and media. Students investigate a variety of communication practices with learning experiences in theory, history, criticism, application, and performance.

Student Learning Outcomes:

Upon completion of the Communication Major, students will be able to:

• Speak well: Deliver an extemporaneous presentation that meets the needs of a given speaking situation and audience.
• Integrate multiple perspectives: Integrate multiple Communication theories/concepts to analyze and recommend multiple solutions for a socially significant communication problem, case, or situation.
• Advance quality arguments: Advance a sequence of evidence based arguments to support a given position.
• Write well: Write clearly and at a level appropriate to a given audience.
• Critically Evaluate: Critically evaluate a communication message using relevant theories/concepts.
• Demonstrate influence: Demonstrate influence strategies to address relevant social problems.

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.