Dr. Gerald Benjamin
The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences is the home at SUNY New Paltz of most of the disciplines that are at the heart of the classic American academic experience. Our sixteen departments and programs offer undergraduate and graduate programs in the humanities, the social sciences and the natural sciences. They also provide much of New Paltz's extensive, rigorous general education program. Finally, the College's departments offer courses in support of degree programs offered by the other major academic units. We are proud of the depth, range and richness of the disciplinary and interdisciplinary programs based in our liberal arts and sciences departments, and of the teaching excellence, scholarly productivity, and service to the community of our faculty.
The departments and programs in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences offer twenty-one undergraduate majors, most with a number of specified curricular tracks, and numerous minors. Additionally, all teacher candidates must have a major in an academic discipline, most of which are in Liberal Arts and Sciences. Study in the liberal arts prepares people to think analytically, reason effectively, and communicate clearly. Major programs are designed to give students a firm foundation in the theory of their fields of academic study, deep and broad knowledge of the substance of those fields, and a sound grasp of the skills demanded by these disciplines. Also, many programs encourage students to do fieldwork or internships in order to test theory and knowledge in real work situations. Humanities degrees at New Paltz are offered in the fields of English, foreign languages, and philosophy. The social science departments include anthropology, economics, geography, political science & international relations, and sociology. The field of Psychology bridges the social and natural sciences, as do the fields of History and Communication the social sciences and humanities. In the natural sciences there is a degree program in biology. The Biology Department also houses a seven-year BS/DO program, offered in collaboration with the New York College of Osteopathic Medicine. Pre-professional programs are offered in the fields of journalism, nursing, radio/tv production, speech pathology and audiology.
Interdisciplinary majors are given in Black studies, women's studies, Latin American studies, and Asian studies. Other interdisciplinary majors may be constructed in consultation with faculty to meet individual needs, and completed by contract. Minor programs offered through the cooperation of several disciplines include urban studies, Jewish studies, linguistics, Native American studies, legal studies, Ancient and Medieval studies, disaster studies. and evolutionary studies.
Departments in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences that offer Master of Arts Degrees include Biology, English, and Psychology. Master of Science degrees are offered by the departments of Nursing and Communication Disorders. Master of Science degrees in Secondary Education and Master of Arts in Teaching degrees are available in Biology, English, French, Spanish and Social Studies.
