College Catalog

Students explore communication, collaboration, creativity, and flexibility as the hallmarks of effective management practices, disrupting hidden assumptions and entrenched biases. Coursework critically examines organizational and leadership theory in intercultural perspective to reimagine ethical approaches that are inclusive, adaptive, and transformative. Students explore how to lead and manage enterprises across industries and global landscapes, using critical theories.

Credits: 3

This course explores the benefits and drawbacks of tourism as experienced by tourists, travel-industry workers, and local and Indigenous community residents in various global contexts. Topics include affective labor, cultural commodification, heritage tourism, study abroad, voluntourism, selfie tourism, digital nomads, travel writing and vlogging, and debates over environmental and social sustainability.

Credits: 4

Students learn the origins of Manhattan’s Chinatown in racist immigration and housing policies and explore how decades of organized resistance have challenged these forces for better conditions for workers, tenants, and community members. Students investigate the legacies of the Asian American Movement and how radical practices from that time are interpreted by contemporary activist groups fighting against gentrification and displacement.

Credits: 4

An introduction to transactions analysis and the preparation of financial statements, with particular emphasis on external reporting. The course is divided into two parts: the preparation of financial statements; and the analysis of corporate operations, based on financial accounting statements. SUNY Purchase undergraduates cannot take this course for liberal arts credit.

Credits: 4

Students examine the impact of the internet on business and develop a solid foundation for evaluating current and future internet business applications. Topics include internet businesses; the impact of the internet on traditional businesses, including internet marketing, customer relationship management, and virtual workplaces; information businesses (music, software, movies, news); and global issues (outsourcing, offshoring).

Credits: 4

Effective, vibrant leadership is essential to the success of any organization. This interdisciplinary course is designed to increase students’ understanding of major leadership behavioral patterns, personal leadership skills, and analysis in for-profit, nonprofit, community, and governmental organizations. Contemporary issues in leadership are addressed in the context of established leadership theory.

Credits: 4

Students learn how to integrate ethics with business practices by examining case studies and theories. Confronting ethical dilemmas in the workplace is an experience that affects individuals, organizations, communities, and the environment. Civic- and social-responsibility practices and policies are examined, demonstrating how integrity and moral sensibility can be a part of everyday professional and civic decision-making.

Credits: 4

A culminating project-based requirement that builds on Capstone Proseminar (or LEG3065) and prior coursework. Students pursue their interests, incorporating library research, field-based inquiry, and/or an applied learning experience. Capstone projects can take various forms, but all must include long-form written content that involves research, analysis, and critical reflection assembled into an ePortfolio.

Credits: 4

PREREQ: WRI1110 Or WRI2110 Or Or

Charles Morazé, in The Triumph of the Middle Classes, describes the political and social history of the bourgeoisie during the 19th century. This course traces themes from Morazé; through the 20th century, with attention to how the middle class sees itself through art, literature, film, advertising, and television.

Credits: 4

The past century saw two world wars and countless smaller, armed conflagrations over land, political influence, and ancient hatreds. This course focuses on a variety of post–World War II conflicts as reported by international journalists. Students learn about the atrocities in Bosnia, the Middle East, and Africa, among others, but most of all, they learn how war and conflict are reported.

Credits: 4

A study of music in its cultural contexts, including how it defines and perpetuates national, cultural, ethnic, and personal identity around the world. The class examines the recording, performing, and broadcasting of music and the role of race, class, and gender in Spain, Central Asia, Australia, Europe, Africa, and the Americas. Looking through the lens of culture, students see who drives the music industry, who listens, and for what purposes.

Credits: 4

Students explore contemporary literary and cinematic expressions of immigrant groups seeking acceptance in Western cultures. The focus is on issues related to assimilation, identity, and the reactions of the Western mainstream cultures as outside forces compete for recognition. The immigrant groups depicted include those originating in Southeast Asia, China, Africa, and the Middle East.

Credits: 4

A discussion of the constructs, theories, and ideas in the field of social psychology that are most relevant to contemporary society. Films that are rich in examples of social psychological theory are analyzed to facilitate mastery of these concepts.

Credits: 4

The most successful films function as both art and entertainment; students explore why this balance is a rare achievement. Topics include the business origins and aspects of cinema, films that concern and depict artistic process, and a critical/historical evaluation of films as works of art. Film aesthetics are examined from several perspectives, including grammar, genres and forms, and auteur theory.

Credits: 4

This focus on African American cinema includes the work of major African American directors and performers and the films that reflect the complex issues attending the relationship between race and film in the United States.

Credits: 4

Investigates celebrity culture through the lens of advertising and public relations. Particular attention is paid to how celebrity culture is created and shaped by various forms of media, ranging from print to social media platforms. Students consider the ways celebrities create change and consider their impact on public and private lives.

Credits: 3

What does it mean to be part of a subculture? This phenomenon is explored through film, focusing on subcultures that are usually not in the mainstream spotlight and analyzing what it means to live on the margins. The subcultures may include, for example, the Amish, big rig drivers, Scrabble champions, graffiti artists, quadriplegic athletes, prison inmates, and outsider artists.

Credits: 4

Explores the many types of families presented on the silver screen in the 20th century and today: perfect/idyllic families, families threatened by divorce, dysfunctional families, eccentric families, families facing a crisis, and current notions of extended or nontraditional families.

Credits: 4

Throughout the history of cinema, the comedy film has been one of the most financially profitable genres, producing some of the biggest movie stars. Topics include various comedy film styles and performers, and the role of the comedy film genre within the context of world history, especially during darker periods like the Depression and World War II.

Credits: 4

“The city” is examined from some of the perspectives in which it has been depicted in film, beginning with early screen melodramas where the evils of the city are juxtaposed against the virtues of country life. Discussions range from the plight of anonymous individuals struggling for recognition and representations of the “urban jungle” in 1940s film noir to more contemporary perspectives. Filmmakers who incorporate the city as an identifying aspect of their directorial styles are also considered.

Credits: 4

By focusing on masculinities, femininities, and the space in between, this course examines the cultural structure of gender and investigates the various ways that gender is expressed visually in film.

Credits: 4

Examines the elements and messages in sports films that make people cheer for the underdog and care about teams, players, and sports. Using both big-budget Hollywood films and documentaries with a small scope, this course explores the ideas of team, sport, and athletics and investigates the grip that sports have on American culture.

Credits: 4

A full-time, intensive, six-week program for conditionally admitted, non-native English-speaking students. Students participate in 20 hours of courses each week, along with cultural activities. Courses are designed to assist students in achieving the English language proficiency needed for effective participation in academic life at SUNY Purchase. Emphasis is on writing and oral communication skills.

Credits: 0

A seminar that brings first-year and new transfer students together as a community to share their experiences of college, encourage intellectual exchange, and navigate campus life. Students are introduced to Purchase’s academic and arts programming, extracurricular activities, support services, administrative offices, the library, and more. Field trips showcase the Neuberger Museum, Performing Arts Center (PAC), conservatory performances, and select events.

Credits: 2

This course retraces the history of Europe’s multicultural present. Students excavate aspects of Europe’s colonial and postcolonial past and explore how migration from within and beyond Europe has transformed concepts of national citizenship and European identity in recent decades. In so doing, students are equipped to reexamine concepts of race and ethnicity and models of multiculturalism that have been developed in the US context.

Credits: 4

An introduction to the essentials of digital video editing with Adobe Premiere Pro in an intensive hands-on training format. Students become familiar with the user interface and editing tools needed to produce professional-quality videos for home use, broadcast television, and the web.

Credits: 1

Introduces interdisciplinary study of politics, socioeconomics, culture, and knowledge diversity on the global stage. Coursework examines the history and theories of globalization, origins of the United Nations as a formative global institution, and the ambitions behind the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Students explore the local-global dimensions of relevant topics (i.e., environmental justice, human rights, global health, gender inequality, etc.).

Credits: 3

This course emphasizes the importance of integrating interdisciplinary perspectives in problem-solving, as well as combining academic and experiential learning in confronting real-world challenges. Students will reflect on the meanings and purpose of higher education as a community of learners, will engage in a variety of activities designed to strengthen academic skills, and will address contemporary social issues from cross-disciplinary perspectives.

Credits: 3

Students read postcolonial African novels, short stories, and plays that thematize the role and place of art and culture within African communities, histories, and epistemologies. Learning about the curation of African objects in Western institutions, students study issues of restoration, restitution, and repatriation. Through engagement with African cultural objects in the Neuberger Museum’s permanent collection, students gain hands-on experience.

Credits: 4

An interdisciplinary course that examines the way air, ground, and marine transportation is structured and used to move demographically diverse people. Discussions about the role of public participation in planning efforts includes particular attention to youth, minority populations, and people with low income. Programs to increase participation from people traditionally under-heard in planning processes are examined and proposed.

Credits: 3

The modern conception of health and its resulting issues are examined from an interdisciplinary perspective. Topics include the origins of emerging health and related public policy issues; the impact on the local, national, and global economy and educational systems; national security; preventive efforts; and approaches to planning policy that address these health challenges now and in the future.

Credits: 3

An interdisciplinary course that examines how people across the world interact with water as an indispensable source of all life. Coursework investigates water access and usage across fields (i.e., agriculture, sanitation, industrial production, recreation, cultural purposes). Students explore the politics of water and impact of climate change on the water cycle through the sciences, participatory art, and policy planning.

Credits: 3

Food preferences differ culture by culture. This interdisciplinary course explores practices and politics of food production, consumption, and regulation locally and globally. After taking a historic look at how food practices have changed, students examine microbial and chemical agents that may contaminate food supplies and learn practical considerations for preventing food scarcity and contamination on small and large scales.

Credits: 3

Explores fundamentalist movements and dynamics across time and space, in relation to geopolitics, religion, social psychology and more. What common worldviews and predispositions do political and religious fundamentalists share? How do fundamentalist movements intersect with ethnic, national and political identities? In what ways do intergenerational trauma, endemic violence or protracted warfare, resource scarcity, and social disenfranchisement factor into fundamentalist commitments?

Credits: 3

This interdisciplinary course examines ethical, technical and workplace issues surrounding artificial intelligence (AI). By discussing conceptual dilemmas about human-AI interaction from science fiction, TV and film, considering the rise of workplace automation, and exploring specific cases from self-driving cars to intelligent systems that (un)lock front doors and control household items within the internet of things, students tackle policy implications.

Credits: 3

This course will examine the meanings and determinants of happiness from a variety of interdisciplinary perspectives, including cultural anthropology, economics, and psychology. Coursework will combine sociocultural and economic analyses with scientific research from the field of positive psychology regarding the psychosocial and neuropsychological nature of happiness, including how positive emotions influence cognition, health, wealth and social relations.

Credits: 3

Explores the meanings and definitions of ability and disability. Students examine genealogies of ‘disability’ in the United States and cross-culturally from historical, legal, and sociocultural perspectives. Representations of disability in art history, museums, and theatre and film are critically analyzed in efforts to move toward diverse and inclusive understandings of human ability and universal design principles.

Credits: 3

Provides a broad view of migration from multiple disciplinary perspectives, at multiple scales of analysis (local-global), and across geopolitical space. Explore how migration intersects with development, environment, security, and identity. A central concern includes how such sociopolitical considerations vis-a-vis migration, in turn, impact and fashion our sense of responsibility for the global commons.

Credits: 3

Explore the sociopolitical dimensions of the arts across diverse creative outlets. Students examine art in relation to the politics of power in society, and engage the activist dynamics of artistic expression with regards to persistent forms of inequality and oppression.

Credits: 3

How do energy systems and our energy choices affect anthropogenic climate change across the global north and south? This course examines the technological, sociopolitical, and cross-cultural dimensions of energy use, and their implications for the environment, human life and non-human life. Students explore alternative sources of energy, with particular emphasis on sustainable policy and governance at the local level.

Credits: 3

Housing is a basic necessity of life yet the most costly expenditure for most U.S. households. It configures the well-being of individuals and families in fundamental ways, affecting everything from daily quality of life to (in)equality of opportunity. Students examine the sociopolitical and cultural implications of housing for individuals, families and communities, with a view toward sustainable living.

Credits: 3

Humans have produced waste since the days of genus Homo, with approximately 102 tons of refuse accumulated by the average U.S. individual today. What can we learn from the waste of past and contemporary societies using household archeology and garbology? Students explore life through the lens of waste, examining such topics as pollution, waste management, consumer capitalism, and environmental justice.

Credits: 3

A course that examines the meanings of belonging in relation to identity formation, group membership, social institutions, regional and national boundaries, sociocultural practices, and natural ecosystems. Topics include nationalism, kinship, race and ethnicity, economy and class, gender and sexuality, and the environment. Students explore the concept of a global commons and its role in forging a sense of global collective belonging.

Credits: 3

A course that examines the concepts, practices, experiences and theory of leisure and play as part of human existence, and their role in cultivating vision and innovation. The essential function of leisure and play in the human lifecycle is explored, including cross-cultural perspectives on their importance for allaying fears, maintaining hope, envisioning possibilities, and creating pathways toward invention.

Credits: 3

Examines intersections between communication technology, media and political power. Can media maintain its function in producing informed, democratic members of society who hold governments accountable during a time when the lines between fact and fiction are blurred? Students contemplate how the transforming practices of social media alter the meanings of civic engagement, public awareness, and democratic governance.

Credits: 3

How we treat animals reveals a great deal about who we are, as a society and species. This course examines intersections between animals, humans and society from multiple perspectives (ecology, history, sociology, literature). Using text, media, documentaries and photojournalism, students explore contemporary topics, including animal intelligence and emotions, biodiversity and keystone species, animals in captivity, and zoonotic disease (i.e., Coronavirus).

Credits: 3

Now more than ever, the world and workplace depends on our collective ability to collaborate across differences. What does collaboration mean and look like as the 21st century advances? Students learn about the benefits and challenges of democratic engagement across fields of study, including organizational leadership, theory of change, civic engagement, community organizing, conflict mediation, and cultural and emotional intelligence.

Credits: 3

Examines the intersections between culture, art and coloniality, with emphasis on freedom movements and abolition. How are the arts used as a tool to decolonize the spaces we inhabit and uncover blind spots of colonial legacies? Students explore world settings where art figures prominently in decolonization efforts, contemplating the role of archival documentation, museum collections, and exhibitions for reproducing colonialities.

Credits: 3

Examine the histories and meanings of public art from interdisciplinary perspectives. How does artistic expression intersect with public planning to cultivate civic space and democratic participation? Coursework explores how artists, urban planners and architects of the built environment come together to inform the publics, engage in civics, and create public realms that reflect diverse communities of belonging.

Credits: 3

Bees are instrumental to the preservation of biodiversity and ecological balance. Together with other insects, they pollinate close to three quarters of the plants that produce 90 percent of food worldwide. Students learn about these indispensable creatures from biological, ecological, and sociological perspectives, examining the interspecies relationships surrounding their labor. Coursework includes fieldwork at our campus honey bee hives.

Credits: 3

An interdisciplinary exploration of heritage and its contested meanings amid heightened global conflict over the politics of representation. Coursework examines the social, political and nation-building processes implicated in heritage-making, and the role of cultural institutions in shaping heritage ideology. Who, we ask, controls heritage, and what ideologies are mobilized in the construction of national, ethnic, religious, and indigenous community identities?

Credits: 3

This seminar will prepare students to select among research methods to examine and address a challenging social problem from multiple angles and perspectives for their capstone. By conducting a comprehensive literature review, students explore disciplinary connections and compile reflections within an e-portfolio. They will draft a field-based research proposal that addresses one complicated contemporary issue.

Credits: 4

PREREQ: LBS2017 Or LBS3017

A seminar that exposes students to the methods and praxis of mentorship in preparation for peer mentorship in the School of Liberal Studies. Coursework introduces creative activities alongside theories of inclusive leadership and community engagement to facilitate peer support systems that complement academic programming. Participants meet weekly for guidance and to exchange experiences, identify challenges, and refine best practices.

Credits: 3

A practicum grounded in fieldtrip excursions and experiential learning. Using the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), coursework explores how social, political, and cultural factors in another country differentially shape anthropogenic drivers of climate change. Students broaden their global knowledge about the impact of human activity on the environment, including the importance of government policy and planning for future sustainability.

Credits: 6

Questions of justice are as old as civilization and involve historically and culturally contingent processes. How do we understand justice in light of widening disparities between groups of people across contemporary societies? Students examine how definitions of justice are interpreted, mediated and put into practice, particularly as part of public policy and the social institutions that structure our lives.

Credits: 4

This course examines Caribbean literature from the 20th and 21st century to understand the creativity and vitality of the region. Course participants study how artists across the Caribbean challenge colonial narratives to assert the complexity of their community, their negotiation of home and their resistance to colonialism.

Credits: 4

Integrates art, design, and science to critically examine life in the Anthropocene. In this studio–seminar, students conduct hands-on research in the bio art lab, producing agar art, natural pigments, bioplastics, and sustainable prints. Through making and discussion, the course analyzes relationships among humans, technology, and the more-than-human world, interrogating contemporary definitions of “nature.”

Credits: 3

What is education? What is its nature? Its value? How can it help, and how can it harm? Students read and debate the answers to these questions offered by Plato, Aristotle, and Rousseau, Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. DuBois, Maria Montessori, Paulo Freire, and others, and critically analyze the positions and policies of contemporary educational policymakers and activists.

Credits: 4

An introduction to the techniques, current practices, and history surrounding digital photography. Editing techniques are covered, with attention to image manipulation using Adobe Photoshop and RAW files. Composition, lighting, point of view, and use of narrative are explored. A digital camera is required; cameras may be borrowed, as available, from Campus Technology Services. Students may not earn credit for both PHO 1100 (offered by the School of Art+Design) and PHO 1101.

Credits: 3

An introduction to the techniques, current practices, and history surrounding digital photography. Editing techniques are covered, with attention to image manipulation using Adobe Photoshop and RAW files. Composition, lighting, point of view, and use of narrative are explored. A digital camera is required; cameras may be borrowed, as available, from Campus Technology Services. Students may not earn credit for both PHO 1100 (offered by the School of Art+Design) and PHO 1101.

Credits: 3

People produce enough food to feed the world’s population, yet thousands of children die every day due to malnutrition and other poverty-related factors. This course studies the scope and distribution of global poverty. Topics include political and cultural factors that cause or aggravate the problem in developing countries; economic and political aspects of globalization; and the impact of international organizations, development strategies, and relief efforts.

Credits: 4

The meaning of democracy is examined in European and other democratic states. The course investigates who controls the sources and instruments of power and how public policies are made. The limits and problems of contemporary liberal democracies are studied, as is the problem of democratization in developing countries.

Credits: 4

“God is dead,” Nietzsche famously proclaimed to signal the waning power of religion. In spite of the influence religion exerts, one is reminded of the lack of understanding of the world’s major faiths. This course is a study of the origins, evolution, and the traditions of the major and minor religions of the world.

Credits: 4

An examination of the various causes and consequences of international migration on migrants, their sending communities, and their destination countries. Topics include immigration debates, the social structures and economic and social conditions that facilitate labor migration, undocumented migration, refugee migration and forced migration. New York is an amazing place to explore migration, providing firsthand knowledge about migrant communities.

Credits: 4

Environmental challenges confronting human and nonhuman life demand adaptive modes of inquiry that accommodate the intricacies, fluidity, and interconnectivity of a global world, while engaging the place-based drivers that influence climate change across localities. Using a comparative approach, students apply accumulated knowledge to working definitions of climate change and identify real-world challenges to sustainability in diverse local environments.

Credits: 6

Explores the sociopolitical dimensions of the arts across diverse creative outlets. Students examine and make art in relation to the politics of power in society and engage the activist dynamics of artistic expression with regards to persistent forms of inequality and oppression.

Credits: 6

Students develop strategies for overcoming creative writer’s block. Through a series of physical exercises, visualizations, and writing prompts, students learn to overcome obstacles that prevent them from writing or completing a written work. By building a toolkit of simple tactics, students learn how to become more productive creative writers.

Credits: 2