Summer Session
Get ahead or catch up on credits. Select from more than 50 courses ranging from STEM to arts to humanities.
All Summer 2021 courses will be held online. Finalized schedule becomes available in early March, 2021. Please see a sample schedule below and reach out with questions.
Summer 2021 Dates
- Session I: Monday, June 7 – Friday, July 2, 2021 (four weeks)
- Session II: Monday, June 7 – Friday, July 30, 2021 (eight weeks)
- Session III: Monday, July 5 – Friday, July 30, 2021 (four weeks)
Current Student Registration Visiting Student Registration
Sample 2020 Course Schedule
Courses that satisfy Purchase College Core Curriculum (Core) and SUNY General Education (GenEd) requirements are noted below the course descriptions.
Arts Management
AMG 1100
This introductory survey provides an overview of management principles and entities common in both the nonprofit and commercial sectors, preparing students for upper-level courses in the arts management program. Topics include arts business goals and planning, history of arts management, leadership and organizational structure, programming, marketing and public relations, funding and finance, volunteerism and advocacy, and arts and entertainment law.
Online | 4 credits | Instructor: Janis Astor
AMG 2200
To do more than survive in a competitive economy, artists and their managers must learn business strategies for the financial side of their profession. Students are introduced to the basics of budgets, financial management, and accounting concepts that translate into usable information with practical significance for financial decision-making.
Online | 4 credits | Instructor: Lindsey Crane
AMG 4060
Using a hands-on approach, this course explores digital marketing campaigns in the arts. Topics include Facebook, Twitter, blogging, microblogging, video and photo sharing, search engine optimization (SEO), mobile/location-based platforms, virtual realities, and social media integration, strategies, and tactics. Viral theories, trends, and case studies are also explored.
Online | 3 credits | Instructor: Allison Kahn | Meet the Professor (Video)
Faculty sponsor: TBA
Biology
BIO 1510
Introduction to the organ systems of the human body, including the neuromuscular, skeletal, cardiovascular, respiratory, renal, and digestive systems. The physiological mechanisms of adaptation to exercise are also considered.
Online | 4 credits | Core: Natural Sciences | Instructor: Naydu Carmona
BIO 1511
Students learn about both form and function of the human body. Content includes cells and tissues; gross and microscopic anatomy; integumentary, skeletal, and muscular systems; and kinesiology. Lab exercises use microscope slides, models, and dissection for a hands-on approach and a practical knowledge of anatomy.
Remote | 1.5 credits | Instructor: Naydu Carmona
BIO 1520
Introduction to the human body, emphasizing general physiological processes. The body is studied from the viewpoint of homeostasis, concentrating on the relationship of food to the functioning living organism in health and disease. Topics of current interest, controversies, and myths are highlighted.
Online | 4 credits | Core: Natural Sciences | Instructor: Naydu Carmona
BIO 1521
Students learn about both form and function of the human body. Content includes neuroanatomy and neurophysiology; senses (vision, olfaction, taste, hearing, equilibrium); and functional anatomy/physiology of the endocrine, urinary, circulatory, lymphatic, respiratory, digestive, and reproductive systems. Lab exercises use microscope slides, models, and dissection for a hands-on approach and a practical knowledge of anatomy.
Remote | 1.5 credits | Instructor: Naydu Carmona
BIO 1550
Introduction to contemporary biology, covering cell structure and function, genetics, development, and molecular biology. This course is for science majors and premedical students; students with limited high school science and mathematics can satisfy college distribution requirements with BIO 1510 or 1520.
Online | 4 credits | Core: Natural Sciences | Instructor: Natalia Starkova
BIO 1551
Lab exercises on cell organization, cell division, genetics, enzyme kinetics, photosynthesis, and development, and the use of light microscopes, spectrophotometer, and chromatography. Required for premedical students, biology majors, biochemistry majors, and environmental studies majors.
Remote | 1.5 credits | Instructor: Natalia Starkova
BIO 1560
Second semester of an introduction to contemporary biology, covering plant and animal morphology and physiology, ecology, behavior, and evolution. This course is for science majors and premedical students; students with limited high school science and mathematics can satisfy college distribution requirements with BIO 1510 or 1520.
Online | 4 credits | Core: Natural Sciences | Instructor: Natalia Starkova
BIO 1561
Vertebrate anatomy and physiology, and examination of selected plant and animal phyla through lab exercises, experiments, and field trips. Required for premedical students, biology majors, and environmental studies majors.
Remote | 1.5 credits | Instructor: Natalia Starkova
Chemistry
FRS 1200
An understanding of scientific principles is essential for an educated and engaged citizenry. This course investigates the substance and process of modern science and its role in society, including the scientific method and nature of scientific inquiry; scientific principles, analysis, and critical thinking; sources of scientific information, critical reading, and evaluation of authenticity; and distinguishing science from pseudoscience. Each course section focuses on a different topic or theme and considers some of the important scientific issues of our times. The discussion is required.
Online | 4 credits | Core: Natural Sciences | Instructor: Frank Bellvue
CHE 1550
The principles and applications of chemistry. Topics include the development of an atomic/molecular model, stoichiometry, interaction of light with matter, and the physical behavior of solids, liquids, and gases.
Online | 4 credits | Core: Natural Sciences | Instructor: Tatiana Fadeeva
CHE 1551
Emphasizes basic techniques in synthetic and analytical chemistry.
Remote | 1 credit | Instructor: Tatiana Fadeeva
CHE 1560
A continuation of CHE 1550. Topics include chemical kinetics and equilibrium, electrochemistry, thermodynamics, acids and bases, and the chemistry of representative elements.
Online | 4 credits | Core: Natural Sciences | Instructor: Tatiana Fadeeva
CHE 1561
Emphasizes basic techniques in synthetic and analytical chemistry.
Remote | 1 credit | Instructor: Tatiana Fadeeva
Cinema and Media Studies
CIN 2200
Examines the history of music videos, studying their effectiveness as a sales mechanisms as well as their influence on how today’s movies, television and commercials are photographed. Students are required to shoot practice exercises throughout the semester, complete a final paper, and shoot a music video on their own for a campus band or musician. Students must have experience operating a video camera and have access to a digital editing platform or be familiar with Final Cut Pro.
Online | 4 credits | Core: Arts | GenEd: Arts for Arts | Instructor: Jill Campbell
CMS 3210
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.
Online | 4 credits | Core: Arts | Instructor: Samantha Marine
CMS 3190
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.
Online | 4 credits | Instructor: Asma Ayob
MSA 1050
An introduction to theories of the media, visual, and performing arts. Using semiotics as a point of departure, students explore the language and iconography of visual communication. The course focuses on works of art, advertising, television, and the web as social contexts of cultural production and analyses the role that ordinary people play in the production of media.
Online | 3 credits | Core: Social Sciences | Instructor: Joseph Russo
MSA 3020
In 1991, The Real World pioneered a genre of “unscripted” television that reshaped national media culture, culminating in the reality of the 2016 election. Students study theories of Hall, Habermas and Gramsci to explore how the genre reflects and shapes attitudes of U.S. audiences to surveillance, class conflict, and the performance of truths. Examples include Jersey Shore and American Idol.
Online | 4 credits | Instructor: Adam Resnick
A study of contemporary global cinema and recent trends in cinematic style and narrative. The course focuses on non-American/non-European cinemas and co-productions and on important developments in the regional cinemas of Africa and Latin America. The final quarter examines “cinema” from a global perspective, particularly the extent to which new technology and cultural circuits have fostered techniques, styles, and narrative forms.
Online | 4 credits | Core: Languages & Cultures; GenEd: Other World Civ | Instructor: Asma Ayob
Communications
CMS 3150
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.
Online | 3 credits | Instructor: Annette Davies
COM 2010
Students will learn how to collaborate in order to work with others to achieve goals. Those goals may be personal, social and/or task oriented. Through practical, hands-on exercises, students will apply theories of group interaction to demonstrate their working knowledge of effective process. Students will be able to recognize when groups become stuck and brainstorm ways to move forward.
Online | 3 credits | Instructor: Cynthia Brosnan
COM 3365
This course focuses on understanding communication in relationships (interpersonal) and within the mind (intrapsychic: thinking, alone time, analyzing, understanding the external world and how one communicates internally). Topics include communication styles and communication in the intimate relationship, within the family, and at the workplace.
Online | 4 credits | Instructor: Kenneth Mann
Faculty Sponsor: Alysa Hantgan
COM 2050
In this writing intensive course, students build foundational skills in writing for a variety of media and purposes: print, digital, and broadcast media, public relations and advertising. Students begin to explore the divergent applications of written communication by analyzing their roles as both consumers of and writers for media. Ethical and legal issues are also introduced.
Online | 4 credits | Instructor: Megan Rossman
History
HIS 1200
Examines the history of the United States from European colonization and initial contact with Native Americans through the Civil War. Subjects include the diversity of settlement experiences; European-Native American relations; the development of slavery; the causes and consequences of the American Revolution; social, political, and cultural changes in the 18th and 19th centuries; the sectional crisis; and the significance of the Civil War.
Online | 3 credits | Core: Humanities | GenEd: American History | Instructor: Laura Chmielewski | Meet the Professor (Video)
HIS 1600
An introductory survey of the history of Latin America from colonial times to the present. Topics include geography, indigenous peoples, colonization and nation formation, society, politics, economy and culture of contemporary Latin America, and its place in today’s world.
Online | 4 credits | Core: Languages & Cultures | GenEd: Other World Civilizations | Instructor: Leandro Benmergui
HIS 3130
A narrative survey of U.S. history from the colonial period to the present through an exploration of its musical history. The course investigates America’s fundamental principles of politics, its primary social issues, and its wealth of aesthetic musical initiatives. Students examine the unity, diversity, originality, and adaptability of significant political, social, and musical institutions.
Online | Core: Humanities | GenEd: American History | Instructor: Patrick Holt
Liberal Studies
LBS 3013
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.
Online | 4 credits | Instructor: Ryan Andrews
LBS 3017
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.
Online | 4 credits | Core: Social Sciences | Instructor: Alysa Hantgan
CAP 4800
One-semester project that involves empirical research, library investigation, or an on or off-campus applied learning experience. Regardless of the format, the project will culminate in a significant paper. Course sections are overseen by faculty within each concentration to foster integration of prior coursework, and should be selected in consultation with academic advisors. Required for all liberal studies students.
Hybrid | 4 credits | Instructor: Ursula Heinrich
Literature
LIT 3677
Concise and focused, the short story has been a lens through which Americans have explored their identities. Stories written in the last 25 years examine the changing sense of what being an American means.
Online | 4 credits | Core: Humanities | GenEd: Humanities | Instructor: Shinelle Espaillat
Legal Studies
LEG 1510
Topics include the structure of the criminal justice system; the impact of the Supreme Court on criminal justice; and the process of arrest, prosecution, and sentencing.
Hybrid | 4 credits | Instructor: Colleen Duffy | Meet the Professor (Video)
Mathematics
MAT 1060
Students learn basic concepts in quantitative reasoning (number systems, data manipulation, basic statistics), with emphasis on problem solving using computational methods. This course uses a textbook and focuses on applications related to consumer issues to develop computational and problem-solving skills. Students learn to transform data into information and apply quantitative methods to evaluate information and solve real-world problems.
Online | 4 credits | Core: Mathematics | Instructor: Barbara McMullen
MAT 1150
Prepares students with limited backgrounds in high school mathematics for calculus. Topics include absolute values and inequalities, the properties of functions, graphs, logarithms, fractional exponents, and trigonometry.
Online | 4 credits | Core: Mathematics | Pre-req: Math Fluency 20-28 | Instructor: Nicholas Roberts
MAT 1500
The basic concepts of the differential and integral calculus. Focus is on the applicability of these topics to an array of problems. The first course in a three-semester series.
Online | 4 credits | Core: Mathematics | Pre-req: Precalculus | Instructor: Howard Stern
MAT 1510
A continuation of MAT 1500. Topics include differentiation and integration of logarithmic, exponential, and inverse trigonometric functions; techniques of integration; arc length; infinite series; and improper integrals. Applications include work, growth, and decay problems and volumes of solids of revolution.
Online | 4 credits | Pre-req: Calculus I | Instructor: Nicholas Roberts
MAT 1600
Statistics are used everywhere in the modern world. This course covers descriptive statistics, including measures of central tendency, methods of dispersion, and graphs; and inferential statistics, including normal distributions and hypothesis testing, Pearson correlation, and linear regression.
Online | 4 credits | Core: Mathematics | Instructor: Alan Anderson
Photography
PHO 1101
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.
Online | 3 credits | Core: Arts | Instructor: Deborah Mesa-Pelly
Psychology
PSY 1530
Empirical and theoretical approaches to the basic physiological, cognitive, and social mechanisms underlying behavior. Topics include learning and conditioning; sensation and perception; memory, thinking, and language; psychological development; social processes; and personality and psychopathology.
Online | 4 credits | Core: Social Sciences | Instructor: Lauren Harburger
PSY 2870
Explores the diagnosis, phenomenology, and scientific and clinical understandings of a wide range of mental disorders. Current research is reviewed to explore the underlying mechanisms of the disorders under discussion. Diagnosis is approached from the perspective of the most recent DSM. At various points, psychodynamic, cognitive-behavioral, and neuroscientific viewpoints of psychopathology are represented.
Online | 4 credits | Instructor: Carina Vocisano-Bruel
PSY 3110
Students hone critical thinking and evaluative skills in examining data, evidence, and assumptions underlying the judicial process and the application of psychological principles. The research and clinical practice of forensic psychology in both civil and criminal law-enforcement settings are studied. The training, roles, and responsibilities of forensic psychologists along with methods of interrogation, criminal profiling, and investigation are also examined.
Online | 4 credits | Instructor: Jacqueline Fisher
PSY 3120
An examination of the processes by which people develop and maintain a self-concept; how the self-concept influences emotion, motivation, and behavior; and whether or not the beliefs people hold about themselves are accurate or useful. Readings include recent theoretical and empirical writings from psychology journals and edited texts.
Online | 4 credits | Instructor: Yanine Hess
PSY 3301
The interventions suggested by the biopsychosocial model and mind-body paradigm are examined. Topics include health behavior, social learning theory, attribution theory, and attitude formation as they apply to problems like health promotion, disease prevention, reactions to illness, management of chronic and terminal illnesses, and adherence to treatment regimens. Methods of evaluation of clinical services are addressed.
Online | 4 credits | Instructor: Jessica Carnevale | Meet the Professor (Video)
PSY 2320
An introduction to data analysis, with coverage of both descriptive and inferential statistics, and an introduction to probability. Class discussions focus on the use of sample, sampling, and population distributions as they are employed in hypothesis testing. Inferential tests include t-tests, ANOVAs, chi square, regression, and nonparametric tests.
Note: This course may be used to satisfy the statistics requirement for economics and environmental studies majors, and it counts as a basic science support course for biology majors.
Online | 4 credits | Core: Mathematics | Instructor: Kay Germano
Sociology and Religious Studies
SOC 1500
An introduction to sociological thinking and to key concepts in sociology. Attention is given to social life, inequality, movements, action, change, institutions, and contemporary social issues.
Online | 3 credits | Core: Social Sciences | Instructor: Chrys Ingraham
SOC 3415
Given the ethnic complexity of society, major social institutions—including education, criminal justice, health care, social services, and business—face many challenges. This course explores the past, present, and future of race and ethnicity in American society, and how immigration, culture, religion, education, and income play parts in prejudice, discrimination, and racial inequalities.
Online | 4 credits | Core: Social Sciences | Instructor: Sophia Ward
SOC 3500
An examination of the special relationship of education to other American institutions. Topics include the declining support for public education, attempts to privatize public education (vouchers), and race and class issues in public and private education.
Online | 4 credits | Instructor: Chrys Ingraham
REL 3250
“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.
Online | 4 credits | Core: Language & Cultures | GenEd: Other World Civilizations | Instructor: George Keteku
Spanish
SPA 1010
For students who have had little or no previous exposure to the language. Presents the essential structures of spoken and written Spanish by involving the student in situations that concretely represent the concepts of the language.
Online | 4 credits | Core: Languages & Cultures | GenEd: Foreign Language | Instructor: Ager Gondra
SPA 1020
A continuation of SPA 1010. Increased time is devoted to reading and writing. Development of oral skills remains the primary objective of the course.
Online | 4 credits | Core: Languages & Cultures | GenEd: Foreign Language | Instructor: Ager Gondra
SPA 2010
For students already familiar with the fundamentals of spoken and written Spanish. Through various reading assignments, students are given a context for discussion to increase vocabulary and speaking ease. Weekly compositions serve as an aid for grammar review.
Online | 4 credits | Core: Languages & Cultures | GenEd: Foreign Language | Instructor: Deborah Symons | Meet the Professor (Video)
Writing
The ability to express ideas clearly and effectively in writing is essential to success as a student and citizen. Students learn and practice these skills throughout their academic career at Purchase College, beginning with College Writing. This is an intensive course that teaches students to: produce strong written work at the college level; read and think critically; take a position and develop an argument of their own; research a topic and write a well-organized paper that develops their claims in dialogue with the sources; revise and improve their papers; present their ideas orally.
Online | 4 credits | Core: Basic Communication | Instructor: Alysa Hantgan