Liberal Arts and Sciences

Program Description  

The Liberal Arts and Sciences curriculum prepares a student to be an accomplished and productive human being. A liberal arts degree opens doors to a world of knowledge and to rewarding and responsible careers. For example, future teachers, lawyers and influencers develop themselves as well-rounded individuals, in addition to completing their pre-professional work. The academic experiences in liberal arts and sciences provide the foundation for later specialization, graduate study, and professional school. 

The General Option of the program provides a well-rounded background and the opportunity to explore a variety of subject areas so that graduates may transfer to the third year of a senior college. Those who wish to pursue a program that allows a greater degree of specialization in the first two years of college may select one of the following options: Black and Latinx Studies; Early Childhood and Childhood Education; History; Human Services; Media Studies; Performing Arts; Political Science; Psychology; Secondary Education; Sociology; Spanish; Speech Pathology; Studio Art. 

The AA Liberal Arts and Sciences program is available for students in the traditional, in-person format as well as partially online. The General Option of the program is also offered fully online, as are the options in Media Studies, Psychology, and Spanish.  

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of the AA Liberal Arts and Sciences program requirements, students will be able to:

1. Demonstrate a broad knowledge base from the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. 

2. Evaluate and analyze a range of artistic, historical, literary and philosophical works. 

3. Examine the formation of individual and group behavior, and social institutions and processes. 

4. Develop an ability and a cultural context for communication in a language other than English. 

5. Communicate effectively through written and oral forms. 

6. Demonstrate informed critical thinking. 

7. Engage in quantitative reasoning and scientific inquiry. 

8. Demonstrate an awareness of diverse cultures. 

General Option Coordinator: Dr. Cheyenne Seymour 

Degree Options:  

Black and Latinx Studies Option  

The option in Black and Latinx Studies offers a greater degree of cultural/racial/historical specialization in Liberal Arts. This option is suitable for students who are interested in specializing in Black and Latinx cultural and historical aspects of law, business, science, teaching, creative writing, literature, medical, and other fields. The program gives students the opportunity to understand historical and cultural movements that directly impact the fields they choose to enter.  

Learning Outcomes 
Upon successful completion of the Black and Latinx Studies Option requirements, students will be able to: 
1. Identify and discuss key historical and cultural issues in Black and Latinx Studies. 
2. Analyze the relationship between individuals, contemporary Black and Latinx communities, and the social, political, and economic forces that affect them. 
3. Critically examine texts, narratives, and discourses produced by Black and Latinx people throughout the world. 

Option Coordinator: Dr. Cheyenne Seymour 

Early Childhood and Childhood Education Option 

The Early Childhood and Childhood Education Option offers a greater degree of specialization. This degree program is for students who seek transfer to a senior college in CUNY, upon graduation, to pursue a baccalaureate degree and teacher certification.  

Learning Outcomes 
Upon successful completion of the Early Childhood and Childhood Education Option requirements, students will be able to: 
1. Demonstrate knowledge of historical, sociological, and philosophical developments in American education research and theory. 
2. Apply observational skills and reflective practice to assess child development in appropriate learning environments for all children. 
3. Effectively communicate and demonstrate knowledge and skills that support effective partnerships in schools, with families and in communities. 
4. Identify pedagogical techniques, multiple measures of assessment, appropriate technologies, and classroom management strategies to meet the needs of all learners in early childhood and childhood learning environments.

Option Coordinator: Dr. Stephen Powers 

History Option 

The History Option offers a greater degree of specialization. The option allows students to explore a greater variety of history topics and areas than they would in the general Liberal Arts AA degree. 

Learning Outcomes 
Upon successful completion of the History Option requirements, students will be able to: 
1. Gather, interpret, and evaluate evidence from a variety of historical and contemporary sources and points of view, and produce well-reasoned arguments using this evidence to support conclusions.
2. Evaluate primary and secondary sources in analyzing key historical topics. 
3. Examine and analyze the development of societies in different periods and regions, including the roles of ethnicity, gender, language, sexual orientation, and belief. 

Option Coordinator: Dr. Mara Lazda 

Human Services Option   

The Human Services Option offers students a general overview of the human services. 

Learning Outcomes 
Upon successful completion of the Human Services Option requirements, students will be able to: 
1. Use basic intervention process skills, which include the beginning ability to establish empathic relationships while providing direct services to individuals, families, groups and communities. 
2. Use generalist planning skills, which include the ability to analyze client’s needs, develop and implement a treatment plan, as well as to determine the effectiveness of service(s) provided. 
3. Use information management skills, which include the ability to gather, asses client data, prepare and maintain adequate services records, and to utilize resources in order to address client needs. 
4. Using self-awareness and self-assessment skills, which include techniques that promote the ongoing personal and professional development necessary to be an effective and non-judgmental human services worker. 

Option Coordinator: Dr. Hisseine Faradj 

Media Studies Option 

The Media Studies option allows students interested in communication, mass media, and film and video studies or production to transfer to a senior college. Students who graduate with an AA Liberal Arts and Sciences: Media Studies option can pursue a variety of careers including television and/or film producer or director, screenwriter, corporate communications specialist, media analyst, and others.  

The AA Liberal Arts and Sciences: Media Studies Option is available for students in the traditional, in-person format as well as partially or fully online. 

Learning Outcomes 
Upon successful completion of the Media Studies Option requirements, students will be able to: 
1. Examine examples from television, film, newspapers, radio, and websites and, in written and/or oral presentations, analyze how these mass communication vehicles portray and influence US audiences of varying races, ethnicities, and genders.
2. Assess how the standpoints of characters in TV programs are affected by societal mores and values. 
3. Interpret how filmmakers use lighting, audio, directing, set design, and mise en scene to create meaning in the minds of viewers. 

Option Coordinator: Dr. Laurence Brenner 

Performing Arts Option 

The Performing Arts option allows students interested in theatre, dance, or music to transfer to a senior college. Students who graduate with an AA Liberal Arts and Sciences: Performing Arts option can pursue a career in the arts, including actor, musician, dancer, producer, director, teacher, arts administrator, arts journalist, promoter, grant writer, and others. 

Learning Outcomes 
Upon successful completion of the Performing Arts Option requirements, students will be able to: 
1. Write a paper that requires critical analysis of a theatrical performance. Additionally, students will analyze a play within its social, political, and historical context. 
2. Select, read, compare, and contrast different acting techniques including Stanislavski, Artaud, Method, and Meisner. 
3. Analyze, in writing, narrative, poetic, dramatic, or prose texts in terms of voice, structure, plot, figurative language, imagery, and other stylistic elements. 

Option Coordinator: Dr. Sara Brady 

Political Science Option 

Students in the Political Science Option will learn about American politics, the politics of other countries, international relations, and thematic topics such as democracy and authoritarianism, power, political economy, political theory and ideology, social movements, among others. Political Science Option students may pursue careers in national/state/local governmental service, public policy, international agency, diplomacy/foreign affairs, law, non-governmental organizations (e.g., labor, civil rights, environment, immigration, etc.), conflict resolution, business, journalism, education, etc.  

Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of the Political Science Option requirements, students will be able to: 
1. Apply political science concepts to understand the status, from historical and contemporary perspectives, of political events at local, national and/or international levels.
2. Write clearly on issues of international and domestic politics and public policy issues, using traditional and electronic resources for research and present results.
3. Analyze political/policy issues and formulate policy options and participate as civically engaged members of society.
4. Succeed at answering multiple choice, short answer and essay questions and participate in class discussion and group projects in describing national and/or international politics, institutions, structures and/or processes. 

Option Coordinator: Dr. Peter Kolozi 

Psychology Option 

The Psychology Option offers a greater degree of specialization in the field of mental health. Upon graduation, this degree program is for students who seek transfer to a senior college either inside or outside CUNY to pursue a baccalaureate degree. 

The AA Liberal Arts and Sciences: Psychology Option program is available for students in the traditional, in-person format as well as partially or fully online. 

Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of the Psychology Option requirements, students will be able to:
1. Apply critical thinking through a psychological lens; this includes evaluating fact-based evidence, engaging in inductive and deductive reasoning, identifying and considering multiple points of view, and applying these processes to problem-solving.
2. Demonstrate understanding of basic and advanced psychological theories, principles, and concepts in the areas of human development social interaction, psychopathology, cognition, and biological roots of behavior.
3. Explore connections between published research findings and their real-world applications, allowing students to apply psychological concepts to their own lives and experiences.
4. Evaluate hypotheses, research designs, research findings, theories, and research ethics, allowing students to not only understand the nature of psychological research, but to also become informed media consumers and apply scientific understanding to media reports about psychology.
5. Apply psychological concepts and principles to understanding social, political, and cultural phenomena, including but not limited to race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, and disability. 

Option Coordinator: Dr. Hisseine Faradj 

Secondary Education Option 

The Secondary Education Option offers a greater degree of specialization. This degree program is for students who seek transfer to a senior college in CUNY, upon graduation, to pursue a baccalaureate degree and teacher certification. 

Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of the Secondary Education Option requirements, students will be able to: 
1. Demonstrate knowledge of historical, sociological, and philosophical developments in American education research and theory.
2. Apply observational skills and reflective practice to assess child development in appropriate learning environments for all adolescents. 
3. Effectively communicate and demonstrate knowledge and skills that support effective partnerships in schools, with families and in communities. 
4. Identify pedagogical techniques, multiple measures of assessment, appropriate technologies and classroom management strategies to meet the needs of all learners in adolescent learning environment. 

Option Coordinators: Dr. Elise Langan and Dr. Joseph Todaro  

Sociology Option 

The Sociology Option will familiarize students with the foundational perspectives that constitute the field of sociology. Students will study how “society” is a complex arrangement of day-to-day interactions and shared norms and values among members in groups (e.g., class, ethnicity, gender, and family). Sociological studies often explore aspects of this complexity to study how they impact our identities and our collective and individual life chances. 

Learning Outcomes 
Upon successful completion of the Sociology Option requirements, students will be able to: 
1. Demonstrate an understanding of and an ability to apply to different social contexts the concept of the Sociological Imagination.
2. Identify inequalities of social class, race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, gender identity, age and disability and apply this knowledge to an analysis of different social contexts.
3. Describe and compare different social scientific theories.
4. Recognize and implement quantitative and qualitative research methods in the social sciences.  

Option Coordinator: Dr. Jawied Nawabi 

Spanish Option   

The Spanish Option offers language courses at all levels, as well as classes focused on Hispanic history, societies, and cultural production. The AA Liberal Arts and Sciences: Spanish Option program is available for students in the traditional, in-person format as well as partially or fully online. 

Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of the Spanish Option requirements, students will be able to: 
1. Understand, speak, read, and write in Spanish, demonstrating advanced knowledge and control of vocabulary and grammar. 
2. Analyze historical and literary texts, as well as other forms of cultural production, from various time periods and geographical regions throughout the Spanish-speaking world.
3. Reflect on the diversity of Hispanic cultures with respect to language, religion, race, class, and other sociocultural factors.
4. Perform research and write papers on various aspects of the Spanish-speaking world, such as literature, history, and society.
5. Analyze, compare, and contrast social customs and cultural production of Hispanic societies to those of the United States and/or other countries, using a variety of sources and points of view. 

Option Coordinator: Dr. Alexander Lamazares

Speech Pathology Option 

The Speech Pathology option is for students who want to help children and adults overcome speech problems such as fluency (stuttering), language problems such as aphasia, and related medical problems such as dysphagia (swallowing difficulties) in a wide variety of settings including hospitals, schools, and private practice. Students who have the sensitivity, personal warmth, and empathy to interact with a person who has a communication problem, along with scientific aptitude, patience, and persistence are ideal candidates for this program. Students who graduate with an AA Liberal Arts and Sciences: Speech Pathology option can transfer to a four-year program in preparation for a career as a certified Speech-Language Pathologist. 

Learning Outcomes 
Upon successful completion of the Speech Pathology Option requirements, students will be able to: 
1. Exhibit a fundamental knowledge of the speech language pathology profession, including the scope of its practice.
2. Describe typical communicative development behavior in infancy, childhood, and adolescence.
3. Explain how anatomy and physiology contribute to speech, voice, and swallowing. 

Option Coordinator: Dr. Joël Magloire 

Studio Art Option 

The Studio Art option is suitable for students interested in the visual arts, art education, and a variety of other art related majors. The program gives students the opportunity to experience an assortment of hands-on art courses along with the general Liberal Arts curriculum. 

Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of the Studio Art Option requirements, students will be able to: 
1. Demonstrate an understanding of the process of making art.
2. Develop hands-on studio skills and competency in the use of traditional art tools and techniques. 

Option Coordinator: Professor Roni Ben-Nun