Course Auditing Descriptions

• Christina Twicken
• M-W-F 9:05-9:55 [Face to Face]
• Location: Daily Hall Room 205
• 2 Seats

Provides an introductory survey of the literature of people of African ancestry in the Americas. Acquaints students with major literary figures and significant historical periods through a discussion of issues regarding the relationship between the writers and socio-political and cultural movements, and of questions concerning the socio-cultural function that the black writer serves for his/her community.

• Christina Twicken
• M-W-F 1:25-2:15pm [Face to Face]
• Location: Hartwell Hall 125
• 2 Seats

Examines major authors and movements in the development of the novel in Africa. Primary emphasis is on the texts themselves, but with attention to their social and historical contexts.

• Rozenn Bailleul-LeSuer
• M-W-F 1:25-2:15pm [Face to Face]
• Location: Cooper Hall C0003
• 2 Seats

Provides an overview of the field of anthropological archaeology while emphasizing the relationship between the past and the present. Topics include the history of archaeology, methods and techniques used to recover archaeological data, and an examination of how data are used to understand and interpret human existence in the past, and exploration of particular case studies and important issues in contemporary archaeology.

• Tiffany Rawlings
• Tues/Thurs 11:00-12:15 [Face to Face]
• Location: Cooper C0003
• 2 Seats

Who are the anthropologists that help solve crimes? When skeletonized victims of crime, human rights abuses or mass disasters are found, forensic anthropologists help identify victims, reconstruct events surrounding death, and provide legal evidence. This course provides a broad overview of forensic anthropology, an applied field of physical anthropology.

• Rozenn Bailleul-LeSuer
• Mon/Weds 3:35-4:50pm [Face to Face]
• Location: Lennon Hall Room 136
• 2 Seats

Delve into the mysteries of one of the world’s most captivating ancient civilizations in this course on Egyptian Archaeology. Through a multidisciplinary approach, students will examine the rich tapestry of Egyptian history, society, religion, and culture from prehistoric times to the Greco-Roman period. Emphasizing hands-on engagement with archaeological methods and discoveries, this course will explore key sites, monuments, and artifacts, shedding light on the evolution of Egyptian civilization and its enduring legacy. Topics include royal tombs, temple complexes, urban centers, daily life, art, and the impact of foreign influences. Students will critically analyze primary sources, archaeological reports, and scholarly debates to develop a deeper understanding of the complexities of ancient Egypt and its significance in the broader context of world history.

• Jennifer Hecker
• Tuesday 6:30-9:15pm [Face to Face]
• Location: Tower Fine Arts Rm 2204
• 2 Seats

An introductory course for students with little or no art experience, designed to broaden their visual vocabulary. Explores the basic elements and principles of art through a sequence of problems to be solved by the execution of original works in various media. $45 course/materials fee.

• Ka-Wah Wong
• Tuesday/Thursday 5:00-6:15pm [Face to Face]
• Location: Lennon Hall Room 140
• 2 Seats

Traces our understanding of the Sun and its family of planets from ancient times to the present day, starting with early interpretations of celestial motions to modern discoveries made with robotic probes. Topics include the sky as seen from Earth; the Copernican revolution; light and telescopes; properties of terrestrial and jovian planets; history of the solar system; exoplanets; and the possibilities for life beyond.

• Ya-Ling Chen
• Mon-Weds-Fri 9:05-9:55am [Face to Face]
• Location: Hartwell Room 14
• 2 Seats

Covers principles affecting tourism: the scope and magnitude of tourist attractions, services, facilities, transportation, accommodations, and the tourist. Examines travel motivations; demand for destinations; economic, socio-cultural and ecological impact; tourism planning; and tourism marketing.

• Nate Cederstrom
• Monday 6:30-9:15pm [Face to Face]
• Location: Holmes Hall Room 215
• 2 Seats

This course investigates the relationship between oratory and the American experience. To explore this link, students study foundational concepts about communication and important speeches that have shaped democracy in the United States. Special emphasis is placed on civic engagement and on issues of equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI).

• Elizabeth Thorpe
• Mon-Weds-Fri 1:25-2:15pm [Face to Face]
• Location: Holmes Hall Room 204
• 2 Seats

Critically examines the First Amendment by exploring its historical foundations and significant legal, political and philosophical arguments. Explores a variety of contemporary controversies concerning an individual’s right to freedom of verbal and nonverbal expression, including hate speech, incitement to violence and obscenity. Examines controversies in a variety of contexts, including the public speaking platform, print, television and the Internet.

• Ann Bunch
• Thursday 8:00-9:15am [Face to Face]
• Location: Edwards Hall Room 101
• 2 Seats

Provides a study of the work of the crime lab and the medical examiner. Examines methods of analysis of items commonly found at crime scenes such as: fingerprints, blood, illegal drugs, hairs, fibers, arson residues, bullets, etc. Covers procedures for processing the crime scene and safeguarding the evidence.

• Pat Huntington-Sigel
• Mondays 6:30-9:15pm [Face to Face]
• Location: Holmes Hall Room 211
• 2 Seats

Develops an understanding of crime victimization, both direct and indirect. Focuses on street crime, social and political oppression, victimization of women, and victims of corporate deviance. Emphasizes theory and policy analysis.

• Andrew Baranauskas
• Location: Online (Asynchronous)
• 2 Seats

Provides a review and critical analysis of the major criminological theories including the classical school; biological school; and psychological, sociological, and psychoanalytic orientations, including economic determinism. Considers various forms of criminality, as well as studies dealing with the frequency of crime in different places at different times.

This course is 100% online and is taken/completed via asynchronous course activities such as online readings, problem solving, and discussions using Brightspace. You must have access to a computer with Internet connection to participate in this course.

• Sharon Allen
• Tues/Thurs 3:30-4:45pm [Face to Face]
• Location: Holmes 215
• 2 Seats

Explores transcultural experiences and encounters represented in contemporary fiction, literary non-fiction, film and fine art. Retraces trajectories taken by twenty and twenty-first century immigrants. Confronts what it takes and feels like and means to make complex geo-cultural crossings. Considers the ways writers, directors, and artists interrogate various kinds of borders and boundaries and redefine national, racial, ethnic, religious, gender and other geo-cultural constructs, while pushing also beyond conventional confines of genre. Investigates how they represent the different degrees and kinds of agency, autonomy, and authority experiences in the migration, immigration, emigration, and trafficking.

• Michael Slater
• Tues/Thurs 3:35-4:50pm [Face to Face]
• Location: Smith Hall Room 114
• 2 Seats

Explores several histories and tragedies to gain a detailed and in-depth understanding of the issues and themes central to Shakespeare’s works. Although knowledge of historical background is essential, the primary focus will be on the poetic, thematic and dramatic elements that cause these plays to resonate so profoundly today.

• Jennifer Haytock
• Mon-Weds-Fri 1:25-2:15pm [Face to Face]
• Location: Fannie Barrier Williams Bldg Room 108
• 2 Seats

Examines 1920s literature to investigate postwar changes American culture, including attitudes toward sex, gender, and marriage; new perceptions and expressions of racial identity and conflict; and evolving preoccupations with class. May include texts by F. S. Fitzgerald, Z. Fitzgerald, Wharton, Hemingway, Larsen, Faulkner, Loos, and more.

• Jacques Rinchard
• Tues/Thurs 9:30-10:45am [Face to Face]
• Location: Smith Hall Room 114
• 2 Seats

This course covers fundamental concepts in fish biology, which includes diversity and taxonomy, evolution, anatomy, locomotion, thermo-regulation, osmoregulation, age and growth, reproduction, sensory systems, behavior, communication, and conservation.

• Carter Soles
• Mon/Weds/Fri 9:05-9:55am [Face to Face]
• Location: Edwards Hall Room 101
• 2 Seats

From its inception in the late 1890s through the current impacts of digital technology, film as a medium has always been subject to intense scrutiny and inquiry regarding its meanings, aesthetics, and social effects. This course offers an overview of many of these debates, examining how film scholars and cultural critics have approached the interpretation of film (and other popular media). This class will introduce you to the key terms, ideas, and discourses within the theory and criticism of film, training you to use a set of interpretative tools and analytical frameworks not only for your future academic study of film but for your everyday consumption of film and other visual media. We will pay special attention to the application of theory and criticism: how do you take the broad ideas of theory and use them in your own interpretations? How do you take the specific interpretations of criticism and develop a broader argument that can be applied to other texts? We will analyze historically significant films as well as more contemporary films in our examination of visual media and its ideological meaning(s).

• Carter Soles
• Mon/Weds/Fri 12:20-1:10pm [Face to Face]
• Location: Fannie Barrier Williams Bldg Room 106B
• 2 Seats

Film affects our imagination of the world around us, and thus, potentially, our actions toward the world. In addition, cinema’s various technologies, from lights and cameras to DVDs and even the seeming immateriality of the internet, consume the planet’s material resources. Ecocinema studies – the analysis of film and visual media from an ecocritical or environmentalist perspective – enables us see the world through non-anthropocentric (non-human-centered) gaze, helping us respond to questions about cinema’s ideological and material role in the current state of world environmental affairs. This course applies contemporary ecocritical theory to fiction and documentary films in order to raise students’ awareness about the ecological and environmental issues impacting the world today, to decipher how films make arguments about such issues, and to sharpen students’ critical film analysis skills.

• Tia Kennedy
• Location: Online (Asynchronous)
• 2 Seats

Introduces students to organizational behavioral science concepts including leadership, managing change, negotiating and conflict resolution, team building, organizational assessment, marketing, and entrepreneurship.

This course is 100% online and is taken/completed via asynchronous course activities such as online readings, problem solving, and discussions using Brightspace. You must have access to a computer with Internet connection to participate in this course.

• Afeez Hazzan
• Location: Online (Asynchronous)
• 2 Seats

This course covers healthcare policy issues in the United States and around the world. It focuses on the financing, organization, and delivery of care. Topics will include: federal health policymaking, health policymaking at the state and local levels, health policy related to financing and delivery, diverse populations, international health policy issues, health policy research, and health policy research methods. The course also provides extensive coverage of healthcare ethics including: major ethical theories, ethical decision-making models, application to patients’ rights, confidentiality, informed consent, professional relationships, and allocation of scarce resources. The intersection of health policy, health, and law in the United States will be reviewed.

This course is 100% online and is taken/completed via asynchronous course activities such as online readings, problem solving, and discussions using Brightspace. You must have access to a computer with Internet connection to participate in this course.

• Anne Macpherson
• Tues/Thurs 12:30-1:45pm
• Location: Hartwell Hall Room 120
• 2 Seats

Explores through interactive lecture and discussion Puerto Rico as a Spanish and U.S. colony and homeland/patria for millions, and the Puerto Rican diaspora. Through films, music, and documents students analyze struggles that yielded evolving systems of power, patterns of resistance, and identities, especially in terms of race and gender. Develops skills in critical reading, analysis, discussion of historical texts and debates, and writing.

• Joe Torre
• Location: Online (Asynchronous)
• 2 Seats

Empire State: The History of New York is a broad survey course designed to introduce students to the history of New York State from the pre-contact (the contact between the indigenous peoples of New York and Europeans and African newcomers) to the modern era. Themes include colonial New York, the industrial to the post-industrial eras. Special emphasis is place on New York’s role in creating a diverse nation. Students will examine New Yorker’s contributions to the Civil Rights Movement, the Women’s Rights Movement, and the broader “Rights Revolution” that reshaped notions of power, community and nation in post-World War II America.

This is a 100% asynchronous course with activities such as online readings, discussions, using Brightspace, SUNY Brockport’s learning management system. You must have access to a computer with Internet connection to participate in this course.

• Paul Moyer
• Mon/Weds/Fri 9:05-9:55am [Face to Face]
• Location: Fannie Barrier Williams Bldg Room 108
• 2 Seats

Students will deepen their understanding of witchcraft and witch-hunting in early modern Europe through discussions of readings, writing assignments, and lectures. The relationship between women, gender and witch-hunting forms a major focus of the class. Other topics include elite and popular views on magic and witchcraft; the links between religion, the rise of the modern state and witch-hunting; and the decline of witch prosecutions.

• Katherine Walter
• Tues/Thurs 12:30-1:15pm [Face to Face]
• Location: Lennon Hall Room 136
• 2 Seats

Investigates reasons for the fall of the Roman Republic and the establishment of the Empire. Explores Rome’s imperial administration and cultural achievements, Rome’s relations to Persia and the barbarian tribes, and reasons for the decline of the Roman Empire in the West but not the East.

• Carl Davila
• Tues/Thurs 11:00-12:15pm [Face to Face]
• Location: Holmes Hall Room 208
• 2 Seats

Explores reasons for the recurrent crises in the Middle East and their global implications, especially for the United States. Concentrates on 20th Century events which have direct consequences on events in the Middle East today.

• Tues/Thurs 3:30-4:45pm [Face to Face]
• Location: Smith Hall Room 114
• 2 Seats

Analyzes 19th- and 20th Century Latin America’s history of struggle against colonial legacies, as well as new forms of economic and military oppression associated with dependent capitalist development. Asks students to consider the meanings of national independence in a region sharply divided by race and class, where peasants, workers and women have fought for political rights, sometimes winning revolutions, and where foreign influences limit state autonomy.

• Meredith Roman
• Monday/Wednesday 3:35-4:50pm [Face to Face]
• Location: Holmes Hall Room 209
• 2 Seats

Challenges Western stereotypes to illuminate the complexities of the history of the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Primary sources and secondary scholarship allow students to gain a deeper understanding of everyday life in the USSR from the perspective of women, workers, intellectuals, and non-Russian nationalities. Special attention will be given to the Stalinization of Eastern Europe the de-Stalinization efforts of Khrushchev, the space race, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the battle for influence over the emerging Third World , and the emergence of a dissident movement. Will also explore the collapse of the USSR and arguments regarding a new Cold War with Putin’s Russia.

• Ginny Orzel
• Monday, 11:15-12:05 [Face to Face]
• Location: Edwards Hall Room 107
• 2 Seats

In this course, students explore how personal and small-business brands are built across today’s major digital platforms — LinkedIn, TikTok, and Instagram. The course emphasizes developing an authentic professional identity through storytelling, visual style, and strategic self-presentation. Students examine how influencers shape branding trends and how emerging AI tools — including AI-generated images, writing assistants, and content creation platforms — are transforming the way professionals communicate online. Through examples, discussion, and reflection, students consider how audiences perceive AI-assisted branding and what ethical questions arise around authenticity and transparency.

• Tamara Wilcox
• Mon/Weds/Fri 11:15-12:05 [Face to Face]
• Location: Tower Fine Arts Center Room 102
• 2 Seats

Music Theory I has written exercises in the basic harmonic system, melodic principles of part-writing, the chorale and four-part writing in root position and in inversions, secondary dominants and modulation. It also contains exercises in rhythmic, melodic, and simple harmonic ear-training.

• Lisa Lancia
• Tues/Thurs 5:00P-6:15P [Face to Face]
• Location: Tower Fine Arts Center 0120
• 15 Seats

The course provides for the study and performance of choral literature, both secular and sacred. Stylistic periods may include Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and Contemporary, including Jazz, Musical Theatre, and music of other cultures. Singers will gain knowledge of the historic context and musical genre of each concert piece. Emphasis will be placed on ensemble singing while developing musicianship and healthy personal vocal technique. This is a unique multi-generational ensemble of SUNY Brockport students, faculty, and community members who all have a passion for the choral arts and creating joy together through their voices. We hope that you will join us!

• Dante Dauksz
• Tues/Thurs 9:30-10:45am, [Face to Face]
• Location: Tower Fine Arts Room 120
• 2 Seats

Using case studies, examines some of the complex ethical issues in medicine today: abortion on demand; euthanasia; medical experimentation and informed consent; psychosurgery and behavior control; genetic counseling and research; and allocation of medical resources.

• Susan Orr
• Tues/Thurs 9:30-10:45am, [Face to Face]
• Location: Lennon Hall Room 136
• 2 Seats

The idea of “democracy” is one with which we are all familiar. However, it is one that if you pause for a minute to examine, is not only hard to define, but also raises a multitude of questions. Quite literally, “democracy” means rule by the people; but how can the people rule? Who are the people? What kinds of social conditions, institutions and organizations are needed for the people to rule? Why should the people rule, or who among the people should rule? These are the kinds of questions that we will take up this semester.

Throughout the course we will explore the idea of democracy in theory and in practice; as an ideal concept(s) and as a set of institutions that purport to realize those ideal(s). We will focus primarily on contemporary works of political theory that outline competing visions of democratic ideals and ways that they have been instantiated in institutions. We will also examine how our current governmental institutions and practices embrace or fall short of various democratic ideals. This is an important consideration given the current claims that democracy in the US, and around the world, is in decline. Another ongoing concern regarding democracy is that polarization of viewpoints has made political discussion and debate difficult. To help ensure all members of our class feel comfortable sharing their ideas and responses to readings, the first section of the course is devoted to thinking about the importance of political argument and how to improve our collective ability to engage in civic dialogue.

• Keith Blackley
• Mon/Weds/Fri 10:10-11:00am [Face to Face]
• Location: Fannie Barrier Williams Bldg Room 206B
• 2 Seats

Explores the founding roots of Federalism and Anti-Federalism via early puritan writings, the founding documents, Federalist and Anti-Federalist papers and the personal writings of several Founding Fathers.

• Melissa Brown
• Mon/Weds/Fri 10:10am-11:00am [Face to Face]
• Location: Holmes Hall Room 107
• 2 Seats

This course provides an empirical survey of the literature on adolescence. It focuses on the biological, cognitive, and social changes experienced as individuals move from early to late adolescence. The course explores how the social contexts of family, peers, and schools influence developmental processes of early, middle, and late adolescence. It also considers adolescent sexuality, delinquency, and substance use and abuse.

• Sarah Demin
• Tues/Thurs 11:00-12:15am [Face to Face]
• Location: Hartwell Hall Room 120
• 2 Seats

Examines the influence of the social determinants of health, including economic stability, education, social context, health and healthcare, and neighborhood, on individuals and communities. Explores the causes of health inequity and culturally competent strategies for addressing disparities.

• Michael Ray
• Location: Online (Asynchronous)
• 2 Seats

Sexual knowledge, attitudes, values, and behaviors are examined within various topic areas as part of one’s total health and wellness. Emphasis is placed on knowledge of, experiences with, and modern practices in sexuality education to meet the needs of diverse learners.

This is a 100% asynchronous course with activities such as online readings, discussions, using Brightspace, SUNY Brockport’s learning management system. You must have access to a computer with Internet connection to participate in this course.

• Elliot Weininger
• Mon/Weds/Fri 11:15-12:05pm, [Face to Face]
• Location: Hartwell Hall Room 122
• 2 Seats

Examines education as a social institution and its relationship to other social institutions. Explores schools as organizations in terms of structure and functions; compares schools within and across cultures; looks at inequality within education; and considers the role schools play in social change and stability.

• Danny Hoskins
• Mon/Weds/Fri 2:30-3:20pm, [Face to Face]
• Location: Tower Fine Arts Room 1102
• 1 Seat

Provides an introduction to the craft of acting. Emphasizes basic techniques through acting exercises, monologue presentations and scene work.

• Danny Hoskins
• Mon/Weds/Fri 9:05-9:55am, [Face to Face]
• Location: Tower Fine Arts Room 0112
• 1 Seat

Covers principles and techniques of improvisation as an art form, and fundamentals of ensemble-playing, characterization and play-making (creation of scenarios). Explores the effect of the dramatic process on communication skills and human development.