School of Arts and Sciences

Return to: Academic Departments

School of Arts and Sciences Administration:

Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences: Cheryl Wilson
Assistant Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences: Betty Berbari
American Studies: Llana Barber, Chair
Biological Sciences: Manya Mascareno, Chair
Chemistry and Physics: Ruomei Gao, Chair
English: Margaret Torrell, Chair
History and Philosophy: Juan Pablo Galvis, Chair
Mathematics, Computer and Information Sciences: Frank Sanacory, Chair
Modern Languages: Fernando Guerrero, Chair
Politics, Economics and Law: Rose Muzio, Chair
Psychology: Lillian Park, Chair
Public Health: Sarah Smith, Chair
Sociology: Lee Blackstone, Chair
Visual Arts: Patricia Harris, Chair

The School of Arts and Sciences offers the best of what has been called for over 2,000 years a “liberal education,” meaning a broad education undertaken for informed citizenship.

Every major in the School of Arts and Sciences promotes the following values: life-long learning; global citizenship; and social justice.

Life-Long Learning. The School wants to provide students with the capacity and desire to develop and learn throughout their lives. We urge students to take their formal education as an opportunity to gain personal qualities and habits of mind that will last a lifetime: self-examination and critical thinking; powers of analysis, judgment, and self-expression; empathy and ethical awareness; and a tolerance for ambiguity and complexity. The liberal arts have always prepared students for life-long engagement with civic and professional life, informed by a sure sense of values.

Global Citizenship. It is hard to stress too much the importance of understanding the international dimensions of modern life and thought. Learning to think and act as a citizen of the world-to understand and appreciate both diversity and our common humanity–is a powerful lesson in an increasingly global economy and culture. Social Justice. Our emphasis on Social Justice is a reminder of our obligations to those around us; the connection between self and society is one of life’s most enduring and challenging questions, and it plays out now in global dimensions. Both the College as a whole and School of Arts and Sciences encourage students to promote full citizenship for all in the College, community, and world.

The liberal arts degrees at Old Westbury provide a solid foundation for graduate studies and professional accomplishment in many fields. In a fast-changing global society, the adaptability linked to the liberal arts has never been more relevant or more in demand in the workplace.

Women and Gender Studies Program

Director: Jacqueline Emery, English

The Women and Gender Studies Program offers a minor (see Minors) as well as independent studies and internships. It is also affiliated with the Women’s Center (see below).

Women and Gender Studies is a multidisciplinary field that examines the creation, reconstruction, and perpetuation of asymmetrical sex and gender systems, as well as their connections to other systems of power and inequality. It explores the ways in which gender intersects with women’s and men’s personal identities, health and well-being, social and cultural arrangements, economic and political systems, and our ways of knowing and understanding the world.

The minor examines how ideologies of sex and gender have influenced and been influenced by culture and society; literature and the arts; law and public policy; and health, science, and technology. It closes gaps in traditional higher education resulting from the exclusion of women and other marginalized groups from many fields of study. This program of study empowers students through a feminist critique of social, cultural, and institutional structures that enables them to think more critically about their own lives and that inspires them to work as active citizens for social justice. The knowledge and skills attained from the Women and Gender Studies minor are valuable in such fields as education, social work, art, literature, business and human resources, scientific research and the health professions, law and public policy, media production, nonprofit advocacy, psychology, and information technology. Women and Gender Studies Affiliated Faculty: Laura Anker, AS, FYE; Llana Barber, AS; Laura Chipley, AS; Amanda Frisken, AS; Jasmine Mitchell, AS; Carol Quirke, AS; Samara Smith, AS; Rita Colon Urban; Chelsea Shields-Mas, AS; Jill Crocker, SY; BS; Linda Camarasana, EL; Jacqueline Emery, EL; Danielle Lee, EL; Nicholas Powers, EL; Nicole Sieben, EL and SoE; Margaret Torrell, EL; Jessica Williams, EL; Maureen Feder-Marcus, HP; Sylvie Kande, HP; Jing-yi Song, HP; Judy Walsh, HP; Sonia Assa, ML; Kathleen O’Connor-Bater, ML; Carolyn Cocca, PEL; Tom Delgiudice, PEL; Fetsum-Rahwa Haile, PH; Shijian Li, PH; Martha Livingston, PH; Sarah Smith, PH; Marty Cooper, PY; Ashlee Lien, PY; Laurette Morris, PY; Lee Blackstone, SY; Jacob Heller, Rachel Kalizh, SY; Laura Limonic, SY; SY; Svetlana Jovic PY; Diana Papademas, Erin Toolis, PY; Ryoko Yamamoto, SY; Gilda Zwerman, SY; Patricia Harris, VA; Tricia McLaughlin, VA; Cristina Notaro, SAS.

Women’s Center

The Women’s Center is a resource center and safe space for the students, staff, faculty, and administration of the College at Old Westbury. It has three main goals:

• To educate and empower women and men about issues of gender and sexuality, health and well-being, and achievement
• To raise awareness of and to reduce gender and sexual discrimination and violence
• To champion diversity, to advocate for equity, to build community, and to promote social justice

The Center sponsors presentations, workshops, and film series as well as housing a small lending library on such topics as sexual harassment, sexual assault, dating and domestic violence, stalking, equal pay, equal job opportunities, equal sports opportunities, general women’s health and wellness, sexual health, stereotypes of gender and sexuality, LGBT issues, eating disorders, poverty, pregnancy, contraception and abortion, parenting, etc. It offers opportunities for student internships, service learning, volunteering and work study, and also provides resources
and referrals on all of the above issues.

The Women’s Center also works closely with Student Affairs, Counseling and Career Services, Student Health Services, the First Year Experience Program, Residential Life, University Police, and the Nassau County Coalition Against Domestic Violence, to promote health and well being, to raise awareness of domestic and dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking and to prevent and reduce these crimes on campus.

Programs

• Liberal Arts, B.A.

• Women & Gender Studies, Minor

• Premedical and Pre-Health Professions Programs

Return to: Academic Departments