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ACADEMIC PROGRAMS |
SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES |
Collection Support Through the All-University Requirements that define the core curriculum for each department or discipline, as well as pursuing areas of specialization and elective courses, undergraduate students explore the fine arts, the humanities, the natural sciences and the social sciences in order to meet the challenges of a complex and changing world, as well as to understand its cultural and intellectual heritage. Heavy emphasis is placed in the development of the library collections on the 18 academic departments that comprise in-depth study in the arts, the humanities, and the social or natural sciences. Diverse course offerings, many of which are interdisciplinary in nature, provide arts and sciences majors with traditional classroom learning experiences, as well as the opportunity to work with faculty through independent study and collaborative research projects. Programs of study are characterized by an emphasis on skill development in critical thinking, problem solving, information literacy, and oral and written communication. The area of Fine Arts is represented by the Art Department, the Music Department , and the Theatre Department. The Buley Library attempts to achieve a balance within the areas of Art History, Studio Art and Art Education, to support the academic program in these areas. In addition to works on Art History, resources have been acquired to support the studio art specializations at Southern, which include: Ceramics, Graphic Design, Painting, Jewelry/Silversmithing, Photography, Printmaking, Sculpture, and Construction. Students who major in the Art Education Programs require resources that will allow them to teach art at either the elementary or secondary level, and are focused on books dealing with color, design, drawing, painting, ceramics, and general crafts. The collection is particularly strong in the areas of painting and drawing. The Music Department offers three tracks in Music History, Theory, and Musicianship and Improvisation. Works that profile musical traditions in various world cultures, as well as coverage of musical genres, such as jazz, popular music, opera and the American Musical Theatre, are balanced with resources that discuss the major periods in Western Music. Works that discuss arranging and electronic music are acquired to support the Music Theory program, as are selected works related to musical performance. While of more limited scope, the acquisition of sheet music, vocal scores, full symphonic scores and operatic librettos are generally made on the recommendation of members of the Music Department faculty, for specific instructional or research purposes. In addition to print resource acquisition, the Music Department at Southern is extensively supported by the acquisition of a large number of audio CDs that offer students at Southern an extraordinary range of listening experiences, ranging from the Renaissance music of the medieval period, through the Baroque, Classical and Romantic periods, to the popular, hard rock, hip-hop, electronic, and experimental musical selections of the current decade. The Buley Library's collection of audio CDs, which is housed in the Learning Resource Center, now numbers some 5,000 titles, and is particularly strong in the genres of jazz, opera, and international musical selections, a large portion of which have been selected by Dr. Tilden Russell, Dr. David Chevan, the departmental liaison, other members of the Music Department Faculty, or Hing Wu, the Media Acquisitions/Cataloger at the Buley Library. Acquisitions of audio CDs over the past few years have emphasized a variety of selections in the ethnic music category, including music from the Jewish tradition, Balkan folk music, and Irish music, specifically. The Theater Program at Southern is supported by numerous resources that discuss works of Dramatic Literature and Criticism and Theatre History, particularly American and British drama, from the classical, modern, and contemporary periods. Those students specializing in Acting/Directing and Technical Theatre and Design will find numerous resources that address subjects like theatre voice and diction and creative dramatics, as well as works on lighting, stage-makeup, scene and costume design. Tina Re is the Fine Arts Librarian for the Buley Library and works collaboratively with Mr. Mitchell Bills to develop the Art collection and with Dr. Bill Elwood to develop the Theater collection. Nancy Bobrek is the librarian-liaison to the Music Department, while Dr. David Chevan is the departmental liaison to the library. HUMANITIES PROGRAM The Humanities Program at Southern consists of the following four departments, all of which offer students the opportunity to major in the field. These four departments are: English, Foreign Languages, History, and Philosophy . Three of these programs also offer students the opportunity to pursue the Bachelor of Science degree in Secondary Education, in conjunction with the School of Education , which fulfills the requirement for the Initial Teaching Certificate in Connecticut and prepares the student to teach in the subject matter of his or her major concentration in grades 7-12. The English Department at SCSU focuses on an intensive study of American and British literature, selecting authors and works from all literary periods and genres for study and analysis. From a library perspective, works must be acquired that offer a discussion of each major literary genre, with a focus at Southern on fiction writing and poetry writing, and also encompassing literary analysis and critical theory. Works by individual writers selected for teaching at Southern are then acquired for the library's collections, as are works of explication, biography and literary criticism. The Buley Library works diligently to assure the acquisition of works of literary criticism and biography for every substantial author whose work is taught in the English and Comparative Literature programs. This includes promising emerging writers, such as those who may be addressed in courses offering a cross-cultural literary perspective. Winnie Shyam is the designated librarian-liaison to the English Department, working collaboratively with Dr. Scott Ellis to develop the extensive collections in this discipline. In the area of American literature, one can find in the collections of the Buley Library, the works of early American writers, writers of the American Renaissance, including Poe, Hawthorne, Melville, Emerson, Thoreau, and Whitman, and the American Realism periods, represented by the works of Mark Twain, William Howells and William James. In the category of prominent women writers, works by Chopin, Dickinson, Cather, Wharton, Hurston and O'Connor predominate, while the works of American playwrights include the plays of Eugene O'Neill, Thornton Wilder, Edward Albee, and Tennessee Williams. Representative of the works of prominent writers from the Harlem Renaissance period are the works of Toomer, Johnson, Larsen and Hughes, while the Beat Generation authors are well-represented by the works of Allen Ginsburg, Jack Kerouac, and Lasrence Ferlinghetti. Significant emphasis in the area of British literature is placed on the works of Shakespeare and Milton, the major British writers of the 17 th , 18 th, 19 th and 20 th centuries; British women writers; and the major British romantic writers including Blake, Scott, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Shelley, Byron, and Keats. The majority of European literature which is taught at Southern is taught through courses offered through the program in Comparative and World Literature for liberal arts students, which the English Department offers in collaboration with the Department of Foreign Languages. To support these course offerings, the Buley Library has acquired works on Greek, Roman, Norse, and Celtic mythology, as well as the lyric, narrative, and dramatic literature of medieval Europe. Works by writers from the Renaissance Period in Europe, and prose writers of the European novel and short story, such as Petrarch, Machiavelli, Montaigne, and Cervantes are easily identified in the collection, as are the works of Gide, Kafka, Sartre and Camus. The program in Comparative Literature also encompasses the study of the Russian short story and the Russian novel, which has necessitated the acquisition of works written by and about the works of Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, and Turgenev. The program in Comparative Literature is completed by the study of contemporary Latin American Literature and the study of drama from the classical period to modern world drama. In the category of modern world drama, the dramatic works of Brecht, Albee, Pinter, Chekhov, Ibsen, Shaw and O'Neill predominate. In addition to its extensive focus on the teaching of literary genres and the works of individual essayists, dramatists, novelists, poets and prose writers, the English Department at SCSU maintains a strong focus at the undergraduate level on the development of strong composition skills, and the craft of creative writing, encompassing both poetry writing and fiction writing. For this reason, resources selected for the Buley Library collections must address the subject of composition skills, applied English linguistics, history of the English language, English grammar and usage, vocabulary development and the study of words. Works that focus specifically on poetry writing and fiction writing are particularly useful to those students who wish to minor in the creative writing process. Similarly, those students with a greater inclination towards professional writing will benefit from numerous acquisitions on such subjects as technical writing and communication skills, business writing, and writing for the public relations function.
-------------------------------- The Library's collection in Philosophy supports courses in Religious Studies, and is selected by Dr. Paul Holmer, working in collaboration with Dr. Armen Marsoobian, current Chair of the Philosophy Department. Holdings are strong in general philosophy as well as ethics, epistemology, metaphysics, political philosophy and aesthetics. Titles help undergraduate students examine such fundamental issues as the nature of the mind, sources of knowledge, nature of moral judgments and other values, justifications for political authority, and the intellectual presuppositions of religious belief. Circulating titles are augmented by new acquisitions while prominent reference materials, including the Encyclopedia of Religion, the Encyclopedia of Bioethics, and the Encyclopedia of Philosophy, introduce students to the major periods, as well as the great figures of philosophy and religion. A selective perusal of books in the collection reveals titles that critically examine the principal theories of ethics, clarify the function of myth and symbols in man's attempt to deal with reality, provide an introduction to modern logical theory, or illuminate the major philosophical discussions concerning the existence of God and the creation of the universe. In the arena of ancient and medieval philosophers, the library has significant holdings on Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, and Aquinas, and is working to acquire additional titles on Duns Scotus and William of Ockham. When dealing with contemporary philosophers, a diversity of philosophical opinions is sought and all major periods of Philosophy are represented, from Phenomenology to Existentialism. The major works of Dewey, Russell, Descartes, Locke, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Kant and Sartre, to name only a few, have been acquired to illuminate each theme, and works offering critical commentary and analysis are acquired as available. The Library continues to remain diligent in its efforts to identify and acquire new critical expositions on the writings of individual philosophers and fields of philosophy in order to meet the student demand. In Religious Studies, titles in the history of religion and the philosophical traditions of the major Eastern and Western traditions are well-represented in both the reference and circulating collections, with somewhat greater emphasis on the latter. Important texts in philosophy and religion are sought, as are specialized resources addressing the Hebrew and Christian Bibles. Theology, be it Doctrinal, Practical, or Ecclesiastical, are also prominent in the collection, as are many works on denominations and sects. In addition to sacred scriptures, the Hilton C. Buley Library owns a significant number of documents of explication and interpretation, such as commentaries. Additional categories include works that are devotional or biographical in nature. Collectively, these resources serve to support undergraduate study of the nature of divinity and the essence of humanity, which are the major thrusts of our undergraduate course offerings. --------------------------------------------- The Buley Library supports the course offerings of the Geography Department at Southern through the acquisition of resources on cartography, climatologic study, economic geography, human geography, marine geography, physical geography, political geography and urban geography, as well as a more recent specialization in Geographical Information Systems (GIS). In the area of cartography, interpretation of topographic maps, elements of surveying, and techniques of cartographic representation are stressed. Works that deal with climatologic issues present a study of world climates, and discuss climatic classifications, variations and changes, with a more recent emphasis on the detrimental effects of greenhouse gases and other environmental crises. Numerous selections, from the large and growing volume of literature on the pressing dilemma of global warming, have also been made. The area of Human Geography receives considerable emphasis in the Geography program at SCSU; therefore, works are acquired for the collection that discuss population geography specifically, with its emphasis on the distribution of people, patterns of population growth and decline, and migration patterns. More specialized aspects of this field, including recreation geography and land use planning at the local, regional, state and federal levels, are targeted areas for further collection development efforts at the Buley Library. The final area of concentration within the Geography Department is in the area of Regional Geography, where students may select from more than ten courses, in order to build a specialized knowledge of a specific world region or of the state of Connecticut . Works for the collection must be acquired that discuss every major world region, and systematically discuss the physical, economic and cultural environments of each of the countries in the region, with an emphasis on the interactions of these physical and cultural phenomena. Resources that deal with the distribution, function, and structure of various geographic phenomena in the state of Connecticut must also be diligently acquired for the library's collections. Finally, the collection in geography is completed by a more limited number of acquisitions on such specialized subjects as field techniques in geography, computer applications in geography, spatial analysis, and best methods for teaching geography at the elementary and secondary school levels. The study of mass media forms the focus of the program offered by the Media Studies Department at SCSU, as it seeks to impart knowledge and discovery about the communicator, the message, the conversation, and the relationship. The program has built a strong foundation on the basic principles of communication theory and scholarship, as well as a systematic study of the various media channels, as discussed in works written about media theory, media research, and media criticism, all of which are effectively represented in the collections. Dr. Sue Clerc, the librarian-liaison to the Media Studies Program, works collaboratively with Dr. Wes O'Brien and other members of the teaching faculty in the Media Studies Department, who are extremely proactive in the selection of titles for the library's collection. While all forms of modern media are compared and contrasted in the program, the primary focus is on the study of film and television, offering an analysis of television content, as well as studying the effect of television and television advertising on social behavior and patterns of consumption in the United States . Many works in the collection address the subject of television as a major mass media channel, as well as offering psychological and social perspectives on this medium. Newer acquisitions for the collection have addressed such subjects as reality TV, and the newer genre of fan fiction. In addition, the Media Studies Department has recommended the acquisition of a significant number of popular television sitcoms and dramas on DVD for the Buley Library's Learning Resource Center. These selections include All in the Family, the Gilmore Girls, the Simpsons, and Sex in the City. Within the film study component of the program, greater emphasis is placed on “reading film”, from the perspective of form, genre and culture, where students study the various structures and codes from which an audience makes meaning from mainstream narrative cinema. The library's collections on film study and film theory, as well as works on film as art, film and the novel, film and theater, and film and music, support this teaching perspective. The Media Studies Department also offers a course content on the concept of media literacy, and the more recent terminology of “multiliteracies,” a field of study that seeks to explore the tension between old and new in the digital culture of today. There is much opportunity for debate and discussion in a culture where the Internet, digital video, MP3s, social networking websites, blogs and user-generated content must co-exist with the more traditional media of television, film, photography and print. A significant amount of literature must be acquired that compares these various media channels, and systematically examines the political, social and ethical claims that have been made about the digital age. Finally, the ability of these new media channels to persuade and ultimately affect behavior in a variety of positive and negative ways has provided the Buley Library with the opportunity to supplement its more traditional selections on media ethics. This has been accomplished through the acquisition of a growing body of literature written to address a number of fascinating, yet disturbing, social phenomena. These subjects include: violent video games and aggression, media use and political involvement, the role of government in policing the Internet, Internet pornography, cyber-terrorism, identity theft, and cyber-bullying. Works must also be acquired that speak to the increasing concern among many regarding the challenges of teaching and learning multiliteracies in the digital age. These works will address the topic of developing media strategies in cyberspace, including defining multiliteracies, planning for multiliteracies, and integrating new digital technologies, such as digital storytelling, into the classroom experience. PHYSICAL AND NATURAL SCIENCES Resources for the Mathematics Department are selected by the librarian-liaison for the department, Diane Tomasko, who works collaboratively with Dr. Robert Vaden-Goad, a teaching faculty member in Mathematics. The collection in Mathematics covers all of the essential subjects that are taught in this field at the university, with the collection containing many titles on Algebra, Geometry, Calculus, Number Theory, and Logic, which will help students supplement their classroom instruction and textbook reading on these subjects. The library also supports the introductory course on the History of Mathematics, as well as a number of courses offered for non-mathematics majors. In addition to providing students with basic to advanced mathematical skills and training, the Mathematics Department stresses the application of mathematical skills to related fields, such as business, computer science, operations research and statistics. For this reason, a significant number of resources acquired for this discipline focus on the subjects of probability and statistical analysis, with a focus at the undergraduate level on elementary and intermediate applied statistics. Resources that are acquired on such subjects as research methodology, statistical and quantitative analysis, sampling distributions, hypothesis testing, and regression analysis also support the Master of Science Program in Research, Statistics, and Measurements. This program, which prepares research specialists in the behavioral sciences and education, is affiliated with the School of Education at Southern. The second major area of focus for the Mathematics Department at Southern is the area of Mathematics Education, which trains students to teach at the elementary, middle school and secondary school levels, or enhances the teaching skills of currently certified mathematics teachers. Works acquired for the collection in mathematics education cover all subjects from the elementary to high school levels, including counting principles, measurement, numeration systems, sets and whole numbers, mathematical reasoning, and problem solving, as well as statistical analysis at the middle and high school levels. More advanced resources that address the subjects of geometry, algebraic structures, real analysis and topology are acquired for students at the graduate level who wish to further develop their skill in teaching these subjects at a more advanced level. Finally, some portion of the resources acquired for the teaching component of the program will focus on the integration of technology into the teaching of mathematics, as well as the challenges posed by students who may be low-achievers in mathematics. Those resources for Mathematics Education which specifically focus on the area of curriculum development, or which provide actual lesson plans, classroom activities and exercises, will be housed in the Learning Resources Center at the Buley Library, which is currently housed on the third floor. Other resources on Mathematics Education will be shelved in the education section of the circulating collection. |
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