Liberal Arts and Sciences
Will McConnell, PhD
Director, General Education
Introduction
Even before they step onto campus, Woodbury University students already comprise a diverse group riven to succeed. In the Liberal Arts and Sciences Programs (LAS), we strive to give our students every possible advantage as they devote their energies and ambitions to educational programs designed to meet the challenges of the contemporary world. We believe this is best accomplished via an educational practice informed by a transdisciplinary approach that partners real world experiences with theoretical research. Woodbury’s long history of scholarly informed teaching practices encourage students to explore, engage, and implement changes that they wish to see in the world.
Our curriculum focuses on developing the intellectual capacity to produce diverse and varied contexts for examining the world; to seek out alternate, cutting-edge ways of living and experiencing different societies and ideas; to develop the interpersonal skills needed to work effectively within and across cultures; and to analyze, understand, and work toward the change students want to see in the world. Courses, majors, and programs in the Liberal Arts and Sciences prepare students with the necessary skills for an array of careers and advanced degrees. All of our courses offer students exposure to the ever-changing body of knowledge, theories, ideas, and principles that shape society, technology, culture, and the environment. Across all of the settings within LAS, the emphasis is on active, experiential learning techniques designed to enhance each student’s capacity for not only independent and rigorous thought, but also creative and applied contextual analysis leading to positive action.
Mission
The Liberal Arts and Sciences Programs provides an active learning environment central to the intellectual and creative life of the University. Our interdisciplinary curriculum instills a love of knowledge and critical thinking, preparing students to be compassionate, well-informed world citizens who positively impact social, economic, and environmental sustainability.
Majors, Departments & Programs
LAS houses two undergraduate majors as well as numerous other departments and programs to educate all Woodbury undergraduate students. The majors— Interdisciplinary Studies and Public Safety Administration—are all structured as challenging interdisciplinary degrees grounded in the liberal arts.
Interdisciplinary Studies allows students to build their own majors. Students collaborate on the design of their own learning— an exclusive academic experience in which the University becomes an open-source platform students can use to help define who and what they want to become. As part of a community of self-directed learners, students work one-on-one with relevant faculty members from across the campus to integrate two different disciplines among those offered at Woodbury, resulting in a senior thesis project that sets the course for a wholly unique career.
Public Safety Administration evaluates, researches, and serves criminal justice professions through a unique interdisciplinary approach to the study of criminal justice and human behavior. Our curriculum provides substantive and practical knowledge to link multidisciplinary social science theories and methods with effective, responsible public policy and the ethical practice of justice professions within a multicultural, constitutional democracy.
Our other departments and programs all provide essential elements of a university education, initiate efforts in transdisciplinary collaboration with other parts of the University. LAS offers minors in Computer Science Data Analytics, Art History, Philosophy, Professional Writing, Urban Studies, and History, and oversees several programs to enrich and diversify our students’ experiences in such general education fields as art history, economics, library science, literature, mathematics, philosophy, personal and professional development, and sciences. In addition, LAS houses the University- wide Honors Program and the Pathways to Student Success Program. Finally, we provide tutoring services, including the Writing Center and the Math, Science, and Subject Tutoring Center. We are committed to the success of students in our degree programs and to all students across Woodbury’s campus.
Faculty
The faculty of the Liberal Arts and Sciences Programs is incredibly diverse, not only in educational and personal backgrounds, but in approaches to student learning and academic scholarship. As the principal stewards of LAS’s degrees and programs, they are responsible for creating and improving the educational experiences of all the University’s students. They serve as mentors and advisors, providing personal and ongoing direction to students in majors, minors, or simply taking individual courses.
Faculty members also work collegially and collaboratively with each other, as well as with educators across and outside the University, to establish opportunities for inter- and transdisciplinary research and course development.
COMPUTER SCIENCES DATA ANALYTICS
Full-Time Faculty
Samuel E. Sambasivam, Professor
PhD, Moscow State University, Russia
HONORS
Rossen Ventzislavov, Honors Coordinator
PhD, City University of New York
INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDIES
Full-Time Faculty
Douglas J. Cremer, Professor
PhD, University of California, San Diego
Rossen Ventzislavov, Professor, Philosophy
PhD, City University of New York
PATHWAYS TO STUDENT SUCCESS
POLITICAL SCIENCE AND HISTORY
Full-Time Faculty
Douglas J. Cremer, Professor
PhD, University of California, San Diego
PROFESSIONAL WRITING
Full-Time Faculty
Matthew A. Bridgewater, Associate Professor
PhD, Bowling Green State University
Richard N. Matzen Jr., Professor
PhD, Indiana University of Pennsylvania
PUBLIC SAFETY ADMINISTRATION
Full-Time Faculty
Will McConnell,
PhD, McMaster University
GENERAL EDUCATION
Full-Time Faculty
Nageswar Rao Chekuri, Professor, Physics
EdD, University of Cincinnati
Annie Chu, Associate Professor, Mathematics
PhD, University of California, Los Angeles
Amy Marie Converse, Professor, Art History
PhD, University of California, Los Angeles
Rossen Ventzislavov, Professor, Philosophy
PhD, City University of New York
Emertia Faculty
Reuben J. Ellis, Professor
PhD, University of Colorado at Boulder
Phil Pack
PhD, Claremont Graduate University
Elisabeth Sandberg, Professor
PhD, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
H. Eric Schockman, Professor
PhD, University of California, Riverside
Instructional Staff
Laurel DiGangi, Tutoring Services Coordinator
MA, University of Illinois, Chicago
LIBRARY & INFORMATION SCIENCES FACULTY
Karla Bluestone, Assistant Professor
MLIS, San Jose State University
Linda Cooks
MLIS, Valdosta State University
Ayanna Gaines, Associate Professor
MLIS, Dominican University
Eric Garcia
MLIS, San Jose State University
Barret Havens, Associate Professor
MLIS, University of Texas at Austin