Nov 21, 2024  
2024-2025 Undergraduate & Graduate Catalog 
    
2024-2025 Undergraduate & Graduate Catalog

Fulton School of Liberal Arts


Dr. Maarten L. Pereboom, Dean
Fulton Hall Room 257 • 410-543-6450

Dr. Chrys Egan, Associate Dean
Fulton Hall Room 265 • 410-677-5436

John Anello, Advising Services Coordinator
Blackwell Hall Room 113A • 410-543-6236

Visit the school’s webpage.

School Information

The Charles R. and Martha N. Fulton School of Liberal Arts houses 13 departments across academic disciplines ranging from the visual and performing arts to the humanities and social sciences. It supports a substantial portion of the general education experience of every Salisbury University student as well as a wide array of majors and minors, including several popular interdisciplinary programs.

Liberal education (the “arts” is often dropped so as not to exclude the sciences) remains essential to our students’ formation as individuals, citizens and professionals. In a knowledge-based economy, knowledge of the complex and diverse world and skills in research, analysis and writing are critical. More, in a society in which one raises children with the hope that they can reach their full potential, liberal education is the appropriate way to launch young, and sometime older, adults into rich, fulfilling lives guided by a love of learning, a diversity of interests and a valuable set of skills. More still, the school equips its students to be enlightened participants, and even leaders, in a free and democratic society, thoughtful and articulate about their moral and ethical obligations to their fellow human beings, locally and globally.

Since the Fultons named the school in 1989, all faculty members who have received tenure hold the terminal degree in their field. The model of success among Fulton School faculty is the scholar-teacher, active in research or creative activity and an able and caring mentor to students. The school’s emphasis on undergraduate research means that all programs prepare students to conduct research in their academic disciplines. The Fulton School showcases excellence through the annual Salisbury University Student Research Conference and a strong presence at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research, which the University has hosted twice. The school also supports both faculty and student participation in discipline-specific and interdisciplinary academic conferences.

Fulton faculty endeavors include: Literature/Film Quarterly, an international academic journal; the Nabb Research Center for Delmarva History and Culture, specializing in local and regional history; a bi-annual conference on American Women Writers of Color; the Summer Enrichment Academies for talented and gifted middle and high school students; the Institute for Public Affairs and Civic Engagement, which promotes faculty and student research and discussion of public policy questions and sponsors student internships in state and local government; the Center for Conflict Resolution, which supports research on interpersonal and global conflict and provides training and services in mediation and conflict resolution; and a lively University Art Galleries program exhibiting contemporary art in the University Gallery, the Electronic Gallery and our Downtown Campus gallery. In the performing arts, the Bobbi Biron Theatre program, the Salisbury University Dance Company, the Salisbury Symphony Orchestra, the University Chorale, Concert Band, Jazz Ensemble and other music ensembles contribute to a full calendar of excellent cultural events, showcasing the talents of our students and faculty as well as members of the larger community.

Whether students choose a major from among the traditional disciplines in the arts, humanities or sciences, or from among interdisciplinary programs such as environmental studies, international studies or conflict analysis and dispute resolution, all can benefit from our rich opportunities for international study. Short-term options vary from year to year, but regularly include Ecuador, Argentina, Italy, Scotland, India and Vietnam, to name a few. School-sponsored, semester-long programs aimed at providing a richly interdisciplinary experience at a reasonable cost, are available in Ecuador, Scotland, Spain, Estonia, Ghana, India and China.

The school’s benefactors made their gift with the intent of enhancing the economic, educational and cultural resources of the Eastern Shore and its future generations. Charles R. Fulton (1919-2005) grew up on a farm in Kenton, OH, and was working in the poultry industry when he met his future wife, Martha Nock, at the 1939 World Poultry Congress in Cleveland. A veteran of World War II, Charles Fulton was involved in Eastern Shore agriculture for more than half a century. In 1965 three of his companies merged with Holly Farms, which Tyson Foods purchased in 1989. He served on the board of directors of Holly Farms and First Maryland Bancorp, the second largest bank in Maryland. In 1998, he received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Salisbury University.

Martha Nock Fulton attended what was then the State Teachers College in Salisbury in 1937-38. Her classmates included Hamilton P. Fox, later a prominent Salisbury attorney and leader in Maryland politics, Dr. S. Goldsborough “Goldie” Tyler, who later became a professor at the college, future poultry magnate Franklin P. Perdue and his future wife, Madeline Godfrey. The Nock family, originally from Snow Hill, was noted for its philanthropic role in the religious and civic life of the community and beyond, including aunts, uncles and cousins involved in missionary, medical and political work.

Scholarships and awards in the school include the following:

Art Department Alumni Recognition Award
Art Department Meritorious Award
Art Department Scholarships
Art Assistantship Student Award
Nettie C. Bentley Scholarship in Music
Clark Family Music Scholarship
Early Family Music Scholarship
Delmarva History Prize
Caroline S. Dudley Memorial Scholarship in Music
Robert A. Elderdice Award in Literature
Thomas G. Elliot Orchestra Scholarship
William M. Folger Scholarship
Fulton Scholarships
History Department Scholastic Award
Music Program Award
National Dance Association Award
Duane C. Nichols Memorial Scholarship in English
Outstanding Foreign Language Student Award
Gerald and Bette Jane Patt Scholarship in Theatre
Philosophy Department Outstanding Student Award
The William and Eva Anderson Award in Psychology

Psychology Department Award
Thelma B. Robertson Scholarship in the Liberal Arts
Robert L. Sawyer and Janet A. Walsek Scholarship Program at Salisbury University
Justin Y. Shen Memorial Awards in Political Science and International Studies
Leland Starnes Memorial Award in Theatre
Walter C. Thurston Memorial Award in Photography
Tony Topolski Memorial Scholarship Award in Sociology
Wilcomb E. Washburn Student Prize in History
Jarod Young Music Scholarship
Joanne Young Award in Theatre

The School’s Curriculum Reform

Though curriculum always evolves over time, in fall 2008 the Fulton School of Liberal Arts implemented a major reform of its curriculum, moving from a model based on three-credit courses to one built upon four-credit courses. The faculty aims to provide students with course experiences that are more rigorous, more focused and richer than was possible under the old model. At an institution that has gained a national reputation for undergraduate research, the Fulton School faculty believe that this model supports the active learning experiences that prepare our students best for life, work and citizenship.

Enhancements selected from seven areas have been either added to or woven into previously three-credit courses that become four-credit courses. A detailed menu of potential course enhancements is found in Appendix D. Fulton courses that feature these enhancements are identified in this catalog by the inclusion of the phrase “Three hours per week with enhancement” in their description. Students who have initiated Fulton majors or minors under previous catalogs and via the previous Fulton curriculum model will be advised and aided by chairs and advisors in a smooth transition from the old version of the program to the new version.

 

Programs

    Bachelor of ArtsBachelor of Arts or Bachelor of ScienceUndergraduate Minors