2007-2008 Social Science Program (SSCI)

Objectives | Requirements | Academic Major | Academic Minor | Composite Teaching Major

Program Goals

To improve one’s interdisciplinary thinking.
To become critical thinkers who are logical consumers of information.
To become effective researchers and to learn how to effectively communicate one’s results.
To become logical consumers of information through improved reading, writing, and presentation skills.
To become effective problem solvers through collaboration and teamwork.

Objectives

Social Science offers an academic major and a composite teaching major leading to a Bachelor of Science degree, as well as an academic minor. The curriculum objective of this program is to provide students with a strong interdisciplinary background supplying the conceptual tools needed to analyze, evaluate, criticize, and comprehend behavioral, social, and cultural patterns. The Social Science majors and minor share coursework from anthropology, economics, geography, political science, psychology, and sociology.

Requirements

Students must maintain a cumulative 2.5 GPA in courses required for the social science academic major and minor and the composite teaching major. Students choosing a double major or minor within Social Science may not apply electives to more than one major or minor. Only classes listed as “required classes” for both majors/minors may be applied to both.

A minimum of twelve credit hours of social science coursework must be completed at Westminster.

Either SOC 390 or SOC 391 must be taken prior to registering for SOC 470. MATH 150 is required prior to SOC 390.

For course prerequisites, please refer to the course description.

Academic Major

Liberal Education Courses

Credit Hours

The following courses, which fulfill LE requirements, are required for the Social Science major.

ANTH 160 Introduction to Anthropology, LE
or
ANTH 252 Cultural Anthropology, LE

ECON 105 Introduction to Economics as a Social Science, LE
MATH 150 Elementary Statistics, LE
(Required only if choosing PSYC/SOC 390 as Research Methods option)

PLSC 101 Introduction to Political Science, LE
or
PLSC 121 American National Government, LE

PSYC 105 Introduction to Psychology, LE
SOC 105 Introduction to Sociology, LE

4

4
4

4

4
4

Requirement Description		Credit Hours
I.	Foreign Language Requirement	8
	Social Science majors must complete eight credit hours in a single foreign language.	8
II.	Lower Division Social Science & Related Courses	20
	ANTH 160 Introduction to Anthropology, LE (4) or ANTH 252 Cultural Anthropology, LE (4) ECON 105 Intro. to Economics as a Social Science, LE PLSC 101 Introduction to Political Science, LE (4) or PLSC 121 American National Government, LE (4) PSYC 105 Introduction to Psychology, LE SOC 105 Introduction to Sociology, LE	4 4 4 4 4
III.	Upper Division Social Science Courses	20
	PSYC/SOC 390 Quantitative Research Methods or SOC 391 Qualitative Research Methods (must be taken one semester prior to SOC 470) SOC 470 Senior Project I, II Additional Social Science coursework (Of the 12 credits, students must take a minimum of 4 credits each in three of the following four fields: ANTH, PLSC, PSYC, or SOC. Coursework must be numbered 300 or above.)	4 2-2 12
IV.	Electives	4
	Four hours of coursework in ANTH, PLSC, PSYC, or SOC	4
TOTAL HOURS FOR THE ACADEMIC MAJOR		52

Academic Minor

Requirement Description		Credit Hours
I.	Required Courses	16
	ANTH 160 Introduction to Anthropology, LE (4) or ANTH 252 Cultural Anthropology, LE (4) PLSC 101 Introduction to Political Science, LE (4) or PLSC 121 American National Government, LE (4) PSYC 105 Introduction to Psychology, LE SOC 105 Introduction to Sociology, LE	4 4 4 4
II.	Electives	8
	Additional Social Science course work (4 hours must be numbered 300 or above)	8
TOTAL HOURS FOR THE ACADEMIC MINOR		24

Composite Teaching Major

The social science composite teaching major is an interdisciplinary major consisting of coursework from political science, psychology, economics, sociology, anthropology, and geography.

Liberal Education Courses	Credit Hours
The following courses, which fulfill LE requirements, are required for the Social Science Teaching major. ANTH 160 Introduction to Anthropology, LE ECON 105 Introduction to Economics as a Social Science, LE PLSC 121 American National Government, LE PSYC 105 Introduction to Psychology, LE SOC 105 Introduction to Sociology, LE	4 4 4 4 4

Requirement Description		Credit Hours
I.	Foreign Language Requirement	8
	Social Science Teaching majors must complete eight credit hours in a single foreign language.	8
II.	Lower Division Social Science Courses	23
	ANTH 160 Introduction to Anthropology, LE ECON 105 Introduction to Economics as a Social Science ESS 101 Introduction to Geography PLSC 121 American National Government, LE PSYC 105 Introduction to Psychology, LE SOC 105 Introduction to Sociology, LE	4 4 3 4 4 4
III.	Upper Division Social Science Courses	17
	SOC 450 Methods of Teaching Social Sciences Social Science course work numbered 300 or above	3 14
IV.	Electives	6
	Additional Social Science coursework (from ANTH, PSYC, PLSC, SOC)	6
V.	Teaching Minor in History	21
	In addition to the Composite Teaching Major, a teaching minor in History is required. Specific course selection should be made in consultation with the education faculty.
TOTAL HOURS FOR THE COMPOSITE TEACHING MAJOR		75