Area of Knowledge: Social Science

Requirement

In the AOK Social Sciences category, both courses must emphasize the social sciences.

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Rationale

Students must take two courses in the Social Sciences as an integral part of their liberal arts education. Courses in the Social Sciences afford students the opportunity to engage in the systematic study of the relationship of the individual and the group to the various levels of human society. These levels of analysis include the individual and groups from the family up to the world.

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Goals

Students should understand the relationships between the individual or group and the various levels of human society including the individual, family, community, nation, and world, as well as the ideas and forces which shape these relationships, and the very nature of social science analyses of them.

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Learning Objectives

Students should study the applied and/or theoretical dimensions of the quantitative and qualitative methods used in the social sciences. In addition, students will engage in one or more of the following learning objectives:

1. Students will examine the authoritative allocation of values in a society.
2. Students will investigate behavior and/or mental processes.
3. Students will investigate the study of humankind—of ancient and modern people—and their ways of living.
4. Students will be able to conduct examinations of scarcity, choice and tradeoffs within and between groups.
5. Students will be able to conduct an examination of social life, social change, and the social causes of human behavior through investigating the structure of groups, organizations, and societies, and how people interact within these contexts.
6. Students will develop an applied and or theoretical understanding of the quantitative and qualitative methods used in the social sciences.

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Criteria

A course offering exposure to the Social Science Area of Knowledge should include the study of the applied and/or theoretical dimensions of the quantitative and qualitative methods used in the social sciences. In addition, a substantial portion of a course that partially satisfies the Social Science Area of Knowledge requirement must also be devoted to meeting at least one or more of the following criteria:

1. The course should examine the authoritative allocation of values in a society.
2. The course should systematically investigate behavior and/or mental processes.
3. The course should investigate the study of humankind—of ancient and modern people—and their ways of living.
4. The course should study scarcity, choice and tradeoffs within and between groups.
5. The course should study social life, social change, and the social causes of human behavior through investigating the structure of groups, organizations, and societies, and the interactions of people within these contexts.