Students discuss findings at an easel displaying a poster

Social and Behavioral Sciences

Our Vision

The SBS concentration aims to support our university mission by:

cultivating curiosity and creativity in our students about our social world
modeling the value of disciplinary, multidisciplinary, and interdisciplinary approaches
teaching students to think like a social scientist – by identifying significant social problems, formulating informed research questions, and building fluency in using both theory and/or methods to investigate social worlds
fostering a humanistic orientation that puts people at the center of solving social problems
mentoring students as effective social science communicators in the 21st century

Collapse All

Overview

The concentration embraces an interdisciplinary approach to examining the human condition, incorporating perspectives from anthropology, economics, political science, psychology, and sociology. SBS courses provide students with theoretical and methodological tools to examine and address social issues and concerns from multiple comparative perspectives. Students with a declared SBS concentration are required to take at least five SBS courses, one of which must be a course in Methods of Social and Behavioral Sciences, and three of which must be in the 300 or 400 level.

Learning Outcomes

When Social and Behavioral Sciences students graduate, they will be able to:

inquire into significant social issues
critically assess social scientists’ theories, concepts, and views
formulate questions informed by critical assessments of social science literatures
use social science theories and methods to answer questions
communicate effectively, orally and in writing, as a social scientist in the 21st century
practice social science responsibly and ethically

Our Courses