Department of Social and Cultural Sciences

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The department of Social and Cultural Sciences provides academic offerings that examine cultural institutions, their features and their impact on the lives of individuals within society. The department offers courses in Anthropology and Sociology.

Anthropology (AN)

Global Studies (GS)

The Global Studies major is interdisciplinary in scope and is designed to give students a working knowledge of world systems (cultural, political, economic, and historical), competency in a second language sufficient for use in study, dialogue, diplomacy and travel, and the opportunity for international experience or in-depth local work on international issues, so that graduates are prepared to assume leadership roles in the 21st century.

The program goals of the Global Studies major outline the skills and habits of mind that students will be guided to develop. The program goals are:

1. Students will be able to evaluate global issues and their impact on local, regional, national, and international circumstances and events from a variety of disciplinary perspectives.
2. Students will be able to identify and explain the similarities and differences among cultures and to describe how individual identities, attitudes, and values are products of those cultures. A working knowledge and appreciation of how culture impacts behavior and creative expression will allow students to reflect on their own culture and to interact with sensitivity and alertness as citizens of the world.
3. Students will be able to evaluate the role and effectiveness of both market and non-market institutions within the relevant political and economic contexts.
4. Students will be able to communicate in a second language at the highest level possible in recognition of the intrinsic link between language and culture and the importance of intercultural skills in an increasingly interdependent world.
5. In the spirit of the Jesuit tradition, students will be empowered by a global education to become a force for positive change, conscious that all of their personal decisions have moral implications for themselves and others.

Sociology (SO)

Programs

• Global Studies, B.A.

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