Social Studies (B.A.)
At-a-Glance

Mission: The primary mission of the Social Studies major is to provide students with the content competency to teach Social Studies in secondary schools. It forms the content knowledge basis for students to initiate teaching professions and provides the necessary critical thinking, analytical reasoning, and academic judgment skills upon which to embark on a lifetime of intellectual growth.

Hours Required in the Major: 73 - 82 hours of specific courses or thematic areas chosen from history, anthropology, economics, political science and sociology. Some of these courses also can be used to partially fulfill General Education requirements.

Teaching Licensure: A comprehensive program for students seeking teaching licensure in Social Studies is administered through the College of Education and Human Services. Interested students are urged to contact the college for further information.

Admission to the Major: Students register their intentions to pursue an academic major in Social Studies with the Department of History; those interested in teaching must be admitted to the teaching licensure program in the College of Education and Human Services.

After admission to the university, a student obtains a "Declaration of Major" packet from the History Department in RT 1319 that explains the advising procedures, asks the student for a writing sample, and answers to a few questions.  Once this information has been gathered, the student phones the History Department (687-3920) for an initial advising appointment with the Director of Undergraduate Studies.  The Director will evaluate transfer credits for the major and give the student a copy of the filled out check-sheet.  Following this advising session, students will receive a letter with the name of their individual faculty advisor in the department.

Advising: Director of Undergraduate Studies, Dr. Tom Humphrey 216-523-7183; Individual faculty advisers; Internet Web page, http://www.csuohio.edu/history . Students are urged to meet with their assigned faculty advisor at least once every semester.

The Social Studies major will have an academic adviser in the History Department in the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences as assigned by the department. Those seeking a teaching license should have an adviser for education course work in the College of Education and Human Services.

This interdisciplinary major is administered by the Department of History and is primarily intended for students seeking secondary licensure. It provides comprehensive training in history and related social-studies fields taught in Ohio secondary schools. Interested students should also consider pursuing academic major(s) and/or academic minor(s) in history, political science, or economics.

For information: Call Dr.Tom Humphrey, 216-523-7183, or the History Department, 216-687-3920 or history.department@csuohio.edu. Those interested in licensure should contact the College of Education and Human Services.

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Major-Field Requirements

The curriculum for the Social Studies major consists of a common core and one area of concentration chosen from three areas. The following courses are required of all Social Studies majors:

The Core:

• HIS 101 Western Civilization I
  OR
  HIS 102 Western Civilization II
• HIS 111 U.S. History to 1877
• HIS 112 U.S. History since 1877
• HIS 165 Introduction to Latin American History
  OR
  HIS 175 Introduction to African History
• HIS 200 Introduction to Geography
• HIS 215 History of African-Americans to 1877
  OR
  HIS 216 History of African-Americans since 1877
• HIS 301 American Cultural History
  OR
  HIS 304 U.S. Urban History
• HIS 370 World History
• HIS 390 Introduction to Social Studies
• HIS 400 Local History Seminar
• ECN 201 Principles of Macroeconomics
• ECN 202 Principles of Microeconomics
• PSC 111 American Government
• PSC 221 Comparative Politics
  OR
  PSC 231 International Politics
• PSC/HIS/ANT/SOC 227 Power, Authority and Society in Non-Western Communities
• ANT 102 The Study of Culture
  OR
  HIS 323 Recent American History
  OR
  SOC 101 Introduction to Sociology

Complementary Core:

(Select 1 of the 3 areas below)

• Anthropology Core
  • Two of the following:
    • ANT 270 AfricanAmerican Culture
    • ANT 324 Anthropology of Gender
    • ANT 351 Native North Americans
  • Two of the following:
    • ANT 352 Native South Americans
    • ANT 353 Cultures of Africa
    • ANT 354 Cultures of Oceania
    • ANT 394 Area Studies in Anthropology
• Political Science Core
  • PSC 217 Urban Politics & the African American Experience
    OR
    PSC 305 Cultural Diversity in U.S. Politics
  • PSC 318 The Presidency and Congress
    OR
    PSC 342 American Political Thought
  • Two of the following:
    • PSC 310 Constitutional Law
    • PSC 311 Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
    • PSC 314 State Government and Politics
    • PSC 315 Public Policy Administration
    • PSC 327 Peaceful World Change
• Sociology Core
  • SOC 101 Introduction to Sociology
  • One of the following:
    • SOC 342 Sociology of Law
    • SOC 383 Political Sociology
  • Two of the following:
    • SOC 201 Race, Class, and Gender
    • SOC 203 Sociology of Poverty
    • SOC 215 Black/White Interaction
    • SOC 267 Studies in the Black Family
    • SOC 317 Sociology of Gender
    • SOC 380 Minorities

Distribution: Additional courses needed to ensure that at least one course is included from Anthropology and Sociology.

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