Social Science Departments

Students in a classroom looking forward from their desks to presumably a professor.

The social sciences focus on the study of the social life of human groups and individuals. In these academic areas, students explore how we as individuals come to act and believe as we do, how we relate to one another in small or large groups, how we communicate, and how we govern ourselves within our communities. Students challenge themselves, and are challenged by the faculty, to go beyond opinion and develop a sophisticated understanding of the pressing social and behavioral problems of today. Whether examining historical artifacts on an archaeological dig or playing with autistic children in a psychology laboratory, students become skilled at explaining human behavior using a variety of techniques, from statistical analysis to laboratory experiment, from surveying and interviewing to observing people living and working in diverse communities.