UAS Academic CatalogSocial Science, B.A.
Juneau, e-Learning for select emphasis
With concentration areas in:
Anthropology
Economy, Subsistence, and Sustainability
History
Political Science
Psychology
Sociology
The B.A. degree in Social Science with an emphasis in a social science discipline enables students to engage in advanced course work in at least three social science disciplines as well as experience a rich interdisciplinary focus pursuing their degree.
Admission Requirements
After admission to UAS and declaring a social science major, applicants are admitted to the B.A. in Social Science program and assigned a faculty advisor.
Candidates must complete General Education Requirements (GERs), the Alaska Native Knowledge Graduation Requirement, as well as specific program requirements listed below for a minimum of 120 credit hours. Specific requirements for GERs in Social Science are listed below. Students must select one primary and two secondary concentration areas. The degree must include 42 credits of upper-division (300 or above) courses, 24 of which must be completed at UAS.
The Student Assessment Portfolio (SAP) is required for degree completion. SSCI S200 is taken in the sophomore year with presentation of the completed portfolio in the final semester of the student’s senior year. Students must also take one Social Science methods course in addition to any methods course required in their Primary Concentration.
| Minimum Credit Hours | 120 |
| General Education Requirements | 34 |
| Alaska Native Knowledge Graduation Requirement | 3 |
| Social Science Orientation | 3 |
| Social Science Methods | 3-4 |
| Language Requirements | 6-8 |
| Primary Concentration Requirements | 24 |
| Secondary Concentration Requirements | 30-31 |
| Electives | 24-26 |
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| General Education Requirements | ||
| Complete all General Education Requirements which must include the following: | 34 | |
| Social Science Orientation | ||
| SSCI S200 | Orientation to the Social Sciences | 3 |
| Social Science Methods | ||
| Select one of the following: | 3-4 | |
| Methods and Theories in Archaeology | ||
| Ethnohistory | ||
| Archives and Museums Theory and Practice | ||
| Ethnographic Methods | ||
| Introduction to Econometrics | ||
| Historiography and Historical Methods | ||
| Theory and Research in Criminology | ||
| Research Methods in Social Science | ||
| Data Analysis in the Social Sciences | ||
| *Elementary Statistics | ||
| Language Requirement | ||
| Language Courses 1 | 6-8 | |
| Primary Concentration Requirements | ||
| Complete Primary Concentration Requirements. | 24 | |
| Secondary Concentration Requirements | ||
| Complete Secondary Concentration Requirements. | 30-31 | |
| Electives | 24-26 | |
- 1
Six to eight credits in a one-year sequence of a single Alaska Native or other language. With departmental approval, students who study abroad in a language other than English, or who have a documented proficiency in a language (other than English), will be considered to have met their language requirement.
Social Science Primary Concentrations
Choose one. If a course is taken as a GER, substitution of an equal or higher course level and number of credits in same discipline must be taken to fulfill the primary concentration requirement.
Anthropology
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Primary Concentration Requirements | ||
| ANTH S202 | *Cultural Anthropology | 3 |
| ANTH S205 | *Biological Anthropology | 3 |
| ANTH Electives 1 | 18 | |
| Total Credits | 24 | |
- 1
At least 12 credits must be upper division.
History
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Primary Concentration Requirements | ||
| Select one of the following History sequences: 1 | 6 | |
| *World History I and *World History II | ||
| *History of the U.S. I and *History of the U.S. II | ||
| HIST S492 | Seminar in History: Selected Topics | 3 |
| HIST Electives 2 | 15 | |
| Total Credits | 24 | |
- 1
Courses selected must not be taken as GERs.
- 2
9 credits must be upper division.
Political Science/Government
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Primary Concentration Requirements | ||
| PS S101 | *Introduction to American Government | 3 |
| or PS S102 | *Introduction to Political Science | |
| PS Electives 1, 2 | 18 | |
| SSCI S300 | Research Methods in Social Science | 3 |
| Total Credits | 24 | |
- 1
At least 12 credits must be upper division
- 2
ANS S460 and ENVI S350 count as PS electives
Psychology
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Primary Concentration Requirements | ||
| PSY S111 | *Introduction to Psychology | 3 |
| PSY Electives 1 | 18 | |
| SSCI S300 | Research Methods in Social Science | 3 |
| Total Credits | 24 | |
- 1
12 credits must be upper division.
Sociology
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Primary Concentration Requirements | ||
| SOC S101 | *Introduction to Sociology | 3 |
| SOC Electives 1 | 18 | |
| SSCI S300 | Research Methods in Social Science | 3 |
| Total Credits | 24 | |
- 1
At least 12 credits must be upper division.
Social Science Secondary Concentrations
Choose two of the following disciplines different from your primary concentration area and complete 15-16 credit course sequencing for both. If course taken as a GER, substitution of an equal or higher course level and number of credits in the same discipline must be taken to fulfill the secondary concentration requirement.
Anthropology
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Secondary Concentration Requirements | ||
| ANTH S202 | *Cultural Anthropology | 3 |
| ANTH Electives 1 | 12 | |
| Total Credits | 15 | |
- 1
At least 9 credits must be upper division.
Economy, Subsistence, and Sustainability
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Secondary Concentration Requirements | ||
| Complete one of the following Principles of Economics courses: | ||
| ECON S201 | *Principles of Macroeconomics | 3 |
| ECON S202 | *Principles of Microeconomics | 3 |
| Choose 12 credits of ECON electives and/or cross-disciplinary social science electives from the following: 1 | ||
| ANS S260 | Alaska Native Organizations and Economies | 3 |
| ANS S320 | AK Native Ecological Knowledge | 3 |
| ANS S460 | ANCSA and Tribal Governance | 3 |
| ANTH S312 | Culture and Ecology | 3 |
| ANTH S454 | Economic Anthropology | 3 |
| GEOG S312 | Culture and Ecology | 3 |
| PS S458 | Comparative Environmental Politics | 3 |
| PSY S431 | Mental Health Interventions for Alaska Natives and Rural Alaskans | 3 |
| SOC S305 | Sociology of Food | 3 |
| SOC S404 | Environmental Sociology | 3 |
| Total Credits | 36 | |
- 1
At least 6 credits must be upper-division
History
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Secondary Concentration Requirements | ||
| Select one of the following History sequences: 1 | 6 | |
| *World History I and *World History II | ||
| *History of the U.S. I and *History of the U.S. II | ||
| HIST Electives 2 | 9 | |
| Total Credits | 15 | |
- 1
Courses selected must not be taken as GERs.
- 2
Minimum of 6 credits must be upper-division.
Political Science/Government
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Secondary Concentration Requirements | ||
| PS S101 | *Introduction to American Government | 3 |
| or PS S102 | *Introduction to Political Science | |
| PS Electives 1, 2 | 12 | |
| Total Credits | 15 | |
- 1
At least 6 credits must be upper division.
- 2
ANS S460 and ENVI S350 count as PS electives
Psychology
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Secondary Concentration Requirements | ||
| PSY S111 | *Introduction to Psychology | 3 |
| PSY Electives 1 | 12 | |
| Total Credits | 15 | |
- 1
6 credits must be upper division
Sociology
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Secondary Concentration Requirements | ||
| SOC S101 | *Introduction to Sociology | 3 |
| SOC Electives 1 | 12 | |
| Total Credits | 15 | |
- 1
6 credits must be upper division
1. Graduates will acquire a broad awareness of how knowledge of social structures and processes can both contribute to their individual growth and to their understanding of the world they inhabit.
a. Graduates will demonstrate awareness of how their academic course of study has shaped their identity and career goals — meets critical thinking, written communication and computer literacy competencies, and reflects a professional behavior/disposition category of understanding.
b. Graduates will demonstrate awareness of the importance of cultural diversity in the social world — meets critical thinking, written communication and computer literacy competencies, and reflects knowledge and professional behavior/disposition categories of understanding
2. Graduates will understand and be able to articulate the major conceptual, methodological and theoretical approaches taken by the social sciences disciplines in the study of human origins, development, thought, behavior, and institutions.
a. Graduates will understand and be able to articulate key concepts that bridge the various social science disciplines (e.g., self, culture, society, gender, race, sexuality, class, power) — meets critical thinking, written communication and computer literacy competencies, and reflects a knowledge category of understanding.
b. Graduates will understand and be able to articulate the key differences between the social science disciplines and be able to write clearly and effectively within those disciplines — meets critical thinking, written communication and computer literacy competencies, and reflects knowledge and professional behavior/disposition categories of understanding.
3. Graduates will demonstrate the ability to design and complete original research projects in their chosen disciplines.
a. Graduates will be able to identify important research questions within the social sciences — meets critical thinking competency, and reflects knowledge and professional behavior/disposition categories of understanding.
b. Graduates will be able identify and locate relevant resources for their social science disciplines — meets information literacy competency, and reflects a skill category of understanding.
c. Graduates will be able to analyze and critique peer-reviewed, published social science scholarship — meets information literacy, computer literacy and critical thinking requirements, and reflects a knowledge category of understanding.
d. Graduates will understand the various kinds of quantitative and qualitative data that are relevant to a particular research project — meets critical thinking and quantitative skills competencies, and reflects knowledge and skills categories of understanding.
e. Graduates will utilize research and citation styles appropriate to their emphasis disciplines — meets information literacy and professional behavior competencies, and reflects knowledge, skills and professional behavior/disposition categories of understanding.
4. Graduates will demonstrate an appreciation for the value of professional conduct.
a. Graduates will organize formal presentations of original research — meets oral communication and professional behavior competencies, and reflects knowledge and professional behavior/disposition
categories of understanding.
b. Graduates will develop skills in leading small group discussion — meets oral communication and professional behavior competencies, and reflects skill and professional behavior/disposition categories of understanding.
c. Graduates will compile, submit, and present formal portfolios of their work for faculty review — meets oral/written communication and professional behavior competencies, and reflects knowledge, skills and professional behavior/disposition categories of understanding.
d. Graduates will demonstrate an ability to use appropriate technology to enhance their academic work — meets computer, information literacy and professional behavior competencies, and reflects a skill category of understanding.
e. Graduates will demonstrate an appreciation for time management and preparedness — meets professional behavior competency, and reflects skills and professional behavior/disposition categories of
understanding.
5. Graduates will understand the importance of experiential learning and self-reflection in the social sciences.
a. Graduates will have the opportunity to complete internships, field research, and public service projects — meets professional behavior competency, and reflects knowledge and professional behavior/disposition categories of understanding.
b. Graduates who complete experiential learning projects will demonstrate an ability to reflect in writing upon the academic value of those experiences meets critical thinking, communication and computer literacy requirements, and reflects a knowledge category of understanding.