College of Behavioral & Social Sciences

The college includes the Departments of Anthropology, Economics, Geography and Planning, Health and Community Services, Political Science, Psychology, and Sociology; the School of Social Work; Programs in Child Development and Social Science and the Center for Multicultural and Gender Studies.

Our Mission

The College of Behavioral and Social Sciences is committed to the scholarly pursuit, dissemination, and practical application of knowledge focused on human behavior in the social and physical environment. As teachers and scholars, we express this commitment by striving for excellence in teaching and learning, research, and service.

Through our general education, graduate, and undergraduate programs, we prepare students to be knowledgeable in the methods and scope of the behavioral and social sciences, to be skilled in their respective disciplines, and to be prepared to undertake a lifelong path of learning and service to their community.

Engaged in both theoretical and applied research, faculty and students often work together on various projects. For example, Anthropology students assist professors excavating archaeological sites; Child Development majors participate in international research about how children view conflict and peace; students in Economics help faculty conduct surveys to determine costs and benefits of increasing water releases from dams; and Geography students assist faculty in map interpretation using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology.

Health and Community Services students provide health services to diverse community groups; Multicultural and Gender Studies students participate in campus forums and work with student and community organizations to promote diversity and social justice; students in Criminal Justice present the results of their research to the campus community and local agencies; Psychology students are involved in research projects ranging from neuroscience to cross-cultural influences on human behaviors; Social Science students work with secondary schools social science curriculum, policies and career centers; Social Work students assist agencies in needs assessment and program evaluations; and Sociology students often engage in hands-on research projects in their research methods courses.

Students also complete internships in a variety of local, state, national, and international settings and participate in a variety of student clubs and organizations across majors.