SOCIAL SCIENCE: MISSION STATEMENT

Since the time of the ancient Greeks, it has been said that a fundamental goal of all education is to know thyself, and the proper study for humankind is humankind itself.  Who are we and how can we understand our behavior?  Today, the social sciences seek answers to these very questions.

 The social sciences represent the ways in which we attempt to understand human beings and their behavior using the methods of scientific observation.  The key word is “social” meaning that human beings have everywhere organized themselves collectively in order to solve the basic problems of existence. Sociology has shown that all of us exist within a large collectivity called “society” and sociologists attempt to understand its origins and workings, as well as on the ways in which it shapes individuals.  Anthropology focuses on origins of the social species, Homo Sapiens, as well as on contemporary societies around the world.  It uses the idea of “culture” to explain human similarities and differences.  Psychology relates individual personality and behavior to the social and cultural context in which it is found.  Psychology, as well as other social sciences, is also interested in the relationship of the human biological organism to its time and place and have concluded that the fundamental nature of humankind is social.  All human societies must organize social systems that enable people to make a living and make collective decisions.  Thus Economics and Political Science are more specialized divisions of social science.  How these societies relate to their particular environmental and cultural conditions around the world is the province of Geography.  Finally, all social scientists recognize that human individuals and societies exist in and change through the flow of time and thus acknowledge that no human behavior can be adequately understood without the perspective that History offers us.  Finally, it should be noted that each of these disciplines should not be perceived as completely distinct or separate endeavors.  All overlap and interweave in their common pursuit of human understanding.

 Social science information is essential in our attempts to understand and address human social processes and problems, and several examples of such applied social science fields are Criminal Justice, Human Services, and Early Childhood Education.

 GOALS OF SOCIAL SCIENCE EDUCATION

 An education in social science will provide a perspective that will help students to master the tools of scientific method and critical inquiry toward an understanding of human behavior and the social experience from which it emerges.  This will not only enable more refined thought and expression, but should help to cultivate a sense of ethical purpose and value together with a heightened imaginative spirit conducive to an enriched wonder and appreciation of human living.

 I.          SELF DISCOVERY AND PERSONAL AUTONOMY

An education in social science offers us a framework of thought that will enable an understanding that our sense of selfhood is both unique and a product of the social and cultural worlds that we share with others.  A realization that the personal beliefs and values that guide our life choices result from socio-cultural process over time is a means of personal liberation, a source of creativity, and the basis for a strong, autonomous self-concept.  Self-knowledge, together with refined critical thinking skills nurtured in social science education, enables informed decision-making concerning crucial career, community, and life choices.  Social science education encourages critical reflection, using the rules of scientific evidence, and applying the logical analysis that enables the clear thought and expression of ideas necessary for intelligent decision making in our lives.   Learning how to learn about the world is a critically important skill of great value in personal living and certainly essential in the modern workplace.

 II.                CAREER PREPARATION

The self knowledge, clear thinking, and social framework for understanding behavior and society certainly enables more intelligent personal career choices, but the skills imparted in social science education are essential for many specialized career areas.  Acquaintance with social science perspectives on human behavior and organizational structure are necessary in many, if not most careers in the post-industrial economy. Knowledge of the many nation-states with particular histories, cultures, and geography, and of the world issues generated by increasing globalization are mandatory in today’s world.  Social science education requires skill development in info-tech and modern research techniques essential in most career areas.   Human Services, Law, Health Care, Business, Criminal Justice, and Education are only a few of the fields that require extensive knowledge of the social sciences in their practice and all of their programs acknowledge and reflect this in their degree requirements.

 III.        ACTIVE PARTICIPATION IN SOCIETY 

A social science education helps us to construct a frame of reference in which we recognize ourselves as social beings in an interdependent and multicultural society and world.  A true understanding of the diversity of the human experience ironically cultivates an appreciation for our common humanity. This works to liberate us from the confines of hatred and violence and encourages an awareness of the ethical obligation to work together in commitment to the common good, free from the egoism, provincialism and prejudice that so profoundly impedes human justice and mutual well being.  Ultimately what results from this awareness is an appreciation of the urgency of action now required by the evolution of a world in which a lack of human understanding combined with enormous inequities and an awesome technology could end the brief but brilliant epoch of humankind.  None of us can achieve our personal dreams if we ignore our collective fate.

 *NOTE:

It must be understood that an exposure to social science, as a component of a general liberal arts education, represents a first step only, in a hopefully lifelong quest to attain the goals above.  We hope to nurture an awareness in students of the importance of this constant commitment and start them on this quest. To measure their attainment after a two-year exposure is a difficult, if not impossible task. We feel that it is important to state that in many ways a liberal arts education is a process of “enlightenment” in contrast to educational  “training.”  “Enlightenment” is a very personal and unique form of consciousness, immune to standardized implementation and difficult, if not impossible to assess and measure in quantitative terms.  The academic skill and career preparation components certainly can and should be evaluated in such terms, but again, the ultimate goals cannot be and any attempt to do so might not only subvert their very attainment, but in the bureaucratized process, subvert the very freedom of thought that lies at the foundation of both personal enlightenment and democratic society.

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