Welcome to the Social Sciences Division

What are the Social Sciences?

It is difficult to define in a simple way the social sciences largely because the social sciences encompass a variety of subject matter or foci and a multiplicity of methods. At its broadest, the focus of the social sciences is “society” or the elements of the world that are created by human beings. More particularly the social sciences investigate the economy, human behavior, and social and political institutions. Its methods include ethnography and qualitative analyses, scientific methodologies, quantitative methods and statistics, history, and philosophy.

Social Sciences are a core part of the liberal arts for they offer a unique and established vantage point for understanding our world and they use multidisciplinary methodologies. This is in addition to honing the skills all liberal arts courses should provide such as research, analytical thinking, written and oral communication, problem solving, and creativity.