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Florida State University 2008-2009 General Bulletin Undergraduate Edition

College of Social Sciences

Dean: David W. Rasmussen; Associate Deans: Robert E. Crew, Jr., Graham C. Kinloch

The University established social sciences as a separate college in 1973. The departments and programs that make up the college date from the earliest days of the University.

Students in the college excel in all aspects of University life. Graduates of the college have won some of the most prestigious academic awards available to undergraduate students, including the Truman, Cooke Foundation, and Rhodes Scholarships. Twenty-one students from the social sciences have served as president of student government. Our graduates have been ambassadors, senators, governors, and corporate CEOs, and have excelled in virtually all areas of the government, academic, non-profit, and private sectors.

The college's faculty teach courses and do research related to every socio-economic and political issue that confronts the United States at home and abroad. Among the distinguished faculty are nine eminent scholar chairs: the Mildred and Claude Pepper Eminent Scholar Chair in Social Gerontology, Jerry Collins Eminent Scholar Chair in Public Administration, Reubin O'D. Askew Eminent Scholar Chair in Florida Government and Politics, Rod and Hope Brim Eminent Scholar Chair in Economics, DeVoe Moore Eminent Scholar Chair in Economics, John and Hallie Quinn Eminent Scholar Chair for the Renewal of American Heritage and American Free Enterprise, Gus Stavros Eminent Scholar Chair in Economic Education, LeRoy Collins Eminent Scholar Chair in Civic Education, and Syde P. Deeb Eminent Scholar Chair in Political Science. A significant number of other faculty have been honored with named professorships because of their outstanding teaching and important research contributions.

Study in social science develops knowledge of people and society. Critical issues facing the United States and the world in the 21st century are the subject matter of our college. Here, critical thinking, analytical methods, and empirical skills are used to understand the key political, social, and economic issues that dominate our public discussions. Our subject matter helps the student understand those aspects of the basic liberal arts that deal with the individual in social context. This understanding includes the role of social diversity, such as the complex world of foreign cultures, the wide range of cultural experiences represented in the United States, and the value of recognizing these differences in one's own intellectual growth. The social sciences also foster analytical and critical thinking to better equip the individual to live in and understand our increasingly complex society. Finally, the social sciences help students explain different political, social, cultural, and economic structures, their importance, and the basis for their change and growth.

Programs and Structure

The College of Social Sciences focuses upon both basic knowledge and the application of that knowledge to policy questions and public affairs. In applied policy, the college's interests center on regional, national, and international affairs, and it has a particular interest in state issues, befitting the University's location in the capital of the state of Florida.

The college consists of one school, the Reubin O'D. Askew School of Public Administration and Policy; five departments: Economics, Geography, Political Science, Sociology, and Urban and Regional Planning; a number of research units: the Pepper Institute on Aging and Public Policy, the Center for Demography and Population Health, the DeVoe L. Moore and Family Center for the Study of Critical Issues in Economic Policy and Government, the Collins Center for Public Policy, the Stavros Center for Economic Education, and the Florida Public Affairs Center; and interdisciplinary programs in Asian Studies, African-American Studies, Social Science, International Affairs, Law and Society, Environmental Studies, Russian and East European Studies, Public Health, and Demography.

The instruction offered by the college meets a variety of needs within the University. Social science is a component of the liberal studies and Honors programs, and each of the departments offering a bachelor's degree has course offerings in liberal studies and Honors. The social sciences residential program in public and international affairs also helps students develop the critical capacities necessary for active participation in the affairs of the state, the nation, and the international community. The college offers nine programs of study for the bachelor's degree, with departmental majors in economics and applied economics, geography, political science, and sociology, and interdisciplinary programs in African-American studies, Asian studies, environmental studies, international affairs, Russian and East European studies, and social science (which is offered interactively and in traditional classroom formats). In addition to these programs, undergraduate minors are offered in African-American studies, law and society, public administration, and urban and regional planning. Many students in other colleges of the University are either required to take some courses in the college as part of their program of study (e.g., all College of Business majors take two courses in economics) or choose to do so as part of their electives. The college encourages and welcomes diversity in student background in its courses. Finally, the college has a large graduate program, offering the master's degree in 15 areas, the doctor of philosophy in six fields, and six graduate certificates. For details of graduate programs of the college, refer to the University's Graduate Bulletin.

The college views its role in undergraduate education as having at least three main parts. First, in its contributions to liberal studies and its courses taken by students as electives, the primary objective is to introduce students to the methods and modes of thought of the social sciences. Second, in its undergraduate degree programs, the college seeks to prepare its students both to be responsible and informed citizens with an appreciation of how the world works and to be ready for employment. Third, the college seeks to prepare students for further study in the social sciences or professional schools. Each undergraduate program has a faculty member as director, and academic advice is provided by the faculty. Professional academic advisers and peer advisers located in the college's student academic affairs office assist undergraduates with academic advising, career counseling, and graduation checks. The college actively participates in the liberal studies honors program and offers honors in the major in all of its programs. The College of Social Sciences' Residential Program in Public and International Affairs provides opportunities for students to take courses on a variety of topics related to government and public policy. Participants involved in this living and learning community benefit from a variety of academic and social enrichments and enjoy interaction with their instructors and fellow students.

The Reubin O'D. Askew School of Public Administration and Policy, the Departments of Economics, Geography, and Political Science, and the Interdisciplinary Programs in International Affairs and Social Science offer internship programs for qualified undergraduates. Some are open not only to majors, but to other students who meet the programs' criteria (see relevant entries in this General Bulletin for details). The University's location in the state capital provides excellent opportunities for internships.

All departments and programs in the college engage in contract and grant research, and there are often opportunities for work-study employment for qualified undergraduates either on outside-funded research or on University-funded activities.

The college regularly sends faculty and students to the University's London Study Center, the Florence Study Center, and other international programs throughout the world. A semester in either the London or Florence center will usually fit into a student's program of study without delaying graduation and is very appropriate to most of the college's undergraduate programs. Other international activities include studies at the University of Costa Rica, the Republic of Panama, Japan, and the Netherlands. Students may take courses leading to the Interdisciplinary Social Science degree interactively through an agreement between Florida State University and 16 community colleges across Florida.

Requirements

Undergraduate majors enter the college either from the University's Division of Undergraduate Studies or as junior-level transfers from other institutions or other colleges within the University. The economics program is a limited access program, and students wishing to major in economics should consult the "Department of Economics" entry in this General Bulletin for specific entry requirements. Students in good standing (i.e., with a GPA of 2.0 or better) and eligible for upper division may declare other non-limited access majors within the college. Most majors do have some required or recommended courses that are advisable to take in lower-division study. In addition, all majors will be subject to mapping beginning Fall 2007. For more information, please go to http://www.academic-guide.fsu.edu/. It is therefore useful for potential majors to consult the relevant program entry in this General Bulletin well before they become juniors or enter the college.

General Requirements

1. Compliance with general University regulations governing baccalaureate degrees;
2. For the bachelor of arts degree, completion of the special University-wide requirements for that degree;
3. Completion of a major and a minor, with the exception that interdepartmental majors, international affairs, environmental studies, African-American studies, Russian and East European studies, Asian studies, and interdisciplinary social science do not require completion of a minor;
4. Not more than two (2) semester hours in physical education activities may count toward the minimum credit-hour requirements for the baccalaureate degree. The limitation on applied music credit is not enforced on majors in the college with a music minor; and,
5. International affairs, Asian studies and Russian and East European studies majors must meet University foreign language requirements in a relevant language whether they wish to receive a BA or a BS. The African-American studies major has a BA track in which the foreign language requirement must be met. Other majors in the college have no foreign language requirement if the student wishes to receive a BS.

Majors. Each candidate for the baccalaureate degree must complete major requirements in one of the departmental or interdepartmental programs listed below. The major consists of thirty to forty-two (30–42) semester hours. For specific requirements, refer to the individual departments in this General Bulletin.

Departmental Majors. Economics and applied economics, geography, political science and sociology.

Interdepartmental Majors. African-American studies, Asian studies, international affairs, environmental studies, interdisciplinary social science, Russian and East European studies.

Minors. Each candidate for the baccalaureate degree must complete a minor, unless he or she is pursuing an interdepartmental major. The minor may be taken in a program offered through the College of Social Sciences or through another college of the University. Minors are offered in the programs that offer majors, as well as public administration, law and society, and urban and regional planning. There is no minor in interdisciplinary social science. Students should consult their academic advisers on the choice of appropriate minor(s).

The minor will consist of at least twelve (12) semester hours that meet both the requirements of the program offering the minor and the minor requirements of the student's major.

Work used in meeting minimal requirements for liberal studies or a foreign language requirement for the bachelor of arts degree may not be used for the minor. Generally, work used to complete the major may not also count for a minor. Students should consult their academic adviser.

Consult program and departmental entries in this General Bulletin for specific minor requirements.

Double Majors

Many students take two majors, i.e., a double major, rather than a major and a minor, and an increasing number of students follow this route to the baccalaureate degree. For a double major, the student must meet the program requirements of both majors, with the following exceptions: 1) The second major can count as the minor for the first major, and vice versa; and 2) If one of the majors is an interdepartmental major, semester hours in excess of thirty (30) taken for the interdepartmental major may be counted toward the minimum requirements of the second major. The second major may be taken in a college other than the College of Social Sciences.

Preparation for the Study of Law

Many of the college's graduates enter law school. There are no required courses for admission to law schools, and law schools advise strongly against attempts to construct "prelaw" majors. Appropriate law school preparatory study is, thus, very flexible, and all of the college's undergraduate majors are appropriate. Students intending to apply to law school may consult their undergraduate program director or the college's academic support program coordinator.

Preparation for a Teaching Career

In order to teach in the state of Florida, a student must complete a teacher preparation program. The teacher education program may be combined with a baccalaureate degree from the college; however, students must formally apply and be admitted to teacher education, administered through the College of Education's Office of Student Services, 108 Stone Building. Admission to teacher education is distinct from admission to a college or undergraduate major, and has different admission criteria. For details, consult the "College of Education" chapter of this General Bulletin. Undergraduates who may wish to teach should consider taking teacher education simultaneously with their major programs.

Honors in the Major

The College of Social Sciences offers honors in the major in all of the college's programs. For requirements and other information, see the "University Honors Office and Honor Societies" chapter of this General Bulletin.

Dean's List

Students in good standing who in any term carry a full-time course load of twelve (12) or more graded semester hours with a term GPA of 3.5 or better earn the distinction of being on the dean's list.

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