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The mission of the Department of Society, Culture and Languages is to offer a vigorous and exciting broad-based liberal arts education with an emphasis on cultural, global, and political dynamics.  The department provides a combination of theoretical, scientific, practical and experiential approaches to understanding and solving human problems. Issues of gender, race, class, and culture as well as hands on learning are emphasized throughout the curriculum. Our goal is to graduate students with marketable skills that prepare them for careers in a variety of public and social services and/or for graduate study in related areas.

The Bachelor of Arts in Applied Social and Cultural Studies is an interdisciplinary degree which allows students to integrate coursework from sociology, anthropology, political science, psychology, communications and other related fields of study. The major core emphasizes social science methods and ways of knowing while introducing students to a variety of social science disciplines. Within the Applied Social and Cultural Studies degree, students will also pursue a concentration in one of the three particular content areas.

In addition to the interdisciplinary approaches to the social sciences, there are two unique elements to this program. First, students complete a 120 hour internship. This helps students to: engage in experiential learning, apply social science to the real world, under take career explorations. Second, upper level students participate in a semester-long applied sociological experience. One option is an internship with a minimum of 360 hours of engagement to be selected from a variety of area schools, agencies and programs. A second option is for a student to study abroad. While studying in a foreign society and culture is important, the primary focus is for students to take courses and engage experientially in a way that helps students develop their areas of interest. There needs to be an integrated social science experience that drives the study abroad learning as well as the opportunity to explore a new society and culture for this to be a successful experience.

Overall, this program will provide students with a strong foundation for understanding today's social issues and problems. The student will also have a wide range of skills and experiences that will enhance their future educational and career opportunities as well as enable them to be a more active and aware citizen.

Applied Capstone Experiences:

1. Internship – students may take between 9 and 16 credits to complete this ACE. Students may select from over 800 sites in the departmental database. This learning opportunity should parallel the student’s concentration and help him/her to gain experience, skills and knowledge of how systems work and how to develop contacts in a given field.
2. Thesis – students may take between 9 and 16 credits to complete this ACE. The thesis should build on the work the student has done in the ASCS major and his/her chosen concentration. This academic work should prepare them for graduate study in disciplines that have been incorporated into their concentration.
3. Study Abroad – students will typically take 15-16 credits to complete a study abroad experience. While studying in a foreign society and culture is important, the primary focus is to take courses from the new institution that will help the student to develop his/her areas of interest as it relates to the major. In short, there needs to be an integrated social science experience that drives the study abroad learning as well as the opportunity to explore a new society and culture for this to be a successful experience. All study abroad experiences should first be cleared with the department chair to see if they qualify to meet the requirement for the Capstone.

Applied Conc