This undergraduate degree provides the student an opportunity to gain a broad understanding of the social sciences. It helps to understand people and their society while building analytical and critical thinking skills.

The primary focus is Jeffersonian in nature — to educate students for citizenship by understanding the society we live in, explaining the behavior of groups of people and institutions, and informing about the essential human values that influence the course of societies. Such knowledge gives students a better understanding of themselves and today's world, how the society evolved to its present state, and how they can have an effect on the future world we live in.

Degree Requirements

The basic requirements for earning the undergraduate interdisciplinary social science degree include:

• 42 semester hours which include 9 semester hours in courses that satisfy the liberal studies requirement and work in three social sciences departments.
• A primary concentration of 18 semester hours in one department.
• A secondary concentration of 12 semester hours in a second department.
• 12 semester hours distributed among any remaining social science departments.

The eligible social science departments include:

• Economics
• Political Science
• Urban and Regional Planning
• Anthropology
• Geography
• Sociology
• History
• Public Administration

In addition, undergraduate concentrations may be taken in:

• Environmental Studies
• Law and Society
• Urban Studies
• Public Service

Students may also earn their BS in Interdisciplinary Social Science through distance learning.