Social Sciences

Courses

SOCS-100: Principles of Microeconomics

This is a survey course in the theory and application of microeconomics. It explores decision-making at the individual level. . The emphasis is on understanding the economic behavior of consumers and businesses. The course develops a theoretical framework for microeconomic analysis and applies this theory to domestic and international economic policy problems. Students explore topics such as competition and monopoly, pricing, consumer demand, and producer supply.

SOCS-105: Principles of Macroeconomics

This is a survey course in the theory and application of macroeconomics. The focus is on aggregate behavior, or the behavior of the economy as a whole. The student is introduced to methods of economic reasoning and the variety of ways economists develop models based on observed behavior. The focus throughout the semester will be the understanding of the relationship between economics and policy, which requires an understanding of history and institutions. The course develops a theoretical framework for macroeconomic analysis and applies this theory to domestic and international economic policy problems. Students explore topics such as unemployment, inflation, business cycles, and growth.

SOCS-110: Psychology of Human Behavior

An introduction to various schools of thought that explain why people behave the way they do. Topics covered in the course include personality, motivation, memory, learning, perception, nature, nurture, and adaptation.

SOCS-115: Social Psychology

An examination of how the behaviors, thoughts, and feelings of the individual are influenced by the presence of other persons. Topics such as attitude formation and change, altruism and aggression, interpersonal attraction and love, stereotypes and prejudice, and criminal justice and conformity will be discussed. In addition, various empirical research methods will be examined and applied to these topics.

SOCS-175: Industrial and Organizational Psychology

This course is an introduction to the major concepts of industrial and organizational psychology: the application of behavioral science research and theory to humans in the workplace. Industrial and organizational psychology is an applied behavioral science, which means that it takes research findings and theories and applies them to human behavior in the workplace. This course will explore individual behavioral patterns relative to job function, the psychological impacts of stress, the development of emotional intelligence, business anthropology's cultural impact, the dynamics of group performance, and motivational and leadership theory.

SOCS-200: Anthropology of Food

This course examines the way food is produced, prepared, exchanged, presented, and given meaning in cultures around the world both in the present day and in our archaeological past. It will examine the role of food culture in human origins and in the rise of sedentary civilization, the implication of food in culture formation and collapse, the symbolism of specific foodstuffs; who prepares food and how it is done; who feeds whom and how these relations are expressed and valued.

SOCS-205: The Archaeology of Food

Archaeologists utilize material culture to understand the lives of past and present human societies, including the ways in which humans decide what and how to eat, and the ways in which those choices impact their societies. Material culture related to food choices can give significant insight into how and when human beings evolved, spread through, and interacted with their environments and each other. The analysis of archaeological foodways reveals both practical strategies for survival and cultural norms and values, while the utilization of experimental archaeology can recreate lost foods and drinks.