Social Sciences Course Highlights

Broaden your understanding of power, markets and economic thinking.  Learn about the historical evolution of the economy and the economic impact of key historical events.  Enhance your grasp of the impact of key governmental and societal institutions on businesses.  Improve your comprehension of the role of spatial analysis in understanding markets and culture.  Explore the effects of business decisions on communities and the ways in which businesses can help address societal inequities.

Discover interconnections among technology, the environment, physical and human space, and culture.  Explore the impact of government on innovation and the ways in which technological change affects governance.  Consider how power relationships among major societal institutions affect technological change.  Understand technology's impact on urban growth and decline.  Examine the historical impacts of technological change on societal well-being.

Gain a new perspective--historical, economic, political, geographic, urban/regional--on phenomena you've studied in your major courses.  Appreciate the complementary nature of Social Sciences majors and your chosen field of study.

Fulfill certification requirements and enrich the perspectives that you bring to the classroom to optimize student learning.

Enhance your understanding of the links between public policy and health and human service (HHS)  phenomena.  Grasp the value of spatial analysis in examining and resolving HHS problems.  Learn about the role of historical events and cultural change in creating, changing, and resolving HHS issues.  Consider the relationship among HHS phenomena, economic cycles, and market structure.  Learn about the economics of the healthcare sector.  Study the inter-relationships of urban form, urban change, and HHS issues.

Make yourself a more well-rounded individual capable of stimulating conversation; critical thinking and analysis; insightful commentary; thinking big, bold thoughts; and improving our world.

Who holds power in the U.S. and world?  How did they get and use their power?  How do power dynamics affect major societal institutions, such as government, businesses, schools, universities, and philanthropic organizations?  How does this relate to key societal values, like justice, equity, and liberty?  These are the types of questions we explore in Political Science courses.  

How are humans affected by physical space?  How do they affect it?  How does the physical landscape constrain or enable behavior that benefits society?  How are social problems spatially organized? How is our physical environment changing:  Geography integrating concepts and perspectives of multiple disciplines to answer these types of questions.  It helps us better understand the interactive relationship between people and place.  

What can the past tell us about where we are today and where we may be tomorrow?  How do you obtain an accurate understanding of the past?  What do we know about the major causes of societal change over time?  How and why have institutions changed, and how does that affect us?  How does considering the context of time and place help us understand complex social phenomena?  These are the types of questions you can begin to answer through History courses. 

Economics examines fundamental questions regarding how society allocates scarce resources.  It helps you understand the motivations and behavior of individuals, firms, industries, and countries as they seek to maximize their well-being.  By studying economics, you can better understand how markets function, or do not, and how the economy and economic thinking affect countless aspects of society.

Metro Detroit epitomizes the successes and failures of urbanization in America.  Living here brings you face-to-face with the challenges emerging from our historical development patterns, but so many of urbanization's effects remain unnoticed or difficult to comprehend.  Urban and Regional Studies courses enable students to take a step back and explore broad questions about how urbanization has affected and is affected by geography, politics, culture, economics, and other key forces.  The program integrates approaches from multiple disciplines--economics, history, geography, political science, sociology, and anthropology, to name a few--to give you a broad perspective on the dynamics and outcomes of urbanization.  You'll learn of the fundamental links between urbanization and critical issue, such as poverty, race relations, equity, economic growth, innovation, art, and mobility.