For students wishing to engage in the important work of helping people, Family Social Science is a major of choice. Giving counsel and understanding is highlighted by an academic foundation in examining families from diverse backgrounds and vantage points. Topics of interest in this major include marriage, divorce, economic well-being, financial counseling, social justice, family policy, gender, sexual orientation, addiction, and aging, just to name a few.
Students work with a faculty adviser to design a families-oriented area of study that focuses on the particular interests of students. These advanced areas integrate other course offerings within the university in terms of issues, populations, complimentary disciplines, and skill areas.
Complementary disciplines are represented by courses from social psychology, public health, education, sociology, psychology, educational psychology, or social work. Skill areas may be family research, advocacy, counseling, international assistance or public development.
Qualified graduates of the program may continue their education through graduate study in family social science, child and human development, social work or other allied health disciplines.
Coursework is enriched through a supervised student-selected field experience, designed to acquaint students with the range of problems and issues that families experience as well as ways in which the community is organized to address them. The program educates students for beginning work in the human services field and also serves as an excellent preparation for graduate work in family science.
Graduates are placed in career-relevant positions at a very high rate. Recent graduates obtained employment in over 60 different job positions ranging from parent educator and admissions counselor to Peace Corps volunteer and social service agency staff member.
|
