The Department of Social Sciences offers courses and majors in the realm of History and the teaching of the Social Sciences at the secondary education level. There are two areas of concentration for History Majors – teaching and non-teaching. The purpose of the department‘s course offerings in History are to 1) prepare History majors for graduate school or other related fields of employment, 2) prepare students wishing to receive a standard educator license to teach social sciences at the secondary education level. Each major offers required coursework which provides a sufficient background in specialized courses within the history curriculum and in the various social science disciplines to achieve success in either field of endeavor. Also, in conjunction with the Department of Education, and in compliance with the National Council of Social Studies Guidelines, the curriculum offers instruction in the teaching concentration with various pedagogical theories and their application to learning and materials that are used in the teaching of the social sciences.
After successfully completing a minimum of 44 semester hours, all majors wishing to pursue a license to teach social sciences at the secondary level must apply for admission to the university‘s Teacher Education program. Students wishing to obtain a license to teach social science at the secondary education level are advised that they are expected to pass the following courses in the teaching concentration of the History Program with a “C” or better in EN 111, EN 112, SA 223, and PH 132, and have an overall grade point average (G.P.A.) of 2.50. In addition, students must also successfully complete all social science courses with a grade of “C” or better, meet the requirements of the Department of Social Sciences, and pass the Social Sciences Exit Examination, Praxis I, and Praxis II examinations. Students are encouraged to follow the sequential arrangement of the curriculum for both the teaching and non-teaching concentrations of the History/Social Science Education majors.