The Donald Everett Axinn Division of Social Sciences

Southern Vermont College offers the following degrees and minors in The Donald Everett Axinn Division of Social Sciences:

Criminal Justice (Associate in and Bachelor of Science)
History and Politics (Bachelor of Science)
Psychology (Bachelor of Science)
Minors

The Mission

The Southern Vermont College Donald Everett Axinn Division of Social Sciences focuses on the social, psychological and political aspects of human beings. An understanding of social structure and the contribution of the individual is emphasized within the Division. Building on a strong liberal arts foundation, study in each of the majors provides students with preparation for both professional employment and graduate study. Students majoring in The Donald Everett Axinn Division of Social Sciences are encouraged to pursue service-learning as part of their course work. In this way, students will recognize the connection between their academic work and their role as citizens in a democratic society.

The Curriculum

The curriculum for each of this Division's majors includes in-depth course work in a professional area and hands-on experiences through practicum. The curriculum provides an understanding of theory and opportunities to put theory into practice. Each major includes a Capstone course where students will demonstrate their understanding of their area of study.

Through its curriculum, this Division intends to further develop the seven core competencies in each student—oral communication, reading, writing, information literacy, critical and creative thinking, ethics and global citizenship.

social sciences communication requirement

All majors in the Division emphasize the critical-thinking process and the clear communication of the outcome of that process. All courses within the division have a writing component designed to teach students how to successfully use existing research and literature to support their thoughts and positions. Students will complete writing assignments appropriate to the course level. Each 200-level course will require students to write descriptively about topics. There will be short, regular writing assignments, essays on exams and a short research paper. Literature review in 300-level courses will emphasize analysis and building an argument with regular writing assignments, essay exams and a research paper. All 400-level courses will continue this emphasis on writing while requiring students to take and defend positions on controversial issues in the social sciences using the primary literature. All assignments will emphasize APA style.

Students are also expected to be effective oral communicators. Many courses include assignments that require students to present material orally using PowerPoint and/or other presentation media.

Career Opportunities and Graduate Study

Depending on their major, students are prepared to enter careers in fields such as human services; human services management; federal, state, and local law enforcement; education; government service; nonprofit organizations; and business. Students are also prepared for graduate study in psychology, social work, and criminal justice and for law school.