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College of Social Sciences

“The World is Our Classroom”

The College of Social Sciences at Fresno State offers a broad and exciting range of majors, minors, and certificates that help us understand our world: from the study of history, political, social, and cultural issues, to projections for our future, our degree programs are designed to develop essential skills necessary to adapt to a constantly changing world and to provide leadership for the new millennium.

Students majoring in the Social Sciences can learn through practical experience. They study anthropology by conducting archeological fieldwork, and engage in sociological data analysis and geographic information tracking by working in our student computing labs. Cultural diversity is learned by projects in our African American and Chicano Research Centers or by participating in performing groups such as the folkloric dance group Los Danzantes de Aztlán. Others observe Fresno city and county board meetings, attend lectures by visiting professors, take field trips to the San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank or the Museum of Tolerance, or learn about non-profit organization management while doing community service. Some choose police ride-alongs or other internships. Whatever road they travel toward their degrees, students with a background in the Social Sciences graduate with the knowledge needed for their careers and a broader understanding of our world.

Toward Understanding our World

Understanding the world and our place in it requires a well-rounded education. The College of Social Sciences seeks to instill a concern for human values and civic responsibility and to provide substantial knowledge drawn from the social sciences. Such values and knowledge can help a student respond effectively to many challenges and opportunities. Applications of the social sciences are needed today more than ever throughout the world. Learn more about the college, its organization, and areas of study.

College Mission and Vision 

The mission of the college is to seek and impart knowledge of human social experience in all its diversity in order to educate students and benefit humanity.

Understanding the world and our place in it requires a well-rounded education. Accordingly, the college seeks to instill a concern for human values and civic responsibility and to provide substantial knowledge drawn from the social sciences. Such values and knowledge can help a student respond effectively to many challenges and opportunities. Indeed, applications of the social sciences are needed today more than ever throughout the world.

As students advance in their knowledge of societies and cultures, including their own, they learn communication skills and gain valuable understanding of people from different backgrounds. Global awareness, together with an appreciation of relationships between society and nature, is a fundamental aspect of learning in the social sciences. The college teaches students to think clearly, critically, and analytically; this allows students to engage in the solution of complex social problems. Our graduates know the worth of practical as well as professional skills. They realize that careers can be pursued successfully only with the benefit of humanistic values and social/cultural insights. The college also fosters respect for human diversity and a sense of responsibility for the enlightened stewardship of the ecosystems of which we are a part. Thus we endeavor to prepare students to adapt both wisely and resourcefully to the ever-changing world.

The College of Social Sciences offers an array of undergraduate and graduate programs from historical inquiry to projections for our future.

As a leader in liberal arts education, the College of Social Sciences provides excellent preparation for a wide range of careers in academia, government, business, and many other venues in the public and private sectors.