Feb 14, 2025  
2024-2025 Undergraduate Catalog 
    
2024-2025 Undergraduate Catalog

Humanities and Social Sciences Department


Chairperson: Jessica Gracey

Faculty: Clay Awsumb, Ethan Bottone, Luke Campbell, Kimberly Casey, Brett Chloupek, Richard Field, Elyssa Ford, Dawn Gilley, Bronson Herrera, Brian Hesse, Ming-Chih Hung, Jesse Lane, Chanwoo Jin, Matthew Johnson, Mariliz Kastberg-Leonard, Sarah Naramore, Devlin Scofield, Travis Surprise, Kamala Tabor, Dana Ternus, Robert Voss, Yi-Hwa Wu

Statement of Mission

The Department of Humanities and Social Sciences includes the disciplinary areas of criminology, geography, geographic information science, history, humanities, military science, philosophy, political science, social science education, and emergency and disaster management, thus serving a kaleidoscope of constituencies on campus. Throughout the department, academic experiences that embrace broad, general, liberal education as well as applied skills encourage students to be inquisitive, creative, and imaginative as well as functional. The department strives to prepare students to be adaptable and flexible in their occupational and professional pursuits but ever cognizant of and responsible to the human and environmental conditions. The disciplines represented by the department should serve as a foundation upon which every person bases his or her professional career as well as being integral to their lives and the lives of those around them.

Degree Programs

The Department of Humanities and Social Sciences offers seven majors, twelve minors, and certification in middle and secondary school social sciences.

The Bachelor of Science in Criminology (63 hours) is an interdisciplinary program and is a comprehensive study of crime and its victims. The Criminology program prepares students for a broad range of careers such as law enforcement, victim advocacy, offender rehabilitation, and mediation.

The Bachelor of Science in Emergency and Disaster Management (37 hours) uses a multidisciplinary approach to study crisis, drawing from courses and faculty in communications, geography, psychology, and social sciences. In addition to the crisis management core, multiple options, and electives within those options, provide flexibility so that students can tailor the major to their individual and specific academic and professional needs. This approach provides the student with both theoretical and practical knowledge that is valued in the public, private, and non-profit sectors.

The comprehensive Bachelor of Arts (69 hours) and Bachelor of Science (69 hours) degrees in General Studies provide a broad education across the many disciplines in the university. The program emphasizes fundamental skills in critical thinking, problem-solving, and communication within the context of the core disciplines that comprise the major. The program is designed to be adaptable to the needs of the student by providing the opportunity to take additional electives in any of the discipline areas but still leaving enough room for further study in a particular area.

The Bachelor of Science (39 hours) degree in Geography provides students the opportunity to prepare themselves to pursue positions in government, business, education, urban and regional planning, environmental analysis, and natural resource management.

The Bachelor of Arts (36 hours) and Bachelor of Science in History (39 hours) provide a traditional liberal arts program and prepares students for careers in such diverse areas as government, public service, business and industry, archives, museums, historical preservation, writing, and research.

A Bachelor of Science in Education degree in Social Studies: History (51 hours) draws upon economics, geography, government, history, and sociology in providing preparation for teaching social studies. This major must be completed as a part of the B.S.Ed. degree, Secondary Education Program, thus meeting Missouri teacher certification standards for social studies grades 9-12, as well as preparing the student to become a facilitator for lifelong learning in a world of diversity and change. This is a comprehensive major; no minor is required. However, students are free to complete a minor in another field appropriate to the B.S.Ed. degree, Secondary Program, if seeking another teaching area.

The Bachelor of Arts (36 hours) and Bachelor of Science (45 hours) degrees in Political Science introduce the student to the decision-making processes that guide, direct, and determine a society’s behavior. Courses focus on the politics and administration of government and factors involved in the competition for political power. The political science program prepares students for a number of careers as well as advanced study in law, municipal planning, city management, urban affairs, education, and public policy analysis.

Minors are available in the areas of liberal arts and sciences, geography, geospatial technology, history, public history and museum studies, criminology, criminal justice, political science, public administration, international relations, emergency and disaster management, emergency services, international humanitarian operations, and diversity, equity, and inclusion. These minor programs assist students interested in a variety of careers, including museum studies, archives, historic preservation, national park service, law enforcement, juvenile justice, theology, crisis management, business, and graduate studies.

Test-Out Policy

Credit by examination through the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences is not available for courses in this catalog.

Department Policies

All students selecting majors or minors in this department must have a departmental advisor from the appropriate area who shall approve all programs, deviations or options. An advisement file shall be maintained on each major as well as for each minor. Advanced standing requirements for each of the majors in the department are indicated preceding each major.

Departmental Subject Areas

Criminology / 46, Emergency & Disaster Management / 36, Geography / 32, History / 33, Humanities / 26, Military Science / 42, Political Science / 34

Geography

Internship and Independent Study

Students may apply for no more than six credit hours of combined internship and independent study hours toward their major requirements.

Major/Minor Shared Core Requirements

For students who have a major in Geography and a minor in Geospatial Technology, only the Maps and Spatial Reasoning course may be counted toward both the major and minor.

Military Science

Faculty Liaison to Military Science: Travis Surprise

The Missouri Army National Guard Show Me GOLD (Guard Officer Leadership Development) Program is a pre-Officer Candidate School preparation program. Students may use their Military Science Credits to pursue a Military Science academic minor. GOLD Program students are officer candidates.

Army National Guard GOLD Program

Northwest offers the Guard Officer Leadership Development Program on the Maryville campus. The Show Me GOLD Program is an officer candidate school preparation program resulting in a commission as a second lieutenant in the Army National Guard. Students enlist in the Army National Guard and attend basic and advanced individual training. They are then attached to the Northwest GOLD Detachment where they take military science courses on the Maryville Campus from Army National Guard instructors. Between their junior and senior year, student officer candidates then attend the accelerated National Guard Officer Candidate School where upon completion they are commissioned as second lieutenants in the Army Guard. The students then return to Northwest to complete their degrees. While completing their degrees, the GOLD Lieutenants fulfill their military duties working with the GOLD Program. GOLD Program students may apply their military science coursework toward a minor in Military Science.

GOLD Financial Assistance

The Missouri National Guard pays GOLD officer candidates monthly pay equivalent to monthly drill pay based on the candidate’s military pay grade. The Missouri National Guard also has substantial financial assistance for all Guardsmen in the form of the GI Bill and tuition assistance programs.

GOLD Requirements

GOLD officer candidates are already qualified National Guard Soldiers. The GOLD officer instructor determines the required military science courses for each candidate necessary to prepare them for Officer Candidate School. GOLD officer candidates desiring a minor in Military Science must complete the course requirements for the minor listed later in this section.

Financial Assistance

Financial assistance is available through the U.S. Army Scholarship Program. Two- and three-year scholarships are awarded each year to selected students who are enrolled or will enroll in the program. The scholarships provide payment directly to the college for applicable tuition and fees. Each student receives a textbook allowance of $1,200 annually paid in two increments of $600. In addition, a tiered monthly tax-free stipend is paid directly to the student for the duration of the scholarship, not to exceed 10 months for each year of the scholarship. These scholarships are available for both undergraduate and graduate students. Non-scholarship contracted cadets in the advanced course also receive the tiered monthly tax-free stipend, not to exceed 10 months per year for two years. Students are furnished free textbooks for military science classes.

The tiered stipend pay is: first year contracted cadets MSI, $300; second year MSII, $350; third year MSIII, $450; and 4th year MSIV, $500; per month not to exceed 10 months of the year.

Programs

    MajorsMinorsCertificateCore RequirementsCertificationsOther Programs