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The General Social Science Major

Required Courses

See the major worksheet for graduation requirements. 

  • Social Science 300–a required course–is only offered in the fall.
  • You may propose your own clusters to the director of the program. Your clusters must be on two different topics. Each cluster must focus on a coherent topic. The courses must be social science courses.

You can see an example breakdown of courses year-by-year at SDSU’s MyMap.

Track your progress: go to my.SDSU and select “Degree Evaluation.”

Why These Courses

The major:

  1. Exposes you to the gamut of social sciences.
  2. Develops your ability to analyze topics from multiple disciplinary perspectives.
  3. Gives you the flexibility to study topics you are passionate about.

The lower-division requirements introduce you to at least three of the disciplines that constitute the social sciences. These courses will give you a sense of the problems these disciplines study.

Methods and theory courses teach you about how social scientists analyze the problems they study. One of those courses, Social Science 300, is the one course all our general majors take together. It gives you a broad overview of the social sciences, including their key ideas and research methods.

  • We recommend you take Social Science 300 (offered in the fall only) at the start of your junior year, after you have fulfilled your general education requirements and the major’s lower-division requirements. 

The major also requires you to focus on two clusters to develop advanced knowledge about topics that you care about. It also helps you see the range of approaches to analyzing those topics. The major worksheet suggests common clusters, but you can also propose your own clusters for approval by the Director of Social Science.

Degree Learning Outcome 1

  • Apply Social Science theory to social, political, and economic problems.

Degree Learning Outcome 2

  • Present and synthesize divergent and/or opposing viewpoints on a given social, political, or economic issue.

Degree Learning Outcome 3

  • Identify key disciplinary concepts in the student’s chosen specialization.

Degree Learning Outcome 4

  • Identify different theoretical approaches in the student’s chosen specialization.

Degree Learning Outcome 5

  • Identify how social, political, and economic institutions influence individual behavior.

Degree Learning Outcome 6

  • Use the scientific method to understand causal forces behind social, political, and economic phenomenon.

Degree Learning Outcome 7

  • Employ different analytic techniques to find patterns in data and answer research questions.

Degree Learning Outcome 8

  • Recognize cultural diversity and analyze how it impacts social, political, and economic processes.

Degree Learning Outcome 9

  • Locate, utilize, and properly cite scholarly and popular sources of information.

Degree Learning Outcome 10

  • Formulate and defend coherent written arguments with effective support and evidence.

Degree Learning Outcome 11

  • Formulate and defend coherent arguments orally, as well as adapting and refining them in an interactive context.

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