Courses being considered for the Social and Behavioral Sciences (SB) designation should deal primarily with the study of human behavior, social structures, or economics. Note: for AGSC approval, courses must be at the 100- or 200-level.
- Is this a renewal of an existing core-designated course?
- A copy of the requirements for an SB-designated course will be provided to each individual who teaches the course.
- Multiple sections taught by various instructors will all meet the minimum requirements for the SB designation described in this proposal / application.
- This course is not limited to majors in any discipline.
- This course presents the most extensive overview of the major course content available to students at The University of Alabama. No course shall carry the SB designation if its content is available in another course with greater breadth.
- The course presents the essential characteristics and basic processes of inquiry and analysis in the discipline.
- The course encourages the development of critical thinking skills and requires students to analyze, synthesize, and evaluate knowledge.
- The course considers its subject in relation and its application to human concerns.
- The course is not primarily methodological.
- The course does not focus on professional skills.
- The course is concerned primarily with social structures, processes and institutions. The majority of substantive course content deals with: (a) a highly salient institution or process of importance to a broad range of societies; or (b) complexes of institutions and processes of broad social importance.
- The course does not focus on any particular country, region, or state unless 1) the geographical unit’s history, geography, social structure, etc. is explicitly considered within the context of more general social processes, structure, and behavior. OR 2) explicit and substantial use of general social science principles and theories is made in considering the geographical unit OR 3) the unit is examined in comparative perspective; OR 4) trends, structures and processes within the unit have significantly affected Western or world civilization.
- The course deals primarily with the study of human behavior, and/or social, cultural, economic, and political developments that have molded the modern world