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Behavioral Sciences Minor

School of Arts and Sciences

The Value of a College Minor

By declaring a minor, you’ll have the opportunity to pursue interests that might lie outside of your major. Gaining extra knowledge in an area that interests you can also help you in your future career! Not only will your skills and knowledge be more well-rounded, but you’ll also prove to future employers that you’re willing to work hard and exceed their expectations.

Curriculum

  • Behavioral Sciences Minor
  • 18 Units
  • Choose 2 of the following courses:
  • ANT 364: Culture and Self
  • 3

This course will explore the relationship between individual experiences and the socio-cultural context, focusing on the role socio-cultural institutions play on personality, health, and world view.

  • ANT 435: Religion in Society
  • 3

This course will present a comparative examination of religion as an aspect of human culture and will include substantive and functional approaches to religious behavior, religion as a symbol system, ritual behavior, magic, religious movements, and paranormal phenomena. Prerequisite: ANT 210 or permission of instructor. Offered alternate years.

  • BSC 318: Linguistics
  • 3

This course will study language as a fundamental component of human beings by examining the link between experience, culture, and language through the investigation of how language communicates, changes, and is used strategically to accomplish social ends.

  • Choose 2 of the following courses:
  • PSY 345: Social Psychology
  • 3

The effect of social influences upon the development of personality and behavior patterns will be examined in this course including socialization, attitude formation and change, communication, propaganda, roles and stereotypes, leadership, and collective behavior.

  • PSY 371: Cognition
  • 3

This theoretical and research-based course will investigate the mental processes that underlie perception, imagery, attention, memory, language, reading, reasoning, decision making, and problem solving.

  • PSY 403: Health Psychology
  • 3

Unlike traditional models and schools of thought that see diseases solely as malfunctions of organs or breakdowns of body systems, this course will present the approach that health and illness are parts of a complex interplay among biological, psychological, and social factors.

  • Choose 2 of the following courses:
  • SOC 321: Social Problems
  • 3

As an introduction to the major problems in contemporary America, this course will focus on the causes, theoretical explanations, and social policy solutions including economic, political, urbanization, environmental, family and educational problems; child abuse; social deviance; crime; delinquency; and drug, alcohol, and tobacco abuse.

  • SOC 320: Social Stratification
  • 3

This course will introduce the sources, functions, and dynamics of the unequal distribution of wealth, power, knowledge, and prestige in an historical, comparative perspective.

  • SOC 461: Social Theory
  • 3

This course will examine selected social theories and theorists and the history and development of social theory including the following: the formulation and evaluation of social theories such as social systems, evolutionary, formal, phenomenological, symbolic interaction, social action, and exchange theories; sociology of knowledge; and functionalism. Offered alternate years.

Note: Students who select the Behavioral Sciences minor are recommended to take ANT 210, PSY 101 or SOC 101 in Enduring Questions & Ideas (GE).

Current students, please note: The requirements listed here may not reflect the most current courses for this minor and may not be the requirements for the catalog year you are following to complete your minor. Please refer to the Academic Catalog for official requirements you must meet to qualify.

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