B.S. Social Sciences Program Information

This course prepares students to be successful lifelong learners both academically and in their chosen careers. Franklin courses require a high level of self-directed learning and focus on the skills required in the workplace and the classroom that are easily transferrable between the two environments. The course includes strategies for time management, goal setting, reading comprehension, and advancing communication skills, including the use of electronic tools to participate in virtual environments.

This course prepares students to be successful lifelong learners both academically and in their chosen careers. Franklin courses require a high level of self-directed learning and focus on the skills required in the workplace and the classroom that are easily transferable between the two environments. The course includes strategies for advancing communication skills, including the use of electronic tools to participate in virtual environments. The assignments and activities in the course are created to closely simulate teamwork found in the workplace.

By using applied critical and creative thinking, students in this course will develop a set of communication skills that will enhance their personal and professional relationships and endeavors. This course will focus on skill development in key areas such as self, perception, listening, verbal messages, conversations, relationships, conflict management, persuasion, and presentation skills.

This basic public-speaking course intends to improve the student's ability to think critically and to communicate orally. Theory and practice are provided in various speaking situations. Each student is required to speak before an audience, but class work also involves reading, gathering and organizing information, writing, and listening.

This course focuses on using spreadsheets to solve business problems.

This course exposes students to the principles, concepts, research methods, and applications of cultural anthropology. Students will be introduced to the wide range of variation in social and institutional arrangements found historically and cross-culturally. From language to gender roles, from bases of social stratification to causes and consequences of conformity, from the simpler life in foraging societies to the seeming-chaos in modern post-industrial societies: students will examine the enormous variation in solutions to the requisites of social life.

This is an introductory course designed to expose students to the various Major elements of the criminal justice system (police, courts, and corrections). Students will learn about the ways in which the various systems interact, the processing of offenders, the various forms of punishment and the alternatives to punishment. The future of the criminal justice system will also be discussed.

An introduction to economic theory involving the examination of how decision making by firms and individuals is shaped by economic forces. Emphasis is placed on demand, supply, market equilibrium analysis, and basic market structure models. The invisible hand as the driving force for economic decisions as well as market externalities are discussed. The class concentrates on providing a balanced approach to studying economic agents' behavior and the global implications and outcomes.

An introduction to economic theory involving the basic underlying causes and principles of the operation of an economic system. Emphasis is placed on studying the economy as a whole. Issues of inflation, unemployment, taxation, business cycles and growth are discussed in the context of the global economic system.

The course examines the complex political and legal environment of public administration. Students learn how politics, law, and the structure and principles of American government impact citizens, public policy, and the administration of public and nonprofit organizations. Students apply fundamental political theories and administrative law principles in administrative contexts. Students pursuing the Public Administration major should take this course prior to beginning their specialization course work.

Sociology is the scientific study of group behavior - whether the groups are dyads, small groups, associations, bureaucracies, societies, publics, aggregates, social movements, or mobs, etc. This introductory course introduces the student to sociological principles and theoretical perspectives that facilitate understanding the norms, values, structure, and process of the various types of groups into which people organize. The course focuses on applying the scientific method to studying social problems (e.g. poverty, crime, sexism, and racism) and basic institutions (i.e. family, government, economy, religion, education). Students will develop their "sociological imagination" as a way of understanding what their lives are and can be in relation to the larger social forces at work in local, national, and international environments.

The course examines current theories and best practices of working collaboratively in professional contexts. Students apply these concepts to analyze their own work experience, generating strategies for how to improve their performance in work groups. Students will learn basic project management skills and work in online virtual teams to complete a final communication project.

Applied Research Methods introduces students to the basic research designs and data collection techniques involved in human subjects? research common to social research environments. After completion of this course, the student should know the basics of social research ethics, the steps of the research process, the strengths and weaknesses of selected types of qualitative and quantitative research strategies, issues of selecting or creating and refining instruments of measurement, how to properly select an appropriate sample of subjects, and how to interpret selected statistical measures utilized in hypothesis testing.

The goal of this course is to help you sharpen your critical thinking skills by covering key principles of knowledge, reasoning, and evidence. You will be introduced to the characteristics, methodology, and limitations of science in contrast to other alleged sources of knowledge like faith, intuition, mysticism, perception, introspection, memory, and reason. You will discover how to apply these valuable principles to your studies and everyday life, learning how to overcome obstacles to critical thinking and how to avoid being deceived by means of bogus sciences and extraordinary claims.

Creativity and innovation are essential for organizations to thrive. Design thinking has become central to problem solving in our organizations and our communities. In this course, you will explore and expand your own creativity through a self-selected project and apply design thinking to a specific organizational or community-based issue. This course includes concrete exercises to reignite imagination and encourage creative problem solving and creative thinking.

This course provides a culminating, integrative experience for all Psychology and Social Sciences majors. The purpose is to provide an opportunity for students to demonstrate their mastery of the learning outcomes associated with the major. Students will self-select a practicum field experience that can be completed within the duration of the course that will provide evidence of their subject matter learning, as well as provide a benefit to themselves and a participating organization.

This course provides a culminating, integrative experience for all Psychology and Social Science majors. The purpose is to provide an opportunity for students to demonstrate their mastery of the learning outcomes associated with the major. Students will self-select a capstone project that can be completed within the duration of the course that will provide evidence of their subject matter learning as well as provide a benefit to themselves and a participating organization.

This is an advanced composition course focusing on writing for business and professional purposes. Students will review the writing conventions commonly expected within business and professional environments, as well as strategies for analyzing rhetorical situations within those environments. Coursework includes analysis, revision, and research exercises, as well as substantial practice in composing business correspondence. The final project is an extensive, researched business proposal developed in stages and presented to the class. Students will be encouraged to relate course materials to their major programs and workplace experiences.

This is an intermediate course focusing on the composition of research papers. Students in this course prepare to be active participants in professional discourse communities by examining and practicing the writing conventions associated with their own fields of study and work. By calling attention to the conventions of disciplinary writing, the course also prepares students for upper-division college writing and the special conventions of advanced academic discourse. Course activities include three extended research papers, semi-formal writing addressing interdisciplinary communication, and readings fostering critical engagement with disciplinary conversations.