State/World Connections

Concentration Area for Elementary Education

Teachers need to be educating students for life in a democratic society that places high value on individual decision-making, social participation, self-determination, and citizen participation in determining public policies. Their education should prepare the students of today to become informed people who are skilled in the processes of a free society, committed to democratic values, and able and willing to participate in social, political, and economic processes.

Teachers, at the same time, need to be educating students for life in a world of ever-increasing, world-wide connections. International relationships continue to grow among the people of this planet. International concerns often dominate the attention of the state and national political, economic, and cultural leaders. This inter-connectedness (linkage, as some prefer) has many implications for teachers, particularly for teachers of social studies.

Students selecting this concentration will receive the knowledge and skills that are needed to help prepare our young citizens for dealing thoughtfully and intelligently with problems they can expect to face, given the realities of the modern world and the not totally unpredictable world of the future.

Choose 12 credits from the following courses (choose from at least 4 different areas)

Anthropology

ANTH 101  Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
ANTH 103  Archaeology and Culture
ANTH 105  Evolution of Human Behavior
ANTH 111  Global Diversity
ANTH 342  Anthropology of American Culture

Economics

ECON 116  Survey of Economic Ideas
ECON 279  Economic and Political Problems of Emerging Nations
ECON 310  Economic History of the United States

Geography

GEOG 150  Global Geography
GEOG 350  Geography of the United States and Canada
GEOG 351  Geography of Latin America and the Caribbean
GEOG 353  Geography of Indiana

History

HIST 100  Introduction to American History
HIST 198  Studies in Non-Western Civilizations
HIST 201  American History, 1492-1876
HIST 202  American History, 1877 to the Present
HIST 415  History of Indiana

Political Science

POLS 130  American National Government
POLS 237  State and Local Politics
POLS 280  Comparative Political Systems
POLS 293  International Relations
POLS 342  Problems in Public Policy

Psychology

PSYSC 100  General Psychology
PSYSC 316  Introduction to Social Psychology

Sociology

SOC 100  Principles of Sociology
SOC 421  Racial and Cultural Minorities in the United States
SOC 424  Family

Required Courses, 3 credits

          SS 392  Teaching Social Studies in the Elementary School 

For further information, contact your advisor or Ronald Morris, Department of History.