Plan of Study – Social Studies

A survey of the discipline of economics with special reference to a market-driven economy. Attention given to economic policy in relation to social issues and problems, including government and the quality of life, distribution of wealth and income, unemployment, poverty, the disadvantaged, respect for the law, public health, and aid to the Third World. (No credit for School of Business majors.)

Introduction to the basic concepts, terms, and methods of geography, as well as to the physical and cultural regions of the world, the United States, and the State oif Michigan. the course covers the relationship between the diversity of human societies and the physical environment.

Regional study of the earth’s realms; cultural and physical factors affecting people; effects of the demographic and industrial revolutions of the world.

Survey of major changes in the American economy, including transportation, industry, labor, finance, marketing, and environmental interactions. Role of private business and government in economic change.

American political structure to include the organization, powers, functions and services of national, state and local government and their interdependence in seeking solutions to contemporary social, economic, and political issues.

Analysis of world politics, sources of foreign policy, dynamics of the existing international system, systematic theorizing about future developments.

Political, social, economic, and cultural development of the United States; emphasis on the colonial period, the Civil War, and the rise of America to world power.

Significant people and events during Michigan’s long history, including the roles of the Native Americans, the French, the British, the Toledo War, Civil War, Michigan’s economic growth, the Great Depression, the roles of labor and minorities, and discussion of the several state constitutions.

Conflict between the revolutionary ideals of the American dream and the reality of majority-minority group relations from colonial America to the present.

Development of the United States as a world power and its impact on the social, economic, cultural, and political changes in the contemporary era.

World history from prehistoric times to c. 1500 C.E., including a study of the ancient and medieval civilizations of global culture realms.

World history in the period of European global expansion from the formation of the Spanish and Portuguese Empires in the Sixteenth Century to the end of the Napoleonic Wars, including a study of politics, culture, ideas, and religion of Europe and the World.

World history from 1789 C.E. to the present, including a study of modern global culture realms. Special attention is given to global crises and achievements, the Cold War and its aftermath, and global, political, and economic development.

Study of selected historical and political problems and themes related to modern Latin America, with attention to regional and global relationships.

Comparison of at least two of the following world religions: Africa, East Asia, Europs, Latin America, Middle East, South Asia, in terms of selected historical and political problems and themes. The course will focus on the modern period, as well as the origins of modern patterns, and the different paths to modernity in the regions chosen.