Major Requirements

Geographic Information Systems Requirements

Credits Required: 

Total semester credits: 120

Semester credits in the major: 43

You officially begin the major by co-enrolling in SBS 300: Major/ProSem:Theo/Meth/SBS and SBS 300L: Professional Skills Soc Sci. In SBS 300L: Professional Skills Soc Sci, you will create an Individual Learning Plan (ILP) tailored to your personal academic and career goals. Then you will complete a curriculum designed to meet four Major Learning Outcomes (MLOs).  This curriculum includes a set of broad courses that integrate all the social sciences, and a set of focused courses for a concentration or a minor consisting of 20 units in a specific social science discipline. SBS majors may complete their upper-division service learning requirement by taking any 300 or 400-level SBS course with an "S" designation.  In two seminars ( SBS 400: Senior Capstone Seminar I and SBS 402: Senior Capstone Seminar II) you will design your own capstone project and conduct original research under close advisement from the SBS faculty. Your final course in the major will be SBS 405: Assessment Lab/Grad/Srs, which will prepare you to present your capstone publicly to demonstrate your cumulative learning in the Major Learning Outcomes (MLOs) described below [Learn more at CSUMB.EDU/capstone].

Core Courses

  • Lower-division requirements
  • STAT 100: Introduction to Statistics (4 units)

MLO 1 Social theory

The SBS major requires successful completion of two courses in social theory: the Major Proseminar, with a co-requisite lab; and an advanced social theory module of at least 2 units.

Required Courses

  • SBS 300/L: Major/ProSem:Theo/Meth/SBS (4 to 6 units)
  • SBS 328: Social Science Theory Module (2 to 4 units)

MLO 2 Research methods

The SBS major requires two courses in research methods. Each concentration requires a specific research methods course. Students take one additional research methods course chosen from SBS courses in the SBS 360-369 series, or GS 316: Historical Approaches, or PSY 302/L: PSY/Resear/Methods/Data/Analys.

Required Courses

MLO 3 Concentration

The SBS major requires students to demonstrate competency in a specific field or discipline of the social or behavioral sciences. They may do this in one of four ways: 1) Complete a designed curriculum in one of seven core concentrations offered by the Social and Behavioral Sciences; 2) Complete the Teaching Track for “single-subject” preparation in History/Social Science certified by the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CCTC); 3) Complete an approved minor plus two 300-level SBS courses approved for one of the concentrations; or 4) Complete a custom-designed “special concentration,” of at least 16 units approved by an SBS faculty member.

Required Courses

MLO 4 Application of social science principles and practices in real world contexts

Students complete the B.A. in SBS by producing a senior capstone project that demonstrates their ability to apply the skills and knowledge acquired in the SBS curriculum to real world social problems or issues.

Required Courses

  • SBS 400: Senior Capstone Seminar I (1 to 4 units)
  • SBS 402: Senior Capstone Seminar II (1 to 4 units)
  • SBS 405: Assessment Lab/Grad/Srs (1 to 4 units)
  • Upper-Division Service Learning (if not met in the concentration) (2 units)
  • SBS 404S: Service Learning Capstone (2 to 4 units)

Concentrations

Anthropology

Archaeology

Geographic Information Systems

Native American Studies

Political Economy

Social History

Sociology

Subject Preparation for Teaching Credential in History and Social Science

The Social and Behavioral Sciences major offers a pathway into a teaching credential program for prospective high school teachers. If you choose this, Social History will be your official concentration, but you should follow the special teaching track pathway. This pathway is currently under review for approval by the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing. If it is approved, you will receive a waiver from completing the comprehensive qualifying exam (CSET) in order to be admitted to a single-subject (high school) teacher credential program after you complete your B.A.