Major Requirements

Political Economy Requirements

Credits Required: 

Total semester credits: 120

Semester credits in the major: 31-43

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 Individualized 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 consisting of 20 units in a specific social science discipline (or an Associated Minor listed on the SBS Major Overview page, consisting of 12-16 units plus 8 more units of SBS courses). 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 either SBS 402: Senior Capstone Seminar II or SBS 404S: Service Learning Capstone) 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].

Major Requirements and Learning Outcomes are identified below. In order to graduate, students must also meet all general education and university requirements. 

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: Specialized Disciplinary and Area Studies Competency

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 Associated Minor listed on the SBS Overview catalog page, plus two 300-level SBS courses approved for one of the concentrations; or 4) Complete a “customized specialization” of at least 16 units approved by an SBS faculty member.

Required Courses

  • Political Economy Concentration
  • Required courses:
  • SBS 342: Economic Thought (2 to 4 units)
  • SBS 351: Intro to Global Economics (4 units)
  • Two of the following SBS electives:
  • SBS 314: Global Migrant Workers (2 to 4 units)
  • SBS 339: Sweat/Service/Solidarity (4 units)
  • SBS 339S: Sweat/Service/Solidarity SL (6 units)
  • SBS 381: US, Vietnam, Asia-Pacific (4 units)
  • SBS 356: Intro/Geog/People/Places/Envir (2 to 4 units)
  • SBS 379: Tattoos Makeup & Burkas (4 units)
  • SBS 350: Domination & Resistance: US (4 units)
  • And one of the following:
  • ENSTU 384S: Social and Ecol Justice (2 units)
  • GS 310: Genealogy of Globalization (4 units)
  • GS 311: US/Foreig/Poli/Pac/Rim/3rd/Wrl (2 to 4 units)
  • GS 320: Global Issues & 3rd World (4 units)
  • GS 325: International Development (4 units)
  • HCOM 344: Chicana/Latina Experiences (4 units)
  • HCOM 315: Media for Social Change (4 units)

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)
  • Optional: Upper-Division Capstone Service Learning (When SBS 404S is offered at 4 units, it may be taken in substitution of SBS 402).
  • 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.