Greetings to our current students, colleagues, alums, prospective students and friends-

Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Anthropology
Bachelor of  Science in Sociology and Anthropology

Over the last year, our department has seen some significant changes!  We have changed our department name from Anthropology, Geography, & Sociology to Society & Environment to better emphasize the themes that connect our disciplines.  With the 2009-10 academic catalog, there are significant changes to the major program for Sociology/Anthropology:

 ·         Four levels of coursework with integrated skill development and knowledge growth and the ability to choose either anthropology or sociology as your primary focus.

 ·         Level 1: Take any one introductory course from anthropology, geography, or sociology (3 credit hrs) plus a Proseminar course (1 credit hr).

 ·         The Proseminar introduces new majors to their peers, the program, and the faculty + exposure to other services & opportunities available across campus with a focus on developing a cohort of students and guiding their work on 4 year plans for classes and out of class activities and using summers for relevant experiences.

·         Level 2: Take 3 courses (3 credit hrs ea) at 200 level in major. Each surveys some portion of important subject matter while focusing on development of critical thinking skills. At this level, students can explore both Anthropology and Sociology to help them choose a track.

 ·         Level 3: Integrated theory & research design courses followed by data analysis the next semester. Students will develop their own research proposal, organize data, complete analysis, and report their results.

 ·         For majors who start early in their college careers, this curriculum provides spring semester; junior year free of on campus required courses. Our goal is to encourage students to participate in internships, study abroad, research, “innovative academic initiatives” (nifty course bundles). This means students can easily incorporate these experiences without staying an extra year or semester at Truman.

 ·         Level 4: Some credits from other academic experiences/internships/study abroad can count towards 9 credit hrs of 400 level elective credits. There will also be 400 level seminars offered on campus on a variety of topics.

·         Capstone: Final year at Truman, take 2 (1 credit hr ea) Senior Seminars – first is focused on applications for graduate school, jobs, post-graduation internships; second is focused on polishing the product of one of the 400 level experiences/courses for wider distribution.

While the change has been a lot of work, faculty, staff and students are excited to finally have the new curriculum in place.

 Dr. Amber Johnson
Chair, Department of Society and Environment

Kindness Ranch Internship, Wyoming
The Kindness Ranch is an
organization dedicated
to rescuing and
rehabilitating animals
formerly used in research

Democracy and Human Rights in SouthAfrica                           Study Abroad Course, May 2011 next offered