Department Courses

PSYCHOLOGY COURSES - Psychology is the scientific study of behavior and mental processes. The goals of psychology are to describe behavior and then to explain, predict, and manage that behavior. Some psychologists do basic research to discover how people think and act using verifiable observations and controlled experiments. Many of the problems facing society today are problems of behavior; violence, addiction, stress, and our relations with the environment. After completing a few psychology courses you will better understand why people do the things they do.

Students must complete PSY 111 to qualify for the more advanced courses. PSY 111 is recommended for people thinking about majoring in psychology.

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SOCIOLOGY COURSES - Sociology is the study of human social life. Sociologists focus on how societies are structured, how power, wealth, and prestige are distributed, and how social changes takes place. Since all human behavior is social, the subject matter of sociology ranges from interaction within families to the relationships of international politics and commerce; from criminal gangs to religious cults; from the beliefs about race and culture that tear people apart to the shared values that hold societies together. Sociology is ideal for the person who wants to understand why people, groups, and nations act the way they do.

You must pass either SOC 101 or SOC 120 before you will be allowed to take an upper-level course.

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ANTHROPOLOGY COURSES - Anthropology is the study of what makes us human. Anthropologists take a broad approach to understanding the many different aspects of the human experience, which we call holism. They consider the past, through archaeology, to see how human groups lived hundreds or thousands of years ago and what was important to them. They consider what makes up our biological bodies and genetics, as well as our bones, diet, and health. Anthropologists also compare humans with other animals (most often, other primates like monkeys and chimpanzees) to see what we have in common with them and what makes us unique. 

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HUMAN SERVICES COURSES - The field of Human Services is broadly defined, uniquely approaching the objective of meeting human needs through an interdisciplinary knowledge base, focusing on prevention as well as remediation of problems, and maintaining a commitment to improving the overall quality of life of service populations. The Human Services profession is one which promotes improved service delivery systems by addressing not only the quality of direct services, but also by seeking to improve accessibility, accountability, and coordination among professionals and agencies in service delivery.

 HMS Field Experience courses are sequential.  HMS 201 is offered in the Fall semester, and HMS 202 is offered in the Spring semester.