Social Sciences Division
The Division of Social Sciences consists of two departments, which are the Department of History and Political Science and the Department of Economics, and offers seven majors: Economics; History; International Relations; Political Science; Political Science Pre-Law; Social Studies; and Social Studies Education. In addition to offering minors in Economics, History, International Relations, and Political Science, the division offers a cross-disciplinary minor in Latin American and Iberian Studies.
Majors in the Division of Social Sciences are designed to enable students to develop an integrated perspective and an analytical understanding of the world and its various institutional components. Herein division majors are intended to foster discernment of present realities and trends, and greater understanding of global contemporary patterns from the perspective of biblical presuppositions and a biblical Christian worldview.
Students majoring in Division programs are encouraged to consider double-majoring, completing a second program (outside or within the Division) within a four-year period. Frequently selected combinations are noted under each major. Careful advising and course planning is necessary, in close consultation with academic advisors. In addition to meeting all requirements for both majors, students must be able to show that they meet the university requirement for a double major: a minimum of 30 credit hours of credit in each of two specific areas with a minimum of 51 unduplicated credit hours. Regarding minors, IWU requires that a minimum of 15 credit hours counting toward each minor be "unduplicated," that is, not needed to complete the student's other major(s) or minor(s).
Note that students majoring in History, Social Studies or Social Studies Education, or minoring in History, should complete HST-185 and HST-190 instead of HST-180. All other division students generally take HST-180 to meet the general education humanities history requirement. Any student may choose this substitution.
General Education Competencies
Please note that students for whom any division major is their second major will graduate with the degree designated by their first major (B.S. or A.B.) and will meet their intercultural experience and communication requirements as specified by their first major.
All other students, for whom a major in this division is their first major, are required to complete COM-100, Principles of Communication to meet their communication competency. They are also required to fulfill their intercultural experience requirement as follows: Economics majors are required to complete any approved standard course. (Note that the list of approved standard courses includes several courses offered by the division*: GEO-202, HST-230, HST-231, POL-232, HST-355, HST-370, and POL-371). International Relations majors are required to complete POL-232. Political Science, Political Science Pre-Law, Social Studies Education and Social Studies majors are required to complete GEO-202. History majors are required to complete three credit hours of modern language study or GEO-202, HST-230, HST-231, HST-355, or HST-370.
*Course titles of the intercultural experience courses listed above are as follows: GEO-202 Political and Cultural Geography; HST-231 National Latin America; HST-355 History of Mexico; HST-230 Colonial Latin America; POL-232 Comparative Politics; HST-370 International Cultural Studies; POL-371 International Studies.
General Education Degree Requirements
Students who have selected as their first major Economics, International Relations, Political Science or Political Science Pre-Law will graduate with a B.S. To complete their B.S., students will be required to complete four credit hours of any lab science and three credit hours in math or CIS, which also count toward their general education requirements.
Students majoring in Social Studies Education or Social Studies will graduate with a B.S. They will be required to complete four credits hours of a lab science and three additional credit hours in math, which also count toward their general education requirements. In selecting these courses, students majoring in Social Studies Education need the approval of both the Education Division and the History and Political Science Department.
Students majoring in History (as their first major) will graduate with an A.B. They will need to satisfy the following language requirement: Proficiency in a non-native language at the intermediate level may be met by showing four years of high school foreign language with no grade below a "C," satisfactorily passing a language examination rated for the intermediate level of proficiency, or taking two years of college foreign language.
