Social Studies Department Mission Statement
Within the context of the Lasallian Educational Outcomes the Christian Brothers Social Studies Department provides the requisite knowledge and skills to our students which will allow them to successfully matriculate into a competitive university social science curriculum or program.
Learning for College: Content Knowledge
• Through social sciences education, students learn about the development of civilization and the human condition, the significance of historical events/individuals within a chronological and geographic context, and an awareness of the rights and obligations of citizenship for ensuring the common good in society.
• The social sciences facilitate students’ understanding of the contemporary world by linking the present to the past and allowing them to learn from others’ experiences, insights, trials, mistakes, and triumphs.
• Social sciences curricula provide students with ties to and support of other academic disciplines in historical context.
• Students not only acquire core knowledge in the social sciences, and begin to confront common and complex themes woven throughout history
Learning for Life: Content Knowledge
• Students learn to become a responsible citizen in an ever-expanding and interconnected multi-cultural environment through the two year World History curriculum.
• Students learn to be a responsible participant in a representative democracy with the challenges of the 21st Century through the upper division curriculum.
• Students are provided with a global understanding of contemporary societal modalities.
• Students are provided with an on-going emphasis on respect and appreciation of various ethnic, religious, and cultural backgrounds.
Serving God: Content Knowledge
• Students learn the moral implications of religion in history.
• Students learn the concept of justice as a core teaching principle.
• Students learn about the role of religion in economic, political, and social movements.
Lower Division Curriculum
• Students learn about the emergence of the Church and monotheistic religions in history.
• Students learn the implications of the Crusades on religion.
• Students develop compassion and social justice throughout our world.
• Students learn the re-examination of the Catholic Church in the Protestant Reformation.
Upper Division Curriculum
• Students learn about the reform movements in the United States and their foundations in religion.
• Students learn about the role of Christian social justice in American society and government.
• Students learn about the separation of church and state in American government.
• Students examine the principles of the Catholic Social Teachings during the service learning project.
Serving Others: Content Knowledge
• Students are taught about voting and civic duties to help create responsible citizens.
• Students are taught to review historical social injustices to create awareness of social, psychological, economic, philosophical, and political needs of our world.
• Students participate in service learning projects, to connect our community to the curriculum by advocating for the needs of others.
• Students learn to respect and appreciate various ethnic, religious, and cultural backgrounds.
Research Paper
The students are expected to write a formal research paper during the junior year in the Social Studies Department. Each year the department introduces the students to new research methods that prepare the students for the completion of a formal paper. The skills include writing and defending a thesis statement in the freshmen year, proper MLA citation, researching, and outline in the sophomore year, and culminating in a formal 7-10 page research paper on a United States history topic of their choosing in the junior year.
