Message from the Dean
Welcome, The College of Social Sciences is comprised of thirteen departments and one inter-disciplinary program in Global Studies. The common thread uniting our diverse programs is the passion to understand the richness of human behavior and the complexity of our interactions among ourselves and with our environment. The departments include African American Studies, Anthropology (including both the Anthropology major and the interdisciplinary Behavioral Science major), Communication Studies, Economics, Environmental Studies, Geography, History, Mexican American Studies, Political Science, Psychology, Social Science (Asian American Studies, Women’s Studies, and Social Science Teacher Preparation), Sociology, and Urban and Regional Planning. Clicking on the “Departments” button will take you to individual departments’ websites where you will find descriptions of major and minor programs for undergraduate as well as graduate program options. Contact information for program advisors and department offices is also available there. Clicking on “How Do I Apply” will direct you to information on how to apply for admission. In the College of Social Sciences, we emphasize student and faculty collaboration on research projects and community service. Please contact department advisors to learn more. Also nested with each department, you will find opportunities to participate in our co-curricular activities such as academic fraternities, clubs in the major fields, the debate team, and Model United Nations, among many others. Our faculty is comprised of teacher-scholars who stay abreast of, and contribute to research in their academic fields, but who have a primary commitment to teaching. Our real heroes, however, are the alumni; once students in the college, they have gone on to make significant contributions in the community, state, and nation. Click on the “alumni” button to read profiles of recipients of our “Outstanding Alumni” awards for the last few years. In addition to strong departments with discipline-specific initiatives, the College of Social Sciences oversees some important inter-disciplinary efforts. In this respect, our top three college priorities are (1) immigration, (2) globalization, and (3) the social science study of technology. The college regularly hosts conferences, symposia, and lectures on these topics. Students, alumni, and community members are invited to participate. We also seek outside funding in the form of grants, contracts, and donations to further our research and student experience in these areas. Consistent with our goal to involve students in research efforts, the College of Social Sciences manages the inter-disciplinary Survey and Policy Research Institute in partnership with the College of Business. Also, our faculty and students are heavily involved in such “town-gown” initiatives as SJSU’s CommUniverCity, a cooperative effort to re-vitalize a downtown neighborhood near campus. So, welcome to the College of Social Sciences. We hope you will find a home here and meet other scholars who are committed to the concerns of citizenship and the study of human behavior. Sheila Bienenfeld
Dean 
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