Major Highlights: Social Sciences Division

Division Chair, Dr. Manzo
Photo Courtesy of concord.edu

The students at Concord University pride themselves on the liberal arts education the university offers. Having this type of education can strengthen intellectual ability and assist in many fields today’s workplace offers. This week, Dr. Joseph Manzo and Dr. Sally Howard, bring light to the various opportunities one can take advantage of in the social science division.

    Dr. Joseph Manzo is a professor of geography, co-coordinator of West Virginia Geographic Alliance, and Division Chair of the Social Sciences. Manzo says the division is going to be a little bit different because it will be the division of social sciences within the College of Humanities. Nonetheless, students can earn a B.A. in Geography, Political Science, Psychology, Recreation and Tourism Management, Social Work, and Sociology. Concord University also offers the opportunity for students to earn their M.A. in Social Work and a certificate in Tourism Management.

    Per Concord.edu’s section on the Social Science Division, “As a division, we consider the complex nature of the human experience and interaction. Collectively we look at how human development, social structures, and personal experiences shape individuals, societies, and nations.” Manzo says, “[All of the programs] provide pathways to graduate schools and law schools. Some of these students go on to graduate schools or whatever they choose all over the country.” He says that social sciences are modern and that they help one to understand the world they live in. He explains that not only one science within the division is most important; in fact, every Social Science discipline is geared toward producing better members of the electorate.

    Dr. Sally Howard, professor of Political Science, gives some insight into the division as well. “Students in Social Sciences have very particular career goals. People major in Psychology and go on to get their PhD in Psychology. We have people that major in Political Science and go to law school because they want to be lawyers,” she says. Howard goes on to say that all of the majors offered in the division contribute to a very good liberal arts degree. “Not only do they prepare students for different graduate school avenues, but they also provide a lot of emphasis on things like writing and critical thinking,” she states.

    Manzo says that there are some new programs he deems interesting. “There’s going to be a Criminology emphasis in Sociology and there’s a Broadcast Meteorology emphasis in Geography,” he says. Manzo further explains by saying that the majors within the division require students to keep up with what is going on. According to Manzo, social sciences help people to live in a contemporary world. It helps one to recognize issues that are out there and the connections between them.

    Howard elaborates saying, “Social Sciences is stuff that everyone will encounter in their everyday life for their entire adult life. You may not realize that you’re encountering it until you take a cultural geography class or a political science class…” Howard emphasizes this by saying that the social sciences helps one to understand everything around them: politics, the way people interact, the way one thinks individually, and the way one would see culture around them. She thinks that anyone with a general interest in the world around them will learn to see things through a different lens when utilizing these programs.

    Manzo agrees with Howard saying, “Every Social Science discipline asks you to ask the question of every event out there.” He says that people tend to think of social sciences as people just giving their opinion, but they’re not. He elaborates saying that it is all data based and the information is all there.

    What is interesting about the social sciences is that there’s a sense of ambiguity. “When you work with people, two plus two doesn’t always equal four. You have to have this sense of ambiguity; you have to have this sense of gray,” Manzo says. When students have this type of outlook, they know that there is more than one way to solve a problem. social sciences help with this. “You need to have a broad general education if you want to solve [these] problems,” Manzo says.