Liberal Arts (Code 487-401)

For advising, contact the Sociology Department.

The interdisciplinary Family Studies Minor is designed to:

1. enhance students’ understanding of the issues and problems confronting contemporary families from sociological, developmental, psychological, historical, religious, economic, and anthropologic perspectives;
2. examine the well-being of diverse individuals and families over the lifespan including the dynamic relations within families and the interaction between families and society;
3. provide an interdisciplinary liberal arts base for students who wish to pursue graduate study and careers working to improve the lives of individuals, families and communities; and
4. provide a knowledge of family studies that will foster personal and social development of the individual student.

Course List

Code	Title	Credits
Twenty-four semester credits, including:
Required Courses
HIST 370	History of the Family in America	3
PSYC 230	Human Development	3
SOC 316	Sociology of Family	3
Category A, B, C, D Courses—one course from each category required:
A. Life Course
PSYC 331	Child Psychology
PSYC 332	Psychology of Adolescence
PSYC 333	Psychology of Adulthood and Aging
PSYC 334	Psychology of the Exceptional Child
SOC 364	Social Gerontology
SW 315	Aging and the Aged
B. Gender and Sexuality
ANTH/WGSS 356	Women in Cross-Cultural Perspective
HIST/WGSS 313	Gender, Sex, and Science in European History
PSYC/WGSS 336	Psychology of Women
SOC/WGSS 202	Sociology of Gender
SOC/WGSS 419	Gender and Power
SOC 426	Sociology of Sexualities
WGSS 206	Perspectives in LGBTQ Studies
WGSS 310	Gender and Violence
C. Micro-level: Family Relations
CJ/WGSS 111	Gender, Race, Class, and Communication: The Social Construction of Identity
CJ 201	Introduction to Interpersonal Communication
or CJ 203	Fundamentals of Human Communication
CJ 312	Communication and Gender
PSYC 325	Theories of Counseling
SOC 164	Family and Intimate Relationships
SW 385	Child Welfare
SW 424	Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse
D. Macro-level: Families and Society
ECON/WGSS 337	Women and the Labor Market
ECON/WGSS 357	Women and Economic Development
HIST/WGSS 373	American Women's History to 1870
HIST/WGSS 378	American Women's History Since 1870
RELS/WGSS 203	Women and World Religions
RELS 210	Religion and Morality
SOC 314	Social Class and Inequality
SOC 405	Sociology of Work and Occupations
SOC 410	Sociology of Education
WGSS 344	Women, Work and Family
Remaining credits to be selected from courses included in Categories A, B, C, and D and/or up to 3 credits from Directed Studies, Independent Study, Internship, or Special Topics courses that focus on family issues may be applied to the minor with approval from the Family Studies Minor Coordinator.

NOTE 1: Student may not take both CJ 201 and CJ 203 for credit in the minor.

NOTE 2: No more than 12 credits from any course prefix may be counted toward the minor. ANTH/WGSS, CJ/WGSS, ECON/WGSS, HIST/WGSS, PSYC/WGSS, RELS/WGSS, and SOC/WGSS courses will count as ANTH, CJ, ECON, HIST, PSYC, RELS, or SOC credits, respectively, for the purpose of this limitation.

Program Learning Outcomes 

Students completing this program will be expected to meet the following learning outcomes:

• Describe issues and problems confronting contemporary families from a variety of perspectives.
• Identify the developmental changes of individuals and families over the lifespan.
• Compare family life in historical and contemporary contexts.
• Identify and explain public policy influences that affect the well-being of families.