Courses & Degree Requirements
The courses offered in the online Bachelor of Arts in Integrated Social Sciences encompass a wide variety of disciplines and thematic areas, along with a core set of courses unique to the ISS program.
All courses in the program have been developed specifically for ISS. They combine outstanding instruction and cutting-edge curricula with the latest online learning tools and technologies.
ISS Core Courses
The five ISS core courses help guide you in integrating the full range of coursework that you’ll complete during your time in the program. These courses, accounting for 20 credits, are:
- ISS 301: Social Science Theory in Context (5 credits)
- ISS 302: Survey of Social Science Methods (5 credits)
- ISS 350: Introduction to Portfolios in the Social Sciences (2 credits)
- ISS 355: Portfolio Seminar in Integrated Social Sciences (3 credits)
- ISS 401: Integrated Social Sciences Capstone (5 credits)
Social Sciences Courses
All ISS students will take at least eight social science courses (40 credits). See below for the full list of courses offered.
Thematic Areas of Inquiry
ISS courses are divided into seven thematic areas of inquiry, ensuring a diverse and comprehensive educational experience.
- Information and Technology (IT): Engage with new technologies and analyze economic and ethical developments related to them
- Populations and Movement (PM): Learn how population patterns are changing and the complex political, economic and cultural factors shaping these patterns
- Conflict and Cooperation (CC): Explore the diverse social factors that shape human conflict and peace
- Diversity and Global Justice (GJ): Investigate how social hierarchies — including race, class, sexuality and gender — are reproduced, reworked and resisted globally
- Health and Risk (HR): Understand how health risks, practices and outcomes relate to broader social, cultural and global relations
- Inequalities and Power Relations (IP): Examine the intersecting power dynamics that contribute to social inequalities both locally and nationally
- Societies and Environments (SE): Probe the social dimensions of the environmental challenges facing humanity and the collective global interest in sustainability
You must complete at least one course in five of the seven thematic areas to fulfill your degree requirements.