Senior Seminar

1. Senior Seminar Mrs. Civitella & Mrs. Verguldi-Scott

2. What is a seminar? • sem·i·nar noun. a small group of students, as in a university, engaged in advanced study and original research under a member of the faculty and meeting regularly to exchange information and hold discussions.

3. Why study the social sciences? • Social science comprises a body of knowledge with which all citizens should be acquainted and to which they should be exposed in the course of their school years.

4. The purpose of social science education: • Good social science education will provide students with a basis on which to make objective evaluations and to form prudent judgments throughout life. • To apply his or her value system using rational thought. • To make informed decisions as adults in matters affecting themselves in their social, political and economic affairs of their community, country and world.

5. Which disciplines are included in the social sciences? • political science • history • economics • anthropology • sociology • religion • geography • political philosophy • psychology

6. political science • noun a social science dealing with political institutions and with the principles and conduct of government.

7. history • noun, plural his·to·ries. 1. the branch of knowledge dealing with past events. • a continuous, systematic narrative of past events as relating to a particular people, country, period, person, etc., usually written as a chronological account; chronicle: a history of France; a medical history of the patient.

8. Economics • ec·o·nom·ics • noun 1. ( used with a singular verb ) the science that deals with the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services, or the material welfare of humankind.

9. Anthropology • an·thro·pol·o·gy • Noun the science that deals with the origins, physical and cultural development, biological characteristics, and social customs and beliefs of humankind.

10. Sociology • so·ci·ol·o·gy • noun the science or study of the origin, development, organization, and functioning of human society; the science of the fundamental laws of social relations, institutions, etc.

11. Religion • re·li·gion • noun 1. a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, especially when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs. • 2. a specific fundamental set of beliefs and practices generally agreed upon by a number of persons or sects: the Christian religion; the Buddhist religion.

12. geography • ge·og·ra·phy • noun, plural ge·og·ra·phies. 1. the science dealing with the areal differentiation of the earth's surface, as shown in the character, arrangement, and interrelations over the world of such elements as climate, elevation, soil, vegetation, population, land use, industries, or states, and of the unit areas formed by the complex of these individual elements.

13. Political philosophy • is the study of such topics as politics, liberty, justice, property, rights, law, and the enforcement of a legal code by authority: what they are, why (or even if) they are needed, what, if anything, makes a government legitimate, what rights and freedoms it should protect and why, what form it should take and why, what the law is, and what duties citizens owe to a legitimate government, if any, and when it may be legitimately overthrown, if ever.

14. psychology • psy·chol·o·gy • /noun, plural psy·chol·o·gies. 1. the science of the mind or of mental states and processes. • 2. the science of human and animal behavior.