Carnegie Mellon College of Humanities and Social Sciences

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The College of Humanities and Social Sciences (H&SS) is the liberal and professional studies college and the second largest academic unit by enrollment at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. The college emphasizes study through rigorous analysis and technology and the behaviors, institutions, and beliefs that constitute the human experience. H&SS offers more than 60 majors and minors through its academic departments and specialized degree programs. It is committed to a balance among humanistic, scientific, and professional orientations, and to an emphasis on integrating research experience into undergraduate education. The H&SS General Education Program combines required courses that teach key analytical skills with a wide range of elective courses to develop foundational skills essential to effective learning throughout the college career and beyond.

Contents 1 About H&SS 2 Departments 3 Areas of study 3.1 Jointly administered undergraduate degree programs 3.2 Pre-professional advising 4 Rankings 5 Research 6 References 7 External links

[edit] About H&SS

The college admitted its first freshman class in 1969, following the announcement of the pending closure of the Margaret Morrison Carnegie College, although roots of the college can be traced to the Division of Applied Psychology, founded in 1916 as the first research-oriented department within Carnegie Mellon. The administrative offices of H&SS are located in Baker Hall. Most of the classes offered by H&SS are held in Baker Hall and Porter Hall, but some classes, particularly the smaller recitation classes, are held in various locations throughout the campus. All undergraduate students at Carnegie Mellon are required to take several H&SS classes (at least two, but usually more) as part of their program's General Education requirements. The founding Dean of H&SS was Erwin Steinberg. Past deans include John Patrick Crecine and Peter Stearns. The current Dean is statistician John Lehoczky.

[edit] Departments

H&SS manages the following eight departments and three interdisciplinary programs:

• Department of English
• Department of History
• Department of Modern Languages
• Department of Philosophy
• Department of Psychology
• Department of Social and Decision Sciences
• Department of Economics (jointly with the Tepper School of Business)
• Department of Statistics
• Information Systems Program
• International Relations and Politics Program
• Humanities Scholars Program

[edit] Areas of study

Undergraduates can earn a bachelor of arts or bachelor of science in the following fields of study. Additional majors and minors are available in most fields as well. Graduate programs at the master and doctorate levels are also available through the college.

Chinese Studies Cognitive Science Creative Writing Decision Science Economics Economics and Mathematics Economics and Statistics English Environmental policy (additional major only) Ethics, History, and Public Policy European Studies French and Francophone Studies German Global Studies Hispanic Studies

History Information Systems (primary major only) International Relations and Politics Japanese Linguistics Logic and Computation Philosophy Policy and Management Professional Writing Psychology Psychology and Biological Sciences Russian Studies Statistics Technical Writing and Communication

In addition, undergraduate students can define their own major through consultation with their academic advisor.

[edit] Jointly administered undergraduate degree programs

H&SS jointly administers the Bachelor of Humanities and Arts (BHA) and Science and Humanities Scholars (SHS) degree programs with the College of Fine Arts and the Mellon College of Science, respectively.

[edit] Pre-professional advising

The office of Carnegie Mellon's Pre-Law Advising Program is located in the H&SS Academic Advisory Center in Baker Hall. Because it is a university program, all interested undergraduate students of the university are welcome to make use of the services offered by the program. Similarly, all interested students of the university, not just science students, can meet with the advisor for the Health Professions Program, located in Doherty Hall.

[edit] Rankings

Several of H&SS' graduate programs have been ranked in national and international surveys. The 2010 US News and World Report graduate schools rankings ranked H&SS' graduate program in English 38th in the country, History 36th, Economics 19th, and Psychology 17th. The graduate program in cognitive psychology is especially highly ranked at 2nd in the country. At the undergraduate level, the information systems program was ranked 2nd in the country in the US News and World Report Best Colleges guide.

The Faculty Scholarly Productivity Index has listed H&SS' research in History as the 4th most productive in the country, Philosophy as 5th, and Cognitive Science at 2nd in the country.

The Times Higher Education Supplement (THES) ranking of world universities, H&SS ranked 15th in the United States (28th in the world) in the social sciences category. H&SS is also ranked #15 in the social sciences among Shanghai Jiao Tong University's world's top 100 universities.

Finally, the Decision Analysis Society of INFORMS ranked the graduate Social and Decision Sciences program at a tie for 1st in the country.

Complete Carnegie Mellon and H&SS rankings can be found on the Carnegie Mellon web site.

[edit] Research

H&SS has particular strengths in the interdisciplinary fields of cognitive science, decision science, logic, rational choice, technical writing, history and policy, and cognitive neuroscience and manages the following interdisciplinary research centers, some of which are linked to other Carnegie Mellon colleges or the University of Pittsburgh:

Carnegie Mellon University Press Center for African American Urban Studies & the Economy (CAUSE) Center for Applied Ethics and Political Philosophy Center for the Arts in Society Center for Behavioral Decision Research Center for Cognitive Brain Imaging Center for History and Policy Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition Center for Risk Perception and Communication Center for the Study and Improvement of Regulation Child Language Data Exchange System

Children's School The Dynamic Decision Making Laboratory The Humanities Center Infant Cognition Lab Infant Language and Learning Lab Laboratory for the Study of Stress, Immunity and Disease Laboratory for Symbolic and Educational Computing Modern Language Resource Center Pittsburgh Mind-Body Center Pittsburgh Science of Learning Center Program for Interdisciplinary Education Research

[edit] References

• Fenton, Edwin (2000). Carnegie Mellon 1900-2000: A Centennial History. Pittsburgh: Carnegie Mellon University Press. ISBN 0-88748-323-2. 

[edit] External links

• The College of Humanities and Social Sciences

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