Undergraduate Course of Study

General Requirements
Undergraduate students in the Social Studies Education program must meet the course requirements described below. All courses must be passed with a C or better. Students must maintain a 2.75 GPA in order to remain in good standing. The methods courses must be taken sequentially, and anyone who does not earn a C or higher in the methods courses must repeat both the methods course and the co-requisite field experience. Students must also meet minimum requirements on the Teacher Candidate Professional Development Form. Students whose GPA falls below 2.75 will be placed on probation and may not register for additional teacher education courses until they are again in good standing. Students must also pass the student teaching interview before they will be granted permission to register for student teaching.  For further information, see the PEP Guide to Teacher Education.

Click here to download the application form and here to download the undergraduate advising worksheet.

Pedagogy Courses
PSY 327 Middle Childhood and Adolescent Development
SSE 350 Foundations of Education
LIN 344 Language Acquisition and Literacy Development
CEF347 Introduction to Special Education
SSE 397 Teaching Social Studies (co-requisite SSE 449) – fall only
SSE 449 Field Experience I – Grades 7-9 (1 credit, S/U must be taken with SSE 397)
SSE 398 Social Studies Strategies (co-requisite SSE 450) – spring only
SSE 450 Field Experience II – Grades 10-12 (1 credit, S/U must be taken with SSE 398)
SSE 454 Student Teaching Seminar (co-requisites SSE 451 & 452)
SSE 451 Supervised Student Teaching – Grades 7-9 (S/U)
SSE 452 Supervised Student Teaching – Grades 10-12 (S/U)
Students must satisfactorily complete all courses required for certification (both major and education courses) and pass the ALST before they will be admitted to student teaching.

Content Area Requirements
Students must complete a minimum of 48 credits in history and the social sciences, including the courses required for the major and the University DEC requirements. Students are also required to take courses in each of the 12 Required Areas of Study described below. Students are expected to select their courses from the choices below, and substitutions will be permitted only on an exceptional basis. Transfer courses will be evaluated individually by the program director.

  1. US History to 1877
    HIS 103 US History to 1877
  2. US History since 1877
    HIS 104 US History since 1877
  3. Human or Cultural Geography
    HIS 281 Global History & Geography
  4. Principles of Economics
    ECO 108 Introduction to Economics
    Foundation for Teaching Economics

    http://www.fte.org/teachers/programs/online/dates.php

    Note:  Courses in micro- or macroeconomics are acceptable.  Courses in finance or accounting can not be accepted even if they offered through an economics department.

  5. Western Civilization or European History Survey (choose 1)
    HIS 101 Europe to 1789
    HIS 102 Europe since 1789
  6. Latin America (choose 1)
    HIS 213 Colonial Latin America
    HIS 214 Modern Latin America
    SOC 364 Sociology of Latin America
  7. Asia & its Civilizations (choose 1)
    HIS 219 Chinese History and Civilization
    HIS 220 Japanese History and Civilization
    HIS 227 Islamic Civilization
    HIS 341 20th-Century China
    HIS 344 Modern Japan
    HIS 347  South Asia before Colonialism
    HIS 348 British India
  8. Africa (choose 1)
    HIS 221 Modern Africa
    HIS 346 Political and Social History of Africa
  9. American Politics & Government (choose 1)
    POL 102 American Government
    POL 320 Constitutional Law and Politics
    POL 325 Civil Liberties & Civil Rights
  10. Science, Technology & Society (choose 1)
    ANT 290 Technology in Ancient Society
    EST 201 Technology Trends in Society
    HIS 237 Science, Technology & Medicine in Western Civilization
    HIS 238 Science, Technology & Medicine in Western Civilization II
    SOC 315 Sociology of Technology
  11. The Culture Concept in Theory or History (choose 1)
    AFS 310 US Attitudes towards Race
    AFS 325 Civil Rights Movement
    ANT 102 Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
    ANT 230 Peoples of the World
    ANT 270 Great Archaeological Discoveries
    ANT 351  Comparative Religion
    SOC 310 Ethnic and Race Relations
    HIS 390 Comparative Religion (will be accepted only if the topic is comparative religion)
  12. News Literacy
    JRN 101 or 103

Note: Courses in world history may be used to satisfy one of the areas 6-8 if they address the history of that region in a substantive way.  Courses in history, anthropology, economics, political science, and sociology will automatically count towards the 48 required credits. However, some of the courses offered through such interdisciplinary programs as Women’s Studies, Africana Studies, and Latin American and Caribbean Studies are considered  humanities, rather than social science, courses. Click here to see which courses will be accepted for program credit.

Foreign Language Requirement
Students must complete one year of college level foreign language study. Undergraduates may satisfy this state requirement in two ways:

  • Complete 6 credits of college level language with a C or better.
  • Pass the placement exams offered by the Language Learning and Research Center (https://llrc.stonybrook.edu/placement-exams) in Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Russian, and Spanish.

Sign language will be accepted in satisfaction of this language requirement.