Academic Programs

[Printable Version]

Human Science

Dr. Steve Keffer, Coordinator
         Phone: (540) 568-5659
         E-mail: keffersl@jmu.edu
         Web site: http://psychweb.cisat.jmu.edu/humanscience

The Human Science minor is a multidisciplinary program that brings together elements of biology, anthropology and psychology to understand our species, Homo sapiens, as a complex biological and social organism. Goals for the students in this minor are twofold:

Through a set of basic core courses in the three disciplines students will gain a multidisciplinary, scientific understanding of human beings; and
Students will then pursue their own interests in human science through elective courses in three disciplines.

The human science minor is appropriate for students whose career goals would be enhanced by a program that focuses on the scientific, multidisciplinary study of humans. Such careers include the health-oriented professions, law, government, public policy and academic study in the humanities, and social and life sciences. Furthermore, graduates of the human science minor will be taught to think synthetically across the natural and social sciences, and thus will be better prepared to grapple with the complex problems of the 21st century. Consequently, they will be well situated to take advantage of the rapidly developing and diverse career opportunities of the coming years and decades.

The human science minor requires 24 credits hours: 15 hours of required courses and another 9 hours of electives.

Required Courses (15 credit hours)
GANTH 196. Biological Anthropology	3
GPSYC 101. General Psychology	3
BIO 270. Human Physiology
OR BIO 370. Animal Physiology	4
BIO 290. Human Anatomy	4
HSC 400. Human Science Seminar	1

Note: HSC 400 may only be taken after all other courses for the minor, including electives, are completed.

Electives (9 credit hours; one course must be taken from each of the following groups)

Anthropology Group
ANTH 300. Anthropology of Diet and Nutrition	3
ANTH 315. Human Evolution	3
ANTH 322. Human Variation and Adaptation	3
ANTH 352. Birth, Death, Sex: Exploring Demography	3
ANTH 360. Medical Anthropology	3
ANTH 362. Evolution of the Human Brain	3
ANTH 395. Special Topics in Anthropology*	3
ANTH 420. Evolution of Human Behavior	3
Biology Group
BIO 280. Allied Health Microbiology or BIO 380. Microbiology	4
BIO 364. Human Uses of Plants	3
BIO 420. Medical Parasitology	4
BIO 426. Topics in Biology*	1-4
BIO 427. Topics in Biology with Laboratory*	1-4
BIO 430. Human Genetics	3
BIO 442. Immunology	3
BIO 482. Human Histology	4
BIO 490. Biomechanics	4
Psychology Group
PSYC 250. Introduction to Abnormal Psychology	3
OR PSYC 335. Abnormal Psychology
PSYC 285. Drugs and Behavior	3
PSYC 308. Health Psychology	3
PSYC 310. The Psychology of Women and Gender	3
PSYC 385. Biopsychology	3
PSYC 390. Psychology of Learning	3
PSYC 395. Comparative Psychology	3

* The content of this course varies from semester to semester, and from instructor to instructor. This course may be used to satisfy a requirement for the Human Science minor ONLY if the topics covered in the version you take have been specifically approved by the Human Science coordinator.

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