Welcome!
I'm Dara Leeder, director of student recruitment and retention in the College of Humanities
and Social Sciences, and it's my pleasure to tell you about everything we have to offer
to undergraduates.
We are the 2nd largest college at NC State.
With approximately 4,300 students, about 4,000 of whom are undergraduates.
We teach about 1/3 of all undergraduate credit hours.
We want all our students, regardless of home college, to have a solid background in Humanities
and Social Sciences, which we think speaks to the importance NC State places on the ideas
and skills we provide.
At the undergraduate level we offer 49 Bachelor of Arts degrees, 7 Bachelor of Science degrees,
and 1 Bachelor of Social Work.
We have 10 academic departments, and within many of them are specializations such as Linguistics
and English, and Public Policy and Political Science.
Although the University seems quite large, and it is, with more than 35,000 students,
we like to think that our college has the feel of a small liberal arts college within
this larger structure.
Every one of our first year writing classes is limited to 19 students for example, to
be sure that we provide close supervision in this foundation course.
And all of our full time faculty, in addition to conducting research and scholarship, are
required to teach undergraduates, so our students are being taught by the leaders in their fields.
Each August, we welcome about 450 new first year students, and about 400 new transfer
students into this college.
We are considered a highly selective college here at NC State, incoming students generally
have grades in the A to B range.
The SAT mid 50% range, where half of the accepted students fall, is 1210 to 1320.
The ACT mid 50% range is 25-29, and about 1/3 are in the top 10% of their high school
class.
This is significant, having a talented and accomplished peer group means your classmates
and roommates will be just as intelligent, driven, and creative as you are.
They will challenge you both inside and outside the classroom to consider new ideas and push
yourselves just a little bit further.
A typical Humanities and Social Sciences student devotes about 35% to the degree fulfilling
general education requirements, those are Humanities, Social Sciences, Math, and Lab
Sciences.
Another 1/3 are major requirements, generally between 33 and 39 credit hours.
The rest are free electives, with which students can experiment with different courses that
interest them, or they can choose a 2nd major or minor.
Students are welcome of course to take courses or add a major or minor in a different NC
State college.
If students enter with advance placement test credit or other course credit, those credits
often satisfy Gen ED or major requirements, and thus give the student more space for free
electives.
We increasingly see students entering with credit, sometimes even a year or more worth
of credit.
So that you understand how we classify these students, they might have sophomore standing
for example, based on their completed credit hours, but since they are entering as first
year students, freshman advising and programming will be offered.
We know based on their age that they may need more support in terms of transitioning to
a new environment and learning how to be successful, so socially and emotionally we treat them
a bit differently than upper class students.
What are Humanities and Social Sciences students like and what skills do they focus on?
It is wide ranging, but most often, they enjoy writing, reading, analyzing, debating, arguing
different philosophical and political positions, keeping up with current events, and understanding
the interactions between different social and cultural groups.A quick word, that while
we do admire our science and engineering peers here, in this college we like to stress that
ideas that seem very science oriented on the surface often have a Humanities or Social
Science component to them.
Our disciplines often put science and technology into a historical and philosophical perspective.
The global issues facing us today and into the near future will require the skills and
humanities and social sciences offers, how different cultures make meaning and relate
to each other, how we write and speak about our differences and goals, and how we address
social, political, and ethnic differences.
Another 1/3 are major requirements, generally between 33 and 39 credit hours.
The rest are free electives, with which students can experiment with different courses that
interest them, or they can choose a 2nd major or minor.
Humanities and social sciences is a place where diversity is valued, both in the composition
of our student body and in the ideas offered inside and outside the classroom.
There are many ways for students to be involved in examining new ideas and socially significant
issues.
Just in a recent 3 week period, for example, our college has sponsored events as varied
as the ethics of artificial intelligence, a film screening of Signing Black in America
about the unique dialect of African American sign language, how history matters to contemporary
food debates, religion the cyborg and the digital future of humanity, and a workshop
on communicating scientific uncertainties.
Students can also explore ideas by joining some of the 900 student organizations we have
on campus.
With about 55 of them being college specific clubs, such as the History Club, or the Italian
Club, and academic honor societies in our departments.
Clearly, not all humanities and social sciences students will have the time to attend all
these events, but it is significant that a high quality institution offer a range of
intellectual challenge that enhances what students learn in the classroom.
We are about much more than sitting in classrooms, studiously taking notes.
We encourage internships and study abroad as ways for students to challenge themselves
and as methods of getting hands on experience in a field.
Some departments, in fact, require internships in some of their specializations, such as
Communication, Anthropology, and Criminology.
Two majors, International Studies and German Studies require study abroad for the degree.
Most of our departments also have an honors program for outstanding upperclassmen, complete
with honors seminars, graduate level coursework, and research.
Some students expand their studies by adding a minor in this college or another college,
or even a second major in this or another college.
That is especially feasible in this college where our curricula offer more free electives
and are less sequential than those in the sciences.
We also expect students to take their knowledge, interests and skills and put them into action.
One opportunity for this is scholarly research.
When people think of research they often think of the hard sciences or math, but the humanities
and social sciences students participate in these activities as well.
And we consider it a critical way for students to grow intellectually and professionally.
Where do our students reside on campus?
There is no college specific dorm, but we encourage students to look at Living and Learning
Villages, residence halls that have particular academic or cultural themes.
Our college has a special partnership with the Global Village in Alexander Hall.
In this residents international students are paired with domestic students, encouraging
cross-cultural communication and learning.
Beginning in their sophomore year humanities and social sciences students receive priority
for this dorm.
Our students can also be found in other Living and Learning Villages, such as the Impact
Leadership Village, Women of Welsh, Arts Village, or SAY Village, Students Advocating for Youth.
Let's now hear from a student who took the opportunity to study abroad and found tremendous
academic and personal value.
Living with a host family I recommend that, you know, to the fullest extent.
Because you learn so much, It's like your personal, book to the country, to the culture,
like that you have access too.
Lady: "Oh that was your host family mom, is that the one I talked to on the phone?"
My host mom, her name was Barbara, and you know her son was named Lazarul? and they treated
me as if, like, I was part of the family.
She called me her son, he called me his brother.
It was just a great experience.
Every time I would come back home at the end of the day, I would converse with them and
talk about many different things.
They were like, 'you can ask us any question you want to' and we would talk about a variety
of things and right then and there it just felt so good.
The college is proud to offer support for its students as they strive to do well, adjust
to the college environment, and accomplish their goals.
Our academic support center offers walk-in academic advising and coaching Mondays through
Fridays.
We also have professional counselors in the University's Career Development Center, dedicated
solely to humanities and social sciences students.
Further, academic advisers offer workshops on academic success strategies, such as writing
effective essays, study and exam skills, and prepping for law or graduate schools.
Finally, any incoming student who desires it can have a peer mentor, an upper class
student to answer their questions and help them navigate their new environment.
Many people ask, "What can I do with a degree from the College of Humanities and Social
Sciences?"
our majors find careers in just about every arena of the working world, such as education,
government agencies both domestic and foreign, non-profit organizations, business, or media,
and many also go onto graduate or professional schools.
The humanities and social sciences provide a broad based background that offers a lot
of flexibility in job choice.
Our students learn critical thinking, analysis and debate, effective writing and communication
skills, research methods, and a solid understanding of social and political issues, and challenges
facing us in a global environment.
Let's now hear from a recent graduate graduate for an example of career possibilities.
I work for the Carolina Hurricanes and I am their in game host.
I am in charge of helping bring the in-game experience to the fans.
I produce and host a full, in-game, pregame show that runs right before puck drop and
then it runs in between each intermission.
The biggest thing is to kinda connect the fans with the team so I'm that medium.
I'm the person you know that, fans can talk to and connect with and find more information
about.
They wanna know more and their connection with me is like their connection to the team
so that's something that's really special and really cool about this job.
In addition to my role with the hurricanes I also work for Pack Pride.
Pack Pride is a publication of 24/7 Sports, which is a part of CBSSports.com and that
is the NC State fan site.
My biggest role for them is conducting interviews, 1 on 1 interviews with high school football
recruits, basketball recruits, and I do current players for NC State Athletics.
In sports media it doesn't matter whether you wanna be in front of the camera or behind
the camera, you have to be versatile.
And NC State did a really great job at that and it wasn't just you know, learning sports
broadcasting in those classes it was learning about film and broadcasts in general and how
to storytell through video.
And that's something that I'm able to use, I bring a creative aspect to my everyday workplace
because I learned a different side and a different perspective of how to produce and how to storytell
through the use of video.
One of the things I value most about my degree and my time at NC State is definitely the
people that I met.
That's what drew me to NC State originally is you could just feel how genuine people
at NC State were and how much they loved their school and how much they wanted to learn about
you and connect with you.
I don't think you can find that at other schools, the genuineness of those relationships and
the people there, especially with the College of Humanities and Social Sciences.
Those relationships and those internships and those opportunities with NC State whether
it was, you know projects for class, or my internships with NC State Athletics.
All that stuff 100% got me where I am today, I would not be where I am without NC State,
that's for sure.
We look forward to connecting with you and are happy to answer any questions you may
have.
Please reach out at any time and let us know how we can help you.
In conclusion, please watch this next video from a student who has been actively engaged
in our college and on campus, and is but one example of the opportunities and experiences
we have to offer.