The University Teaching of the Social Sciences: Industrial Sociology

ABSTRACT This article describes the creation and implementation of a new online assessment program (“PACKS”) for the department of politics at the University of Virginia. It discusses the benefits of online assessments, including the ease of administration, minimal faculty involvement, ability to link assessment data to existing student data (e.g., GPA and courses completed), and ability to track student progress over time. The assessment can be easily adapted for use by other departments in the social sciences and by other colleges and universities. The authors discuss the drawbacks to this type of assessment, including the challenge of obtaining the highest number of respondents. They recommend using a strong incentive to ensure full participation, such as an advising hold that prevents students from registering until they complete the assessment. The authors contend that implementing survey-based assessment tools is an ideal way for departments to meet their accrediting institutions’ assessment requirements.

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Curriculum design in theology and development: Human agency and the prophetic role of the church

HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies ◽

10.4102/hts.v72i4.3432 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 72 (4) ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Beverley Haddad

Keyword(s):

Social Sciences ◽

Curriculum Design ◽

Social Issues ◽

Development Programme ◽

Theological Reflection ◽

The Social ◽

Kwazulu Natal ◽

The University ◽

The Church

The field of theology and development is a relatively new sub-discipline within theological studies in Africa. The first formal post-graduate programme was introduced at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa during the mid-1990s. In the early years it was known as the Leadership and Development programme and since 2000, as the Theology and Development programme. Over the past twenty years, this programme has graduated over 160 BTh Honours, 100 MTh, and 15 PhD students. This article outlines the history of the programme, addresses its ideological orientation, its pedagogical commitments and preferences in curriculum design. It further argues that theological reflection on “development” must seek to understand the prophetic role of the church in responding to the complexities of the social issues facing the African continent. Key to this discussion is the contested nature of “development” and the need for theological perspectives to engage this contestation through a social analysis of the global structures of injustice. This requires an engagement with the social sciences. It is this engagement of the social sciences with theological reflection, the essay argues, that has enabled the students who have graduated from the Theology and Development Programme at the University of KwaZulu-Natal to assist the church and faith-based organisations to become effective agents of social transformation.

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The First Two Years of Mathematics at the University as it relates to the mathematical needs of students in the social sciences

The Future of College Mathematics ◽

10.1007/978-1-4612-5510-9_7 ◽

1983 ◽

pp. 75-80

Author(s):

Robert Z. Norman

Keyword(s):

Social Sciences ◽

The Social ◽

The University

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Edward Shils and Michael Polanyi: the terms of engagement

The calling of social thought ◽

10.7228/manchester/9781526120052.003.0005 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 79-105

Author(s):

Phil Mullins

Keyword(s):

Social Sciences ◽

Michael Polanyi ◽

University Of Chicago ◽

Scholarly Writing ◽

Philosophical Perspective ◽

The Social ◽

Edward Shils ◽

The University

This essay examines the thirty-year personal and intellectual friendship of Edward Shils and Michael Polanyi. Shils identifies Polanyi as one of his three important mentors; he is aware of and often involved in many Polanyi projects after the mid-forties and absorbs elements of Polanyi’s developing post-critical philosophical perspective. Shils helped Polanyi better understand the social sciences and he was a trusted friend whose scholarly writing apparently inspired Polanyi; Shils was also a capable younger figure on whom Polanyi often relied to organize endeavours such as Polanyi’s long term affiliation with the University of Chicago.

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Creating a Modern Profession

Clergy Education in America ◽

10.1093/oso/9780195314670.003.0007 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 200-243

Author(s):

Larry Abbott Golemon

Keyword(s):

Social Sciences ◽

New York ◽

Religious Education ◽

Theological Education ◽

Research University ◽

Theological Schools ◽

The Bible ◽

The Social ◽

The University ◽

The Impact

The sixth chapter analyzes theological schools that realigned themselves with the modern research university. Several narratives are explored: the struggle between Thomas Jefferson’s University of Virginia and seminary founders like John Holt Rice; the influence of the German university through immigrants like Phillip Schaff and theologians who studied abroad; the pragmatic adaptation of the German encyclopedia for organizing theological studies; the impact of the American university’s pragmatism, social sciences, and social reform on seminaries; and the influence of progressive education and the religious education movement on theological schools. University Divinity schools led this movement, especially the University of Chicago built by William Rainey Harper, but a number of independent schools, like Union Theological Seminary in New York, sought such realignment as “theological universities.” This realignment of theological schools had significant benefits, as it increased elective studies, developed specialized fields of ministry, and brought the social sciences to theological education. However, the realignment had unforeseen problems as it widened the gap between academics and those of professional practice; distanced faculty from interdisciplinary work and church leadership; replaced the Bible as a unifying discipline with “the scientific method”; and replaced the integrative role of oral pedagogies with scholarly lectures and the research seminar.

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