Welcome to the School of Humanities & Social Sciences

Thank you for visiting the School of Humanities and Social Sciences’ (HSS) website. Explore the many academic programs and experiences we offer to Indiana University East undergraduate and graduate students. HSS students work with highly-qualified and dedicated faculty who are talented and caring educators and renowned researchers in their respective disciplines.

Consider a major or a minor in one of the many disciplines within Humanities and Social Science. Take a course in history, music, psychology, or literature; travel to one of numerous locations in the world as part of a study abroad course; participate in experiential travel within the US; complete an internship locally or regionally; conduct research and present at Student Research Day; engage with service learning; join a club or organization; get involved!

Our students receive expert advising and support from our highly-qualified professional advisors and from faculty mentors. They help you shape your academic career, selecting classes that you need for your major and various electives; they offer advice about potential careers and graduate school along with many other opportunities.

Upon graduation, you can embark on a career in fields such as law enforcement, technical writing and editing, grant writing, counseling, education, law, public administration and service, public relations, telecommunications, nonprofit administration, art, music, politics, international affairs, and many more.

Please contact us or any of the faculty or staff with any questions about HSS. We hope to see you in many of our classes in the future!

Sincerely,

Daren Snider
Dean, School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Professor, World Languages and Cultures

Margaret Thomas Evans
Associate Dean, School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Associate Professor, English

The mission of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences is to ignite and maintain students’ intellectual curiosity and critical thinking by providing meaningful learning experiences and promoting academic excellence.

The school encourages exploration of the many dimensions of the human condition through teaching, scholarly and creative activities, and service. 

We strive to create a welcoming community building upon diversity, equity, and inclusivity that prepares students to live and work in an increasingly interconnected world, both local and global.

Initiative 1 - Internal Functioning

The School of Humanities and Social Sciences will function as a single unit and promote a common message and goals to internal and external constituencies.

• Goal A: Improve branding, marketing, and overall visibility of the School of HSS on-campus, online, and throughout our service area
• Goal B: Foster a collegial, supportive, and positive working environment
• Goal C: Prepare for future external reviews
• Goal D: Increase the base budget
• Goal E: Increase staff members to support high needs and new initiatives as resources allow
• Goal F: Assess effectiveness of internal functioning

Initiative 2 - Academic Excellence

The School of Humanities and Social Sciences will support and promote academic excellence.

• Goal A: Increase the percentage of FT tenure track faculty to support current and proposed programs.
• Goal B: Hire qualified part-time faculty to support current and proposed academic programs
• Goal C: Provide systematic support for improvement of teaching and learning practice
• Goal D: Feature the scholarly and creative productivity, teaching excellence, and service-based contributions of HSS faculty
• Goal E: Assess teaching and learning outcomes

Initiative 3 - Community Engagement

The School of Humanities and Social Sciences will be viewed as a valuable community resource, contributor, and partner.

• Goal A: Maintain and develop opportunities for community and regional engagement
• Goal B: Support existing and help develop new promotional efforts to strengthen relationship between the university and community
• Goal C: Create pathways for service engagement that enhance professional development for all stakeholders (faculty, staff, students, community)
• Goal D: Assess impact of civic engagement and community involvement

Initiative 4 - Student Success

The School of Humanities and Social Sciences will promote student success through a focus on academic growth, personal development, and career planning.

• Goal A: Foster students' academic success
• Goal B: Promote students' personal and career development
• Goal C: Create a pervasive advising culture
• Goal D: Increase retention and improve graduate rate for HSS majors
• Goal E: Assess effectiveness of student success initiatives

Initiative 5 - Diversity

The School of Humanities and Social Sciences will maintain a commitment to diversity and promote diverse ways of knowing and being on campus, online, and throughout the community.

• Goal A: Lead the campus in promoting a climate supportive of diverse ways of knowing and being
• Goal B: Develop curricula that implement issues of diversity, require critical thinking about the contemporary world, and enable students to more fully participate as global citizens
• Goal C: Integrate diversity initiatives across classroom, online, campus and community environments
• Goal D: Assess effectiveness of diversity initiatives