In addition, its courses are incorporated into the interdisciplinary programs in Latin American Area Studies, Women's Studies, and European Area Studies, and it offers a major in Liberal Arts for the Human Services and a social science major for teacher licensure. The social sciences coursework is oriented toward liberal education studies that prepare students to understand human beings in their social relationships. Many of the social science disciplines encourage various kinds of fieldwork. Students intern as social workers, counselors, state legislative assistants, and administrative assistants in a variety of programs and organizations, including the Older Adults Program, welfare agencies, and group homes. A number of students have co-authored studies with faculty and have presented papers at professional conferences.
Many students serve as research and teaching assistants.
They have used primary research materials to recreate historical events for reports filed in the archives of the West Central Minnesota Historical Research Center. UMM's Division of the Social Sciences has many resources that lend themselves well to establishing individual learning experiences. Among these are the West Central Minnesota Historical Research Center, Psychology Laboratory, Project on Fantasy, Model United Nations Program, and a wide variety of internship and field studies programs. Close student-faculty rapport is an important aspect of social sciences study. The University of Minnesota is an equal opportunity educator and employer.