New UH Hilo certificate program in applied social science is on track for fall 2025 launch
The new certificate program in applied social science will focus on preparing students with skills needed for competitive employment opportunities and community projects.
By Susan Enright.
A new certificate program in applied social science is under development at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo. The program is designed to train students in the methods of social science and provide opportunities to apply these skills to real world practical problems.
Courses in the certificate program will provide hands-on training out in the local community, with a focus on preparing students for competitive employment opportunities and community projects after completing the program.
“We decided to develop this certificate for several reasons,” says Lindy Hern, associate professor of sociology and chair of the department at UH Hilo, citing national trends in declining enrollment in higher education programs following the pandemic. “We wanted to come up with something new and exciting that would encourage students to think about participating in sociology and other areas of social science in a meaningful way, even if they are primarily focused on a different major.”
The certificate will give sociology and other majors another credential to boost their resume: training and skills useful in the larger professional world.
“Hopefully it will encourage non-majors to take more of our classes,” says Hern, “as well as other classes in the College of Arts and Sciences.”
Interdisciplinary program
The core classes of the new applied social science certificate program, planned to launch in fall of 2025, are housed in the sociology department, but the certificate is interdisciplinary in its electives, which are described as “diversified methods and skills” from seven additional departments.
Some of these collaborations are unexpected, says Hern, for example a few elective classes from the art department involving digital art such as website design. But skills such as website and social media design are definitely important in a modern digital world and could be a real draw for possible employers post graduation.
Philosophy courses are also included in the program, which Hern says you might not expect to see in a science certificate, “but philosophy is the basis of science, we would not have science if we didn’t first have philosophy, and the skills that students develop in the philosophy courses — like logic, reasoning, critical thinking — are foundational skills in the world of applied social science.”
The new certificate program also dovetails nicely with the applied skills that are being taught and projects that are being done in other classes in the social science division as well, such as in geography and political science. “They are doing some really cool stuff in geography and political science!” says Hern.
- UH Hilo geography students create online GIS map of local veterans cemetery to help visitors find gravesites (UH Hilo Stories, Jan. 17, 2024)
The proposed certificate program is currently under the review process this semester, on track for the launch next fall.
Learn more about applied social science (and spooky ghosts)
Faculty in the UH Hilo sociology program are holding events to inform students about the upcoming certificate program. The first is a “Meet Your Majors” event, part of a series sponsored by the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences where the sociology department is housed.
“The events have been a really great way to connect with our majors, interested students, and alumni over the past couple of years,” says Hern.
The next “Meet Your Majors” event is scheduled for October 9, 2024, 4:30 p.m., at the University Classroom Building, room 100. Guest speaker is sociologist and applied social scientist Mike Hirsch, who is a professor of sociology at Huston-Tillotson University in Austin, Texas, where he also serves as dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.
Hirsch’s talk will focus on what it means to conduct applied social science research. He will use examples from his own work including some research he has done talking with people who believe they have interacted with ghosts. “Spooky, just in time for Halloween!” says Hern.
Hirsch just happens to be Hern’s undergraduate advisor from when they were both at Central Methodist University in Fayette, Missouri, when Hirsch was the town mayor.
“We’ve kept in touch over the past 20 years and he’s always been supportive,” says Hern. “He actually encouraged me to become involved in the Association for Applied and Clinical Sociology when I was in graduate school, and I am now the president-elect of the organization. I become the president in November.”
“He and his wife Carol were two of the first people to visit me here, other than my parents,” she adds. “He really taught me what it means to be a supportive mentor and I hope that I can be that for my students as well.”
Anyone interested in UH Hilo sociology program, including the new certificate program in applied social science, is welcome to attend Hirsch’s talk. For more information, contact Lindy Hern.
Story by Susan Enright, a public information specialist for the Office of the Chancellor and editor of UH Hilo Stories. She received her bachelor of arts in English and certificate in women’s studies from UH Hilo.
