Undergraduates majoring in Childhood Education (Grades 1 to 6) must select a 30 to 32 credit academic specialty from the Liberal Arts and Sciences curriculum. Such study complements the Childhood Education courses and provides you with specialized knowledge in one particular discipline. This adds depth and breath to your level of teaching expertise. As a teacher, you can transmit your enthusiasm for the focused subject to young learners, helping them to grow intellectually and socially.<br><br>Social studies teachers educate students in the early grades to understand how people interact with each other and their surroundings, how different regions of the world developed over time, and the great variety of economies, political structures and social life. To prepare you for this challenge, the program is broadly interdisciplinary. Beyond the Core Curriculum, which surveys the history of world civilizations from ancient era to the present, you will have the opportunity to choose courses – in anthropology, economics, geography, history, political science and sociology – that explore the formation of political institutions and governments, differing interpretations of history, how people around the world structure their economic lives, and the relationship between human societies and the natural world. The range of electives offered is extensive, including: ''Introduction to Urban Geography,'' ''Sociology of Families,'' ''America in the Era of the Civil War and Reconstruction,'' ''Disease and History'' and ''The History of Modern Latin America.''