Social Sciences
Cueva de las Manos (Cave of the Hands), Argentina, UNESCO World Heritage Site
An essential component of the Liberal Arts curriculum at Prairie State College (PSC), the Department of Social Sciences is united by its examination of the evolving individual and civil values embedded in society’s political, economic, educational, social, and cultural institutions.
Students who select courses in the Social Sciences will have the opportunity to examine the world through a variety of interrelated disciplines, including anthropology, economics, education, geography, history, political science, psychology, and sociology. Students in the Social Sciences use descriptive, causal, and relational analysis to study critical historical and contemporary issues that affect our individual and collective lives.
The Social Sciences Department also aims to provide students with the requisite knowledge base and intellectual skills needed to develop their own sense of themselves and the world in which they live. We invite you to explore the various program descriptions to see how taking courses in the Social Sciences might advance your own academic and career goals.
Dr. Leslie Tischauser Social Science Academic Achievement Award
To be awarded during the last Social Sciences Department meeting of the spring semester, the Dr. Leslie Tischauser Social Science Academic Achievement Award annually recognizes one outstanding second year student who has excelled in a course of study in one or more of the Social Sciences disciplines at Prairie State College.
Students are nominated and voted on by the Social Sciences Department faculty during the spring semester, at which point the Department Chair will send a letter announcing the award to that year’s winning student. The letter includes an invitation to the final spring department meeting, at which time the student will receive their award during a ceremony recognizing their achievements in the Social Sciences.
The award is named for Dr. Leslie Tischauser, Professor Emeritus in History at Prairie State College.
Qualifications for the Award
- Second year student majoring in one or more of the Social Sciences disciplines with 15 hours of Social Sciences credit
- Or, second year student with 15 or more hours of Social Sciences credit
- Cumulative Social Sciences GPA of 3.0
- Nomination by one or more of the Social Sciences faculty
- Selection by vote of the Social Sciences faculty
Past Winners
- 2021-2022 – Nicholas Hardison
- 2020-2021 – Tammie Morrow
- 2019-2020 – Ruben Lopez
- 2018-2019 – Jacquelyn Zenek
- 2017-2018 – Jeanine Koger
- 2016-2017 – Michael Rivich
- 2015-2016 – Kristin Poortenga
- 2014-2015 – Monique Ocanas
- 2013-2014 – James McCoyne
- 2012-2013 – Erin Tomlinson
- 2011-2012 – Keri Perillo
- 2010-2011 – Peggy Jackson
- 2009-2010 – Salima Carpenter
- 2009-2010 – Katrina Trejo
- 2008-2009 – Rachel L. Abbott
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