Department Profile

The Social Sciences at Michigan Tech

The Department of Social Sciences at Michigan Tech offers graduate and undergraduate degree programs aligned with our faculty’s interdisciplinary knowledge and expertise. We apply the methods and approaches of the social sciences to understanding concerns and challenges associated with socioeconomic, technological, and environmental change. We provide our students with an enriching array of educational experiences, including hands-on participation in faculty-led research.

Our Undergraduate Degree Programs

Our undergraduate majors provide students with broad training in the disciplines of anthropology, history, and the social sciences.

Our Graduate Degree Programs

  • The Environmental and Energy Policy (EEP) program examines socioeconomic dimensions of environmental and energy policies. MS, PhD and Accelerated Master's degrees are offered.
  • The Industrial Heritage and Archaeology (IHA) program examines the history and material culture of industry and industrial communities in the context of social change, de-industrialization, and revitalization. MS, PhD and Accelerated Master's degrees are offered.
  • The Sustainable Communities (Sus-Com) program prepares students to have the skills and understandings necessary to work on sustainability issues in the public, private, and non-profit sectors. MS and Accelerated Master's degrees are offered.
  • The Public Policy Certificate helps you to develop relevant skills and policy analysis expertise in just three courses. Prepare for professional careers as policy analysts and leaders in public service.

Our Faculty

Our faculty, who often partner with natural scientists and engineers, includes anthropologists, geographers, historians, political scientists, and sociologists. Their interdisciplinary research increases society's capacity to sustain the aspects of natural and built environments that communities value. They examine environmental uses and industrial landscapes from the bottom up and the top down—from material culture and day-to-day practices to the power of policies and markets that govern social and environmental interactions. As active scholars with funded research programs, our faculty have received numerous awards for publications and research and possess national and international reputations.

Our research, international in scope and linked to our graduate programs, is enriched by the cultural and natural resources of Michigan’s historic Keweenaw Peninsula—which provides us and our students with exciting opportunities for local collaborations.

Learn More

Whether you're interested in undergraduate programs that prepare you for a variety of career paths, or in a graduate program focused on industrial heritage or environmental and energy policy, we invite you to explore our website. Find out more about our degree programs and faculty and student research. If you have questions, please contact us at socialsciences@mtu.edu.