Major program: Interested students apply for admission to CSS during their freshman year at Wesleyan. The College's reputation for both diversity and intensity leads to a high degree of self-selection in the applicant pool. The program was created in the belief that the various social studies can best be pursued together, rather than in isolation, and that the student will better understand the subject matter and the nature of each discipline by considering it in its relation to the other disciplines. The intent of the CSS is to introduce students to the basic theoretical and substantive aspects of several disciplines, and to develop a sense of methodological criticism supported by work in philosophy. The curriculum stresses fundamental techniques of analysis in economics, history, and government, as well as their application in the subject matter of those fields. Precision in writing and speaking is stressed in essays and class work. A number of lectures and seminars provide a sense of community that balances the educational aspect of the College.

Sample Courses: Sophomore Government Tutorial: State and Society in the Modern Age; Sophomore Colloquium: Modern Social Theory; Junior Economics Tutorial: Economies in Transition; Junior Government Tutorial: The Real Wealth of Nations; Senior Colloquium: Capitalism and Democracy

Number of Professors: 21
CSS Building

For more information, visit the Department Homepage .

Peter Rutland

Colin and Nancy Campbell Professor in Global Issues and Democratic Thought, Professor of Government, College of Social Studies Tutor, Professor of Russian and Eastern European Studies

Research Interests: Russian Studies, the former Soviet Union and the former East Europe.