Sophomores

 

COLLEGE  OF  SOCIAL  STUDIES

REGISTRATION  NOTES

Sophomores

Click here for a printable copy of the Registration Notes for Sophomores

STRUCTURE OF THE SOPHOMORE YEAR

Before the beginning of the semester, the full syllabi for the sophomore courses will be made available to you. Your CSS Faculty Advisor, now and for the rest of the year (and generally for the rest of your time at Wesleyan), will be the tutor for your first trimester tutorial. 

 

Choosing Courses for the Sophomore Year

In the fall, you will be taking the sophomore colloquium (CSS 271) as well as your first trimester tutorial for which you have been assigned (CSS 220 or 230 or 240). We strongly recommend that you take ONE course outside the CSS in the fall, and no more than TWO outside courses in the spring. Remember that, even though you will not be taking the Social Theory Colloquium in the spring, you will be preparing for the Sophomore Comprehensive Exams (Sophomore Comps) in late April/early May. In light of this commitment, it would be wise for you to avoid courses where the main work (such as a research paper) is due at the end of the semester. Overall, your outside courses in the fall and spring should not be too demanding. You should consult your CSS advisor about any outside courses that you wish to take in the fall. Your CSS advisor will help you with choices for the spring semester during pre-registration in November.

During preregistration in the fall for spring semester classes, sophomores will be pre-enrolled in the second and third trimester CSS tutorials. Note that you will have begun the second tutorial during the fall semester prior to the pre-registration period in which you will actually be pre-enrolled.

 

Economics Requirement

The Economics prerequisite for the CSS major is fulfilled if you have already taken ECON 101 or ECON 110 and received a grade of C- or better or if you have taken the AP exams or the IB exam in Economics and received a score of 4 or 5 on BOTH AP (Microeconomics and Macroeconomics) exams or a score of 5 or higher on the IB exam. If you have satisfied this prerequisite on the basis of either of these exams, please be sure that your AP or IB scores are registered in your student WesPortal for verification purposes.

If you have not yet taken an Economics course at Wesleyan and you are unable to use AP or IB exam scores to satisfy the Economics requirement, you MUST enroll in ECON 101 or ECON 110 (for which a full-year of college-level calculus is required) in the upcoming fall semester.

If you have already taken one of the introductory Economics courses at Wesleyan in your freshman year but you did not achieve a grade of C- or higher, you must enroll in another Economics course in the upcoming fall semester. This second course would normally be a 200-level elective in Economics. To fulfill the Economics requirement by the end of your fall semester, you must have achieved a grade in your second Economics course that is sufficiently high so that the average in the two Economics courses is at least C-. If you fail to achieve an average grade of C- or higher in your two Economics courses, you will be required to leave the CSS at the end of the fall semester.  If you have any questions about the Economics requirement or your own status, please contact the CSS Co-Chairs.

 

Methods Course Requirement

Beginning in academic year 2025-2026 with the class of 2028, CSS students are required to take a Social Science course that teaches methods and/or research design prior to the start of the senior year. We recommend taking the course during junior year with some idea as to what field you wish to focus on for your senior year capstone research project. Each of the departments tailors its methods/research design courses to address topics of research in that particular field. Hence thinking about what general field your capstone project will be in will help you choose the proper course. Alternatively, you can take one of the general statistical or data analysis courses offered by the Quantitative Analysis Center (QAC) with CSS approval. We will provide you with a list of principal methods courses in the Social Sciences.


General Education Expectations

Due to the heavy load of required courses for the major in the sophomore year, you are not required to fulfill Stage I expectations by the end of the sophomore year. Instead, you should satisfy Stage I and be on your way toward satisfying Stage II by the end of the junior year. CSS students who do not complete Stage I of the General Education expectations by the end of the sophomore year must, by the start of spring preregistration for fall courses in the junior year, submit for approval of their advisor and the CSS Co-Chairs a plan for completing the expectations of both Stage I and Stage II by graduation. To graduate with a CSS major, a student MUST be Stage II Compliant by the end of the senior year.

 

GENERAL NOTES

Absences and Late Papers 

Sophomores must attend all tutorials and submit a completed paper prior to class. Likewise, they must attend every session of the colloquium (or have a documented medical or family emergency). Absence from classes undermines a common learning experience; failure to finish papers on time breaks the chain of effort and criticism on which the tutorial method depends. The tutor will report to the CSS Co-Chairs any absence from a tutorial or from the colloquium for any reason, or a failure to complete a paper on time, and the student will be given a warning. Depending on the circumstances, repeated failure to attend class or submit papers on time may result in separation from the CSS major. For more details on late-paper procedures, see: https://www.wesleyan.edu/css/formajors/latepapers.html.

 

 

Grades 

The CSS sophomore tutorials and colloquium are ungraded. Instead you will receive written and oral evaluations of your papers and tutorial participation. At the end of the year, you will take a Comprehensive Examination on the material of these courses that is graded in the following CSS mode: High Distinction, Distinction, Commendable, Satisfactory, Conditional Pass, and Unsatisfactory. This is the only CSS grade to be recorded on the transcript for sophomore year. For any outside CSS course that you take during sophomore year, you can choose to take the course for a letter grade or you can choose the CR/U grading mode if that option is provided for the course.

 

Accommodations

If you believe that you will need accessibility accommodations for your CSS courses or comps, please contact Accessibility Services in order to arrange an appointment to discuss your needs and the process for requesting accommodations. Accessibility Services is located in North College, rooms 021/218, or can be reached by email (accessibility@wesleyan.edu) or phone (860-685-2332). Click here for the link to the Accessibility Office contact page. Students receiving accommodations must provide their authorization letter from the Accessibility Office to their tutors at the beginning of each tutorial and colloquium, and also provide a copy to Martha Crebbin in the CSS Office.