PSYCHOLOGY AND SOCIAL SCIENCE
Social Innovation Minor
Psychology and Social Science Bachelor’s Degree Programs
BVU’s social innovation minor is designed to heighten students’ abilities and commitments to collaboratively work across community contexts and structures to achieve a civic aim. Students who minor in social innovation build an understanding of relationships between diversity, inequality, and social, economic, and political power — in the United States and globally.
Take Me To
Why should I earn social innovation minor?
Complement Your Studies
Social innovation is a good complement to most other majors and minors, and supports various community-focused career goals.
Work Together
Build an understanding of the relationships between diversity, inequity, and social, economic, and political power, both in the U.S. and globally.
Get Involved
Be empowered not just to study what creates social change, but to engineer it.
What I Can Do With a Social Innovation Minor
- Nonprofit director
- Community liaison
- Community relations manager in a corporate setting
- On Campus
On Campus
Storm Lake
Why study social innovation at BVU?
Find Your Passion
You can choose to focus specifically on community engagement and context, civic engagement, or intercultural competency.
Build Your Future
Network and build relationships with nonprofits while you develop leadership skills important to their organization.
Hone Your Skills
Experiential learning projects tie theory and practice together to help you develop socially innovative knowledge and skills.
Service Learning Scholarships
BVU offers 10 full-tuition scholarships exclusively for Buena Vista County high school students. In return, award-winning students will serve as Iowa College AmeriCorps volunteers in Buena Vista County communities to build on valuable personal, leadership, and professional skills.
LEARN MORESocial Innovation Courses
- Minor in Social Innovation (18 credit hours)
Core Courses
- SCWK 100/SOCI 100 Modern Social Problems
- DIGI 210 Media and Society
- OBVU 205 Education for Service Scholars Lab (every semester)
Community Engagement and Context Courses (at least one 3 credit-hour elective)
- COMM 227 Public Communication
- DATA 100 Data Science in Society
- EXSC 200 History, Philosophy and Ethics of Sport
- EXSC 202 Public and Community Health
- PSPA 165 Introduction to Public Administration
- PSPA 320 State and Local Politics
- PSPA 360 Introduction to Public Affairs
- RELI 122 Religion and Culture
- SCWK 235 Human Behavior and the Social Environment I
- SCWK 311 Social Justice Experience
- SPAN 308 Spanish in the Community
Civic Identity Courses (at least one 3 credit-hour elective)
- COMM 280 Group and Team Communication
- COMM 340 Civic Communication
- COMM 370 Leadership Communication
- CRIM 101 Criminal Justice Systems
- ENGL 110 Introduction to Writing Studies
- GEOG 300 Human and Cultural Geography
- HIST 315 History of Immigration in the U.S.
- HMSV 301 Human Services in Rural Communities
- MGMT 380 Social Responsibility of Business
- PHIL 110 Ethics
- RELI 336 Professional Ethics
- SOCI 203 Social Psychology
- SCWK 351 Group Work with Older Adults
Diversity and Intercultural Competence (at least one 3 credit-hour elective)
- COMM 302 Intercultural Communication
- DIGI 400 Media Theory and Representation
- ENGL 276 World Literature
- GWST 110 Introduction to Gender and Women's Studies
- HIST 358 Women Around the World
- RELI 112 Religions of Asia
- SCWK/SOCI 355 Gender, Sexuality, Race, and Class: Intersectionality
- SEDU 333 Young Adult Fiction and Nonfiction
- SOCI 101 Introduction to Sociology
- SPAN 101 Elementary Spanish I
- TESL 270 Introduction to Second Language Acquisition
Any foreign language course may be substituted for Elementary Spanish.
Financial Aid & Scholarships
We’ll help you figure out your options for financial assistance and possible scholarships.
Learn MoreSocial Innovation Faculty
Our instructors are committed to helping you build the future of Iowa and beyond.
See Our FacultyTransfer Your Credits
Do you have previously earned credits or an associate degree? BVU accepts most — if not all — of your credits so you don’t have to retake courses.
View Course EquivalenciesEarn a Master’s Degree Faster with Our Accelerated Program
With BVU's Plus One program, you can earn your special education, teaching English as a second language, or organizational leadership master's within one year of graduating with your bachelor’s degree.
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Explore a Social Innovation Minor
Find out more about earning a Minor in psychology and social science with BVU.
