The BYU College of Family, Home and Social Sciences is a college

College

A college is an educational institution or a constituent part of an educational institution. Usage varies in English-speaking nations...

 located on the Provo, Utah

Provo, Utah

Provo is the third largest city in the U.S. state of Utah, located about south of Salt Lake City along the Wasatch Front. Provo is the county seat of Utah County and lies between the cities of Orem to the north and Springville to the south...

 campus of Brigham Young University

Brigham Young University

Brigham Young University is a private university located in Provo, Utah. It is owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , and is the United States' largest religious university and third-largest private university.Approximately 98% of the university's 34,000 students...

 and is housed in the Spencer W. Kimball Tower

Spencer W. Kimball Tower

The Spencer W. Kimball Tower, also known as the SWKT or Kimball Tower, is a 12-story building that houses classrooms and administrative offices on the Brigham Young University campus in Provo, Utah.-Honorary name:...

 and Joseph F. Smith Building.

Origins

The BYU College of Family Living was organized in 1969 while the BYU College of Social Sciences was organized in 1970. These two colleges merged to form the current college in 1979. The first dean of the college was Martin B. Hickman

Martin B. Hickman

Martin B. Hickman was the first dean of Brigham Young University's College of Family, Home and Social Sciences.Hickman was born in Monticello, Utah. He graduated from Logan High School and began college at Utah State Agricultural College . He then served in the United States Army as an...

.

Departments and programs

Departments and programs within the college include studies in Anthropology

Anthropology

Anthropology is the study of humanity. It has origins in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. The term "anthropology" is from the Greek anthrōpos , "man", understood to mean mankind or humanity, and -logia , "discourse" or "study", and was first used in 1501 by German...

, Economics

Economics

Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...

, Family Life, Geography

Geography

Geography is the science that studies the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. A literal translation would be "to describe or write about the Earth". The first person to use the word "geography" was Eratosthenes...

, History

History

History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...

, Political Science

Political science

Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...

, Psychology

Psychology

Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...

, Social Work, and Sociology

Sociology

Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...

.

School of Social Work

The BYU School of Social Work is a sub-unit of the BYU College of Home, Family and Social Sciences. It currently only offers a masters of social work program, but previously offered a bachelors in social work program as well. The decision to shift to having only a masters program was due to a perception that bachelors in social work were not looked for, and that in many ways a bachelors in psychology or sociology better prepared the students for a career in the field. It also reflected a general decision by BYU to focus more on building successful programs than trying to be all things to all people.

Among the graduates of the school is Pam Johstoneaux who specializes in sexual behavior related counseling.

History department

The Brigham Young University history department offered master's programs up until 2008. In that year it was decided to end masters programs and focus all the department energies on undergraduate work. With nearly 1000 undergraduates it was felt that this would allow the department to better prepare them for graduate school and let the school focus on its core work.

The history department offers majors and minors in history as well as history teaching which can be obtained in conjunction with the David O. McKay School of Education

David O. McKay School of Education

The David O. McKay School of Education operates one of the largest teacher preparation programs in the nation. The school specializes in improving learning and teaching in the school as well as in the home, church and community worldwide. The McKay School is located on the southwest end of Brigham...

's secondary education teaching program. It also offers classes in Native American Studies which can lead to a minor in that subject.

Anthropology/Archaeology

The first appointment to a professorship in Archeology at BYU occurred in 1945, shortly after Howard S. McDonald became president of BYU. M. Wells Jakeman

M. Wells Jakeman

Max Wells Jakeman was the founder of the department of archaeology at Brigham Young University and an early member of the advisory board of the New World Archaeology Foundation . Jakeman has been described as "the father of Book of Mormon archaeology".Jakeman received his Ph.D...

was appointed to this position. Archaeology was made its own department in 1946. In 1979 the Department of Archaeology was re-named the Department of Anthropology. This re-naming was accompanied by a shift away from studying the archeology of the scriptures.

School of Family Life

The School of Family Life is a major component of this college. It includes the Family Studies Center which coordinates and disseminates research on the family.