The Curriculum: Family Studies Option

Family Studies Curriculum Checklist

Required Core Courses

In addition to general degree requirements for the University and School of Human Ecology, the Family Studies Option requires course work in the following areas: human development from infancy to old age, human sexuality, interpersonal communication, intimate relationships, parent-child relations, families under stress, ethnic minority families, personal and family finance, families and public policy, ethics, and an internship.

Areas of Concentration

Beyond these core requirements, students choose from a list of courses that tap two content areas (family issues and lifespan human development) and four professional skills areas:

• 1) media, extension, and education
• 2) social policy and community intervention
• 3) mental health and pre-counseling
• 4) preparation for research-based graduate study

The Family Issues Content Area

Students select courses from Human Development and Family Studies and other social science departments across campus in order to gain in-depth understanding of the connection between family life and the broader social context. Examples of such courses are Gender Roles and Society (Human Development and Family Studies); Family, Kin, and Community in Anthropological Perspective (Anthropology); Family Economics (Consumer Sciences); History of the Family in the U.S. (History); Women’s Work, Women’s lives: 1800 to the Present (Women’s Studies); and Sociology of the Family (Sociology).

The Lifespan Human Development Content Area

Students choose courses from Human Development and Family Studies and other social science departments in order to gain a deeper understanding of a particular aspect of human development or a particular segment of the human lifespan. Examples of such courses are Social and Emotional Development of the Young Child in Early Childhood Education (Human Development and Family Studies); Leisure and Aging (Continuing & Vocational Education); Language Development and Disorders in Preschool Children (Communicative Disorders); Adolescent Development (Educational Psychology); Adult Development and Aging (Psychology); Child Abuse and Neglect (Social Work); Aging and the Family (Human Development and Family Studies).

Professional Skills

Students are encouraged to concentrate on professional skills that match their career goals. Through such courses, students can learn about news writing, radio broadcasting, mass communication, public speaking, group discussion, principles of adult education, personnel management, policy making, social welfare, health care systems, interviewing, counseling programs, behavioral pathology, or research methodology and statistics. Such professional skills help students to apply their knowledge of human development and families to a variety of potential employment settings (if their goal is an entry-level job) and prepare them for professional graduate study if their goal is a professional or academic career.

Internship

A minimum of 3 internship credits totaling 150 hours is required for graduation. In addition, students can satisfy three of the required credits of professional skill courses by taking a second internship. Students spend their internships in a variety of settings. Most commonly, students identify a human service agency provided in the list accompanying the internship booklet which can be obtained from the Internship Coordinator for the School of Human Ecology. Students have also interned in legal offices, government offices, and extension. Last, but not least, students interested in pursuing a graduate degree have taken research internships with professors in HDFS. The research internship can also provide a helpful foundation for writing an honors thesis.

Advising

Students should work closely with their advisors in the SAA office and their HDFS mentors to identify a well-planned course of study and find an appropriate internship setting. Students should also seek their advisor’s help if they discover a course which fits their career plans but does not appear on the list of suggested content are or professional skills courses on the family studies check sheet. The advisor may be able to approve unlisted courses as part of the student’s program. Sometimes advisors can help students gain admittance to popular or restricted courses in other departments, though this can not be guaranteed. Finally, students planning to take a semester abroad should make sure before they leave whether some of their international course work can substitute for specific HDFS requirements.

Certification Options

Certificate programs offer specialized training that is particularly helpful for those seeking entry level jobs. Through appropriate and timely planning, the family studies major can be successfully combined with these certificates without extending the time required to graduate. Further information about these certificate programs can be found on here. Please see your advisor for further details if you are interested in pursuing one of the listed certification options:

• 1) NCFR Family Life Educator Certificate: The Family Studies option provides the course work necessary to obtain a provisional certificate as a Family Life Educator from the National Council on Family Relations (NCFR). This provisional certificate is not a teaching certification, but a credential assuring employers that the individual has the knowledge and skills necessary to educate others about family life. With this course work and two years of experience after graduation, students can apply to NCFR to be recognized as a certified Family Life Educator. Students qualify for this certificate if they take all HDFS core course and CAVE 370 or 371.
• 2) Several certificates awarded by other departments or centers of the University of Wisconsin – Madison have required course work that overlaps substantially with those suggested for the content or professional skills areas of the Family Studies major option.
• a. Specialist in Gerontology certificate from the Institute on Aging
• b. Women’s Studies certificate from the Women’s Studies program
• 3) Double Majors: An additional option successfully pursued by a number of Family Studies graduates are double majors with Psychology, Women’s Studies, Social Work/Social Welfare, Sociology, Communication Arts, and Foreign Languages. If you are interested in these opportunities, please discuss them with your advisor.

Career Paths

The Family Studies option can be flexibly tailored to fit diverse career plans. Students should work closely with their advisors to plan their course of study. A survey of HDFS undergraduate program alumni suggests that most students fall into three major categories after graduation.

• 1) Some students plan to apply for entry-level jobs in human service fields (including business, public agencies, or the government sector) after graduation. These jobs might include working in a hospital or nursing home, in a personnel office, a government agency, or a non-profit human service organization. Students interested in taking this route should consider doing an internship, volunteer work, and/or an independent study to gain applied experiences in the field of their choice. If it fits their interests, these students might plan to include course work leading to the Specialist in Gerontology or Women’s Studies certificate and/or to obtain the provisional certificate in family life education available from the National Council on Family Relations.
• 2) Students planning to enter a graduate program for further professional training should design their internship to coordinate with this goal. For example, a student aiming to enter law school might seek an internship connected with family law or family advocacy. Students interested in specific programs should find out whether this program requires specific undergraduate course work (for example, an additional biology course or a particular statistics course).
• 3) Students interested in pursuing a masters or doctoral degree in social science disciplines should include research experience in their undergraduate work. This can be achieved through independent study and/or signing up for a research internship with one of the department’s professors. These students might also consider applying for the honors program and writing a senior or honors thesis. A number of undergraduate research scholarships are available from the School of Human Ecology to support student research supervised by HDFS faculty.