The Social Studies Department, as part of a Catholic, Jesuit institution, is committed to: (a) excellence in education, (b) a broad based study of the human past, (c) encouragement of student interest in all areas of history, (d) dynamic scholarly activity, and (e) a critical sense of history and the contemporary world. The Department promotes investigation of and reflection on the accumulated knowledge and diverse experience of human societies, which leads to an understanding of and appreciation for the past.