A Message from Dr. Jimmie McClellan
Dean for Humanities and Social Sciences

Dr. Jimmie McClellan Dean for Humanities and Social Sciences Back to H&SS Home

I want to extend to you my personal welcome to the Humanities and Social Sciences Division, the largest academic division at Northern Virginia Community College. The humanities and social sciences, speaking generally, are the disciplines, or branches of knowledge, concerned with man and his culture, and thus they help us to explore and understand what it means to be human. Such an understanding is important in an age that increasingly emphasizes technology and demands a faster pace. The Division offers a broad range of disciplines and courses taught in a variety of traditional and technological formats by teachers who are among the very best. We offer the complete array of English courses, from entry-level ESL to specialized literature courses; twelve different foreign languages (including Arabic, Hindi, Vietnamese, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Ancient Greek and Latin), supported by a multi-media Language Center (Room AA160); and a wide variety of history and social science, and philosophy and religion courses. Our peer-tutoring program (for ESL and Developmental English) and our Writing Assistance Center (in Room AA340) offer support with your written coursework, if you need it. Our Honors Program gives qualified students the opportunity to explore subject matter in greater depth in seminar atmospheres. And finally, a relatively new program feature within this division is International Area Studies (in Latin American, Chinese, Japanese, and African-American Studies), which enables you to concentrate your studies in one of four areas, combining the studies of history, literature, language, even economics and psychology. Our faculty love teaching and they are dedicated to your success in your educational endeavors. You should feel free to explore their Web sites and contact them about their courses, which you can do through this Web site or by phoning them at their offices. Whatever courses you choose to pursue, they will challenge you to think, expand your skills and knowledge, and by doing so enrich your life.