On Friday, September 28, 2018, Howard Community College (HCC) hosted the second annual Social Science Symposium, welcoming more than one hundred Howard County Public School System (HCPSS) high school students to its Columbia campus.

As a part of a collaborative effort between the Office of Secondary Social Studies of HCPSS and the History and Social Sciences Department at HCC, students and teachers from six high schools were in attendance. The goals of the event were to expose students to higher education opportunities in history and the social sciences, allow students to attend sessions by college professors on interesting topics, provide students with an opportunity to tour the campus and see what a day at a college might be like, and promote the importance of history and the social sciences as disciplines of critical thinking, literacy, and civic engagement

Community Superintendent Marcy Leonard of HCPSS and Vice President Jean Svacina of HCC bought greetings to the students and teachers, before sending them off for a campus tour and multiple presentations taught by HCC and HCPSS staff. The event offered three self selected concurrent sessions throughout the day. Presentations covered various topics, such as How Does the Constitution Protect You?, Who is Vladimir Putin, Race, Ethnicity, and Culture: Diversity All Around Us, and Reconstruction and Freedom for African Americans.

For information related to the this event, please contact Dr. Mark Stout, Coordinator for Advanced Placement and Secondary Social Studies, Howard County Public School System.