Open Educational Resources (OER): Social Sciences

Includes Open Texts on US History, African American History, and Environmental History

From About page: “Balancing academic rigor with popular readability, The American Yawp offers a multi-layered, democratic alternative to the American past.” and “Without losing sight of politics and power, it incorporates transnational perspectives, integrates diverse voices, recovers narratives of resistance, and explores the complex process of cultural creation.”
CC BY SA (Attribution - Share Alike) license

Contributed by Denise Ranney
Instructor Professor (Adult Basic Education & English as a Second Language) at Whatcom Community College
Sourced from WCC Library Open Textbook Collection

Not strictly open but educational use and linking encouraged.
On Copyright page, states “Teachers are expressly given permission to reproduce print copies of Digital History materials for their courses as long as Digital History is credited and the Digital History copyright remains on each page that is printed.”

Textbook is Digital History site, linked above, plus folder of assignments + activities, etc.
Arranged in Google Docs folders
CC BY (Attribution) license

Options to read online, download PDF, or print in color.
Also has online reviews, high marks for cultural relevance and incorporating diverse histories and viewpoints
CC BY (Attribution) license

Includes open texts, audio-video lectures, and supplementary sites for both World and American history.

CC BY (Attribution) license

Bay College Library, other Bay College OER at http://library.baycollege.edu/oer
CC BY (Attribution) license

Bay College Library, other Bay College OER at http://library.baycollege.edu/oer
CC BY (Attribution) license

Three online textbooks, including one for U.S. History and one for American Government.
Each page includes vocabulary words and links for more info on the side
Each textbook has a CC BY (Attribution) license

This set of videos supplementing the Georgia Highlands College implementation of The American Yawp was created under a Round Twelve Mini-Grant for Ancillary Materials Creation and Revisions. The videos have been added to GHC's American History I Youtube Playlist, and a few are also included in Western Civilization II.

From textbook description: “Irreverent, fast-moving introduction to basic evolutionary theories and human origins. The focus is not just on our prehistory. Becoming Human highlights how evolution affects the way we are today, and helps us to anticipate what might happen to us in the future. Easy-to-read but challenging, this book is an ideal introduction to our species' origin.”
Several formats available, including online and downloadable versions (e-book, PDF, .rtf, etc.)
CC BY (Attribution) license, 2013

From textbook description: “The book explores the field of paleoanthropology past and present.”
The order of topics are: intro to anthropology, intro to biology, paleontology/phylogeny, primatology, paleoanthropology, and human variation. The content mixes existing OER sources, popular summaries, a selection of journal articles, videos, and other media.
CC BY NC SA (Attribution - NonCommercial - Share Alike) license, 2017

From introduction: “Modules in this series will focus on physical anthropology and be oriented toward understanding of the natural and cultural factors involved in the evolution of the first hominids.”
Wikibooks format, also includes PDF and printable versions
CC BY SA (Attribution - Share Alike) license, 2014

From the textbook description: “[A]n introductory text about the Native peoples of North America (primarily the United States and Canada) presented from an anthropological perspective. As such, the text is organized around anthropological concepts such as language, kinship, marriage and family life, political and economic organization, food getting, spiritual and religious practices, and the arts. Prehistoric, historic and contemporary information is presented. Each chapter begins with an example from the oral tradition that reflects the theme of the chapter.”
Textbook edition available in PDF and e-book versions, with a link to purchase a print copy
CC BY NC SA (Attribution - NonCommercial - Share Alike) license, 2013

Produced by the Society for Anthropology in Community Colleges

Textbook description: “This textbook is a collection of chapters on the essential topics in cultural anthropology. Different from other introductory textbooks, this book is an edited volume with each chapter written by a different author. Each author has written from their experiences working as an anthropologist and that personal touch makes for an accessible introduction to cultural anthropology.”
Textbook available in several formats, including online, PDF to entire book and to specific chapters, link to purchase print copy, and e-book version

CC BY NC (Attribution - NonCommercial) license, 2017

From textbook description: “This book provides approaches anyone can use to explore their communities and write about them first-hand. The methods presented can be used for a single assignment in a larger course or to guide an entire semester through many levels and varieties of informed personal writing.”
Textbook available in several formats, including online, PDF, print copy link, e-book, and editable version, and more
CC BY NC SA (Attribution - NonCommercial - Share Alike) license, 2017

Univ. of Wisconson-Madison: “The Anthropology Collection brings together, in digital form resources that support or are the result of research and teaching materials”
Not OER but copyright page states: “Images, text, or other content downloaded from the collection may be freely used for non-profit educational and research purposes, or any other use falling within the purview of “Fair Use.”
Browse or search the collection

Peer-reviewed journal of the Society for Cultural Anthropology, a section of the American Anthropological Association
Open access journal
Their copyright notice gives permission to "download, save, reproduce, and transmit for noncommercial, scholarly, and educational purposes."

Palomar tutorials are free to link to but remain under copyright.
Each topic category includes flash cards for additional review.
Developed by Dr. Dennis O'Neil, Palomar College.

From description: “Perseus is an evolving digital library, engineering interactions through time, space, and language. Our primary goal is to bring a wide range of source materials to as large an audience as possible. We anticipate that greater accessibility to the sources for the study of the humanities will strengthen the quality of questions, lead to new avenues of research, and connect more people through the connection of ideas.”
Collection of downloadable primary sources, images, texts, and more -- click “Collections/Texts” to browse sources organized into main subjects
CC BY NC ND (Attribution - NonCommercial - No Derivatives) license

OER Commons

MERLOT Open (Access) Textbook

MERLOT Open (Access) Textbook

MERLOT Open (Access) Textbook

Overview: This books lays the foundation for prospective teachers to learn about various teaching methodologies and covers material typically found in many teacher training programs.

This work is produced by OpenStax-CNX and licensed under the

Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0y

Via Lumen. Comprehensive coverage of core concepts grounded in both classic studies and current and emerging research, including coverage of the DSM-5 in discussions of psychological disorders. Incorporates discussions that reflect the diversity within the discipline, as well as the diversity of cultures and communities across the globe.

Udacity is a for-profit MOOC company, but this module is free via SJSU.

Lumen Course

Noba focuses solely on psychology topics. Created by Ed and Carol Diener. It offers "ready-made textbooks" as well as 93 learning modules that can be pulled together for a specific educational use.

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License.

Learn the fundamental principles of psychology, the major subjects of psychological inquiry, and the principal research methodologies of the field. You can earn a free certificate of completion for this online Psychology course, or use it to earn credit in leading college programs.

The Psych Files is a Psychology podcast hosted by Michael A. Britt, Ph.D.It is aimed at anyone curious about human behavior, though students taking a course in psychology, those majoring in psychology, and instructors of psychology will find the podcast particularly of interest.

Open Access textbooks

By Michael Miguel.

This open textbook is being utilized in an introductory sociology course taught by Anne Marenco, Ph.D. at College of the Canyons. The students are mostly non-majors who come in with very little knowledge of sociology. The open textbook contains twenty-one chapters of basic sociology concepts and theory with learning outcomes and case studies. The main motivation to adopt an open textbook was reducing the cost so students could afford them. Most student access chapters of the open textbook in PDF format from the course management system.

Reviews: The book has been reviewed by two CCC faculty (CCC1, CCC2) and one UC faculty member from within the California higher education system.

This introductory course provides a comprehensive coverage of core concepts in Sociology grounded in both classic studies and current and emerging research. A heutagogical instructional design requires that students in the course provide much of the substantive content and teaching presence. Student led discussions provide the opportunity for an engaging and personally relevant exploration of the discipline.

The content in this course was curated by Professor Bill Pelz at Herkimer College / SUNY and is provided under a Creative Commons license.

Open Course through UC Irvine.
Sociology 2A: International Sociology by David Frank is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
http://ocw.uci.edu/search/results/keyword/sociology+2a+international+sociology

Open Textbook through Saylor.

By Ron Hammond, Paul Cheney, Raewyn Pearsey.

Several courses in Queer Theory and Women's Studies. Content on this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 United States License.

Includes textxbooks on women's health and Sexulaity Studies.