Undergraduate

Sociology is a fascinating field that can help you understand the people, groups, organizations, and institutions that make up the social world. A major in sociology is not a ticket to any single job, but sociological training provides an excellent basis for careers in social work, social research, business, law, and public administration.

In addition to providing a foundation for the student who desires to pursue advanced study in sociology, a major in sociology can help to prepare students for many careers: social work, the health professions, personnel work, counseling, and other human-services fields, as well as law, civil service and public policy, social research, and other fields in the private sector. Majors are encouraged to develop skills in observation, interviewing, and other data collection techniques, data processing, statistical and content analysis, and forecasting the future — all marketable skills in many career lines.

A major in sociology provides the undergraduate with the opportunity to learn a distinct intellectual perspective and a method of inquiry. By continually testing conventional wisdom against evidence, the study of sociology encourages the development of a critical judgment. By routinely considering the matrix of social and cultural facts, it can lead students to an understanding of the conditions under which social facts emerge, and the consequences they have for individuals, groups, societies, and social institutions. It can also help students better understand their own roles in the array of social institutions in which they are enmeshed.

For a limited number of qualified undergraduate students, the Sociology department offers an accelerated five-year program leading to a BA in sociology and an MS in applied digital sociology. The program requires a total of 130 credits of college work (100 undergraduate, 30 graduate).

The Sociology Department offers qualified students a 12-credit minor. They must complete Introduction to Sociology and Sociological Theory as well as two more courses from those offered regularly.