Sociology

Sociology includes all aspects of people's social behavior in many different types of settings. Its scope ranges from everyday life interaction in face-to-face relationships to the complex patterns observed in cities, large-scale organizations, and international relations. Its focus includes efforts to understand the sources and implications of diversity, particularly those related to social class, race, and gender. Its goal is to advance our understanding of the interrelations of culture, community, organizational and socioeconomic structures, personal relations, and individual identities in our rapidly changing and increasingly globalized social world.

Our faculty represents many of the major areas of the discipline, as indicated by the range of courses offered. We are committed to students' intellectual development and academic success. We are involved with numerous types of research projects in such areas as demography, social psychology, family, gerontology, urban sociology, deviance, criminology, sociology of religion, minority relations, medical sociology. We also engage in interdisciplinary projects plus multiple forms of professional and public service.

Sociology is an appropriate major for careers in areas such as business, law and law enforcement, social services, government agencies, international development, and others. We also offer a criminology concentration for majors who wish to specialize in this area. Our graduate program offers an M.A. degree, and many of our M.A. graduates have been successful in prestigious doctoral programs.