Program Overview

There are many reasons to major in sociology. The primary reasons are intellectual (intriguing course content and skill development) and practical (many diverse potential career options). A major in sociology should appeal to both the careerist and the idealist.

Intellectual reasons to study Sociology:

On the intellectual side, and most importantly, sociology is about understanding "the big picture." Sociologists try to understand both broad and narrow social phenomena, issues and problems, and in doing so, they integrate the findings of other social science disciplines. Sociology integrates the findings of economics, political science, psychology and history. Rather than viewing our world only through one lens, sociologists view the world though lenses that combine these diverse perspectives. In addition, in sociology one can study many of the substantive topics that the others social sciences examine. Thus, the fields of ethnic studies, gender and cultural studies build on important sociological traditions and findings.

In sociology, you can:

• Learn how business works through the study of organizations, economic processes, human relations and institutions
• Learn how politics and law work through the study of sociology of law, politics, social movements and revolutions
• Learn how science and medicine create truths and change the world sociology of science, sociology of knowledge, and technological change
• Learn how societies create opportunities and perpetuate inequalities poverty, education, gender, ethnicity and race relations
• Learn how communities of belief and kin are created sociology of culture, religion and family

Families & Inequality Concentrations

Families are the basic building block of most societies. This concentration allows students to analyze contemporary families from a sociological perspective, including topics such as family structure, the functions of the family as an institution, family comparisons across culture and time, and difficulties faced by families in contemporary society will also be explored. Courses also explore the problems and issues faced by contemporary American families, such as racism and sexism; the challenges of childhood and adolescence; divorce and remarriage; work and family conflict; and family violence.