Chair:

Merril Silverstein
302 Maxwell Hall
315-443-2347

Undergraduate Director

Faculty

Edwin Ackerman, Aaron Benanav, Sean Drake, Jennifer Flad, Selina Gallo-Cruz, Marc Garcia, Madonna Harrington Meyer, Gabriela Kirk-Werner, Prema Kurien, Scott Landes, Andrew London, Amy Lutz, Yingyi Ma, Shannon Monnat, Jennifer Karas Montez, William Oliver, Arthur Paris, Gretchen Purser, Rebecca Schewe, Merril Silverstein, Hao-Wei Wang, Janet Wilmoth

Program Description

The undergraduate major in Sociology is designed to provide students with both a broad introduction to the field and an opportunity for concentration within the specialty areas of the department. In addition to required courses in sociological theory and qualitative and quantitative research methods, the department offers a variety of substantive courses in inequality studies (e.g., gender, class, race / ethnicity, sexuality, and disability); health; education; immigration; family, aging and the life course; population studies; criminology and criminal justice; and social policy.

In addition to substantive specialization in Sociology, the major emphasizes skill development in the areas of analytic reasoning, analytic writing, computer literacy, elementary qualitative and quantitative research, information retrieval, and report presentation. Opportunities for internship experiences and/or assisting in faculty research projects are available. Eligible majors are encouraged to participate in the senior thesis research culminating in a symposium where they present the results and interpretation of their own research project. The department has a Sociology Club and offers an annual undergraduate paper award that is supported by a generous gift from a donor.

For all Arts and Sciences|Maxwell students, successful completion of a bachelor’s degree in this major requires a minimum of 120 credits, 96 of which must be Arts and Sciences|Maxwell credits, completion of the Liberal Arts Core requirements, and the requirements for this major that are listed below.

Dual Enrollments:

Students dually enrolled in Newhouse* and Arts and Sciences|Maxwell will complete a minimum of 122 credits, with at least 90 credits in Arts and Sciences|Maxwell coursework and an Arts and Sciences|Maxwell major.

*Students dually enrolled in the College of Arts and Sciences|Maxwell as first year students must complete the Liberal Arts Core. Students who transfer to the dual program after their first year as singly enrolled students in the Newhouse School will satisfy general requirements for the dual degree program by completing the Newhouse Core Requirements.