Sociology (SOCI)

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The Department of Sociology offers the B.A. and B.S. degree with a major in sociology. Sociology is the study of the origins, organizations, institutions and structure of human society and the causal effects of human behavior in collective social action. Baccalaureate graduates in sociology find employment in a wide range of careers in such fields as community development, criminal justice, health services, policy development, public relations, and social services. The department also offers a minor in sociology, which should be of interest to students majoring in another social science program such as psychology or anthropology, in a program in family, consumer, and nutrition studies, or in history or philosophy.

A departmental honors program is available for outstanding students. Either the B.A. or B.S. degree can be used to gain certification to teach social sciences at the junior and senior high school levels.

Several of the department’s courses can be used by non-majors toward fulfilling the social sciences area requirement in the university’s general education program. Several of its courses are also recommended or required for majors in other programs, especially those in the College of Business and in the College of Health and Human Sciences. The department also participates in international study programs, in the University Honors Program, and in the interdisciplinary minors in black studies, environmental studies, gerontology, international studies, Latino/Latin American studies, public administration, Southeast Asian studies, urban studies, and women’s studies.

Sociology Faculty

Kay B. Forest, Ph.D., Cornell University, associate professor, chair
Abu B. Bah, Ph.D., New School for Social Research, assistant professor
Keri B. Burchfield, Ph.D., Pennsylvania State University, assistant professor
Charles L. Cappell, Ph.D., University of Chicago, associate professor 
Cassandra S. Crawford, Ph.D., University of California, San Francisco, assistant professor
Kerry O. Ferris, Ph.D., University of California at Los Angeles, assistant professor
Carla D. Goar, Ph.D., Texas A&M University, associate professor 
Adam B. King, Ph.D., Indiana University, assistant professor
Fred E. Markowitz, Ph.D., State University of New York at Albany, associate professor
J. Kirk Miller, Ph.D., North Carolina State University, assistant professor
W. William Minor, Ph.D., Florida State University, associate professor
Robin D. Moremen, Ph.D., Yale University, associate professor
Kristen A. Myers, Ph.D., North Carolina State University, associate professor
Kei Nomaguchi, Ph.D., University of Maryland, assistant professor
Kristopher K. Robison, Ph.D., The Ohio State University, assistant professor
Diane M. Rodgers, Ph.D., University of Missouri-Columbia, assistant professor

Admission to the major and minor in the Department of Sociology is limited. See “Limited Admissions and Limited Retention Requirements” in the Admission section.

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