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Sociology

Social Sciences and Global Studies

What is Sociology?

Are you looking for a major that will help you understand the social forces shaping our lives: our friendships, family relationships, workplaces, religious institutions, political systems, and much more? Do you want to gain the communication, critical thinking, ethical reasoning, research, and interpersonal skills that employers and graduate schools are looking for? As a Sociology major or minor, you’ll learn how and why humans interact as they do, from relationships between individuals to society-wide patterns of behavior. Your classes will help you examine your own relationship to the broader social world, and apply that knowledge to today’s most pressing social issues. You will graduate with the preparation to achieve a wide range of educational, career, civic, and personal goals.

What will you learn in Sociology?

You will develop your “sociological imagination” to describe and analyze the social world, and your own relationship to it.

You’ll learn to analyze social problems or issues using a variety of sociological theories.

You’ll use a variety of research methods to collect and analyze data, answering questions that are important to you, your communities, or the broader society.

You’ll learn to understand sociological texts, and communicate your understanding in a variety of contexts.

You’ll take courses in several of the many areas of sociological specialization, such as Immigration, Social Movements, Race/Ethnicity, Gender, Labor and Labor Movements, and more.