Optional Specializations in Sociology
Students majoring in Sociology may pursue a general course of study in the discipline or
concentrate in a specific area or areas. The purpose of specialization is to provide the student
with a focused, systematic, and in-depth educational experience in the context of a broad liberal
arts education. Please see the Sociology academic advisor for more information on completing
an area concentration.
General Requirements:
Each concentration requires the completion of four courses with a grade no lower than a C for
each course. Additional courses not listed may be counted with approval. At least three courses
must come from Sociology for each concentration. Additional requirements may apply. See the
Sociology academic advisor for more information.
The following courses may be used to complete any of the area concentrations if the content is
related to the concentration (approval is required):
SOCI
SOCI
SOCI
SOCI
4365
4391
4393
4395
Topics in Sociology
Conference Course
Internship in Sociology
Service Learning Independent Study
Diversity: Race, Class, and Gender *
The concentration in Diversity: Race, Class, and Gender focuses on the ways in which race,
class, and gender (RCG) organize and impact social life, including the various ways RCG are
both systems of stratification and sources of individual and group identity, how RCG are
constructed and maintained, how people experience RCG, and the impact of RCG on various
institutions, including families, work, media, and sport. A concentration in RCG Diversity gives
students an appreciation for the complexity of RCG in the United States and the challenges they
represent. Four courses are required with at least one coming from each section below.
Select at least one course from the following:
SOCI 3337 Racial and Ethnic Groups in the US
SOCI 3314 The Latina Experience (may count within only one area)
SOCI 3338 Contemporary Black Experience
SOCI 3339 Race, Sport, and Media
SOCI 3345 Sociology of the 1960s
SOCI 4331 Race, Ethnicity, and Family Formation
Select at least one course from the following:
SOCI 3334 Gender Roles
SOCI 3314 The Latina Experience (may count within only one area)
SOCI 3356 Women, Work, and Social Change
Select at least one course from the following:
SOCI 3336 Social Inequality
SOCI 4341 Inequalities in Public Education
* Those wishing to complete both diversity concentrations must complete at least seven distinct
courses.
Diversity: Race and Ethnic Relations *
The Diversity: Race and Ethnic Relations concentration allows students to compare and contrast
immigration, acculturation, and adjustment processes of various racial and ethnic groups in the
United States. It examines conventional and controversial arguments, as well as classical and
contemporary ideas about the dynamics of inter-group relations as pertaining to culture and
identity, politics, socioeconomic factors, and many other issues. Some courses within this
concentration will address a wide range of groups (such as African Americans, Asian Americans,
Latinos, Native Americans, and white ethnic groups), while others will focus on one group. Four
courses are required.
SOCI 3337
SOCI 3314
SOCI 3338
SOCI 3339
SOCI 4331
SOCI 3345
Racial and Ethnic Groups in the US
Latina Experience
Contemporary Black Experience
Race, Sport, and Media
Race, Ethnicity, and Family Formation
Sociology of the 1960s
* Those wishing to complete both diversity concentrations must complete at least seven distinct
courses.
Families
The concentration in families allows students to focus their study on issues related to families,
including how people experience family lives, the impact of family on well-being, the impact of
family structures on other institutions, as well as how families are impacted by changes in other
institutions, including the labor market, educational institutions and the legal system. Pursuing a
concentration in families is beneficial for careers in counseling, health care, social services,
marketing, public policy, education or care industries (e.g. child care and advocacy and/or elder
care). Four courses are required.
SOCI 3328
SOCI 3331
SOCI 4331
ANTH 3338
Marital and Sexual Lifestyles
Sociology of Family
Race, Ethnicity, and Family Formation
Comparative Family and Kinship Systems
Health and Sport
Bodies are increasingly on the sociological agenda as our population grapples with aging, illness
and wellness, food, exercise, and sport. Social scientists began to address such issues after
WWII as the shift from physical labor to office work, coupled with the availability of
inexpensive mass-produced food, created a perfect storm of unprecedented body problems.
Meanwhile, authors such as Susie Orbach argued that ‘fat is a feminist issue,’ drawing attention
to the impact of patriarchy and gender socialization on the ways in which women view
themselves, diet, and dress. Meanwhile, the sixties spurred a do-it-yourself self-reliance that
placed value on people taking charge of their own lives, including their health, food, and
exercise. This sociological concentration brings together diverse courses that focus on health
and sport. Four courses are required.
Select at least three courses from the following:
SOCI 4320 Medical Sociology
SOCI 3341 Sociology of Sport
SOCI 3339 Race, Sport and Media
SOCI 3342 Sociology of the Human Body
Up to one of the following courses may be selected:
SOCI 3348 Sociology of Risk
ANTH 3332 Food and Culture
ANTH 3369 Medical Anthropology
Research and Evaluation
The basic objective of a concentration in research and evaluation is to develop the skills needed
to provide scientific solutions to social problems. Students are trained in research design,
including development of interview schedules and questionnaires, selection of appropriate
samples, and use of statistics to analyze resulting data, and interpretation of findings in the
context of sociological theories, previous research, and practical implications for society and
social behavior. Students will learn fundamental computer skills for social research applications
and may also acquire familiarity with distinctive features of qualitative research methods. The
core proficiencies of the social research and evaluation concentration are attractive to prospective
employers for jobs that involve, for example, needs assessment and program evaluation,
forecasting social trends, or marketing and customer satisfaction. Four courses are required.
Required:
SOCI 3352
SOCI 3462
SOCI 4370
Social Statistics
Social Research
Senior Research Seminar OR SOCI 4391
Select one course from the following:
SOCI 3365 Program Evaluation and Needs Assessment
SOCI 3366 Population Trends and Processes
SOCI 4306 Qualitative Research Methods
ANTH 3341 Research Methods in Cultural Anthropology
Conference Course
Social Psychology
Social psychology explores why people act the way they do in a variety of everyday social
settings. Attention is given to the social origins and consequences of individual attitudes,
feelings and behaviors. In these courses, students will be introduced to theoretical perspectives
for studying interpersonal relationships, group processes and social institutions. They will learn
to evaluate the findings of experiments, surveys, and naturalistic observation addressing topics
such as social attitudes, self-concept, roles, power, aggression, helping behavior, norms,
conformity and independence, socialization, collective behavior, deviance, group dynamics and
intercultural interaction. Principles of social psychology can also be applied in efforts to
implement social change at the levels of the individual, the group and the larger social system.
SOCI 3317 (Individual and Society) provides a general introduction to the interdisciplinary field
of social psychology, its conceptual frameworks and methods of research. Other courses in this
concentration examine selected applications of social psychology. SOCI 3317 is required for
the departmental concentration in Social Psychology but this course is NOT a prerequisite for
enrolling in other courses in this area; courses may be taken in any sequence students prefer.
Four courses are required.
Required:
SOCI 3317
Individual and Society
Select three courses from the following:
SOCI 3318 Self and Social Identity
SOCI 3319 Small Groups
SOCI 3320 Deviance: Social and Personal
ANTH 3331 Culture and Personality
Theory and Cultural Studies
Social theorists understand the social world in broad terms, akin to viewing the earth from an
airplane. Their high-altitude work addresses important empirical issues such as class, race,
gender, inequality, and justice. Many of these issues came into focus during the struggles and
social movements of the 1960s, such as civil rights, the women’s movement, the anti-war
movement, environmentalism, and the LGBT movement. Traditional social theorists such as
Marx, Weber and Durkheim wrote at the dawn of the industrial age and the growth of large
cities. They wrote books that were mechanically reproduced on the printing press invented by
Gutenberg. Today, a great deal of social theory addresses changes in our lives since the Internet,
which helps spread modernity globally. Theorists also track changes in culture, communication
and entertainment, giving rise to a branch of theory termed ‘cultural studies.’ Scholars in
cultural studies address the growing importance of social media as well as continue work on the
impact of radio, television, and film on our lives. This sociological concentration brings together
courses that focus on broad-gauged issues of social structure and everyday life, including the
impact of culture.
Four courses are required with at least three coming from the following:
SOCI 3372 Sociological Theory
SOCI 3345 Sociology of the 1960s
SOCI 4309 Writing for the Social Sciences
ANTH 3300 Anthropological Theory OR ANTH 4345 Visualizing Culture
Additional electives:
ENGL 4355 Literary Criticism and Theory I OR ENGL 4356 Literary Criticism and Theory II