Undergraduate Program in Sociology

Undergraduate Coordinator: Jeremy Reynolds

Welcome to the Department of Sociology. We are a department of approximately twenty-two full-time faculty, and represent one of the fastest-growing majors in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences. On this page, you will find information on the major, double-major, and minor in sociology.

The Major

The major is designed to teach undergraduate students the sociological perspective, which incorporates three central aspects:

The recognition of the preeminence of social structures and their influences, and of micro and macro-level social processes.
The role of logic and of the scientific method in the acquisition of knowledge.
The enduring link between the individual's experience and larger social processes.

By deciding to major in sociology you have chosen a liberal-arts specialty that leads to a wide range of career options in government or business. In addition, a sociology major provides a solid foundation for further post-graduate study in law, business, and the social sciences.

Faculty Contact

Every sociology major will be assigned a Faculty Contact when he or she is first advised in the sociology department. The faculty section of this site is an excellent way to become familiar with various faculty members. A student may request a specific faculty member as his or her Faculty Contact or may request a change of Faculty Contact; the Academic Advisor will make every effort to honor these requests. The function of the Faculty Contact is to assist students in selecting courses and constructing a program of study that will meet their long term academic and employment goals. They will not be responsible for handling course scheduling; for this, students should consult the Academic Advisor.

Requirements for the Major

The requirements for the major in sociology are:

Prerequisite: SOCI 1101 Introductory Sociology
Required: SOCI 3220 Development of Sociological Theory
AND ONE OF THESE TWO RESEARCH COURSES:
SOCI 3600 Logic and Practice of Sociological Research
SOCI 3590 Qualitative Methods of Social Research
Electives: 6 courses, 5 of which must be 3000-level or higher.

The prerequisite for SOCI 3600 is STAT 2000. Students will be required to pass STAT 2000 with a grade of "C" or better before they will be permitted to enroll in SOCI 3600. Grades of C- or lower will not satisfy the prerequisite. There is an extremely high demand for SOCI 3600 and only a limited number of seats are available each semester. If you are close to graduating and need this class, come in early the preceding semester to be advised.

Research Credits

We encourage majors who will be going to graduate school or working in research settings to gain additional research experience by registering for Supervised Research in Sociology (4900 or 4960H), completing an Honor Thesis (4990H), or participating in the Department’s Undergraduate Research Mentoring Program. All of these options provide valuable research opportunities. It is important to note, however, that credits obtained through these options are intended to supplement rather than replace the normal requirements of the major. Consequently, students are only allowed to use a maximum of 6 credits toward the requirements of the major. Additional credits earned through these options will still count toward graduation, but not toward the major.

Course Descriptions lists and briefly describes all the sociology courses that the department offers. Note that there will be prerequisites for some courses. Please plan accordingly! Remember that sociology courses used to satisfy Core Area F requirements (i.e., SOCI 2020 and SOCI 2820) may not also be used to satisfy major requirements.

The Double Major

A double major is a major in sociology and another major in a different discipline. Double-majoring is an excellent way of increasing the value of your degree. A very common double-major combination is sociology and criminal justice. Students who choose to do this may satisfy some of their sociology and criminal justice requirements simultaneously. For example, SOCI 2470 (Deviance and Social Control), SOCI 3070 (Juvenile Delinquency), SOCI 3140 (Social Control of Crime), SOCI 3150 (Criminal Punishment and Society), SOCI 3810 (Criminology), SOCI 3820 (Communities and Crime), SOCI 3830 (Violence and Society), SOCI 3860 (Sociology of Alcohol and Drug Use), SOCI 4470 (Seminar in Deviance and Social Control), and SOCI 4830 (Sociology of Law) are all part of the criminal justice curriculum. In addition, Social Science Research Design (SOCI 3700), the required methods course for criminal justice majors, may be substituted for SOCI 3600 to meet the sociology methods requirement. Finally, sociology - criminal justice double majors may count five hours of the criminal justice internship toward the sociology major. Credit will be given only for Social Science Research Design and an internship with SOC prefixes (viz., SOCI 3700, 5500).

If you decide to get a double major, your transcript and file will be sent to one department only. If, for example, your first major is criminal justice, that department will have your records and will be advising you. Consequently, you must obtain a duplicate of your records and bring it to 118 Baldwin so that you can be advised about sociology requirements and so that a file can be established for you. When you become a senior and go through graduation check you will need to have a form [Requirements for the Major] signed by the Academic Advisor indicating that you have satisfied the requirements for a sociology major.

If you wish to pursue two majors, you are responsible for learning what courses are required by your second major and for coordinating these requirements with those in the sociology major. Declare a second major as early as you can, so that you may meet the requirements of both majors in a timely manner. If you wait until the 11th hour to declare a second major, you cannot expect to waive its requirements or to get priority registration for its required courses. It is relatively easy to take a double major when both departments or programs fall within the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences. If, however, you wish to combine a sociology major with a major in a different college, like Journalism or Business or Social Work, this is called getting a Dual Degree. It is far more difficult to arrange because the core requirements of the different colleges are not the same. You should check with the Undergraduate Coordinator before attempting a dual degree.

The Minor

Students wishing to minor in sociology are required to take fifteen (15) hours of course work, nine hours of which must be at the upper-division level (i.e., 3000-level) or higher. SOCI 1101 is a requirement, although please note that if you have taken this class to satisfy your Core Area E requirement you may not count it as course work in the Sociology minor. In other words, you would have to take another sociology course (at any level) to make up for the 15 hours. Any sociology course taken in Core Area F may be counted as course work in the minor.

The minor requirements are:

Requirements (3 hours): SOCI 1101 Introductory Sociology
Electives (12-15 hours, 9 hours of which are upper-division)

No more than six (6) hours of transfer credit can be used to satisfy minor requirements. A grade of "C" or better must be earned in all courses taken to satisfy the minor. Grades of C- or lower will not count toward the minor. To declare a minor, students must complete the appropriate form and obtain the Undergraduate Coordinator's signature.