Graduate Program Specializations
Based upon faculty interests and
expertise (see faculty biosketches in the Faculty
link on this site), the Department of Sociology offers graduate courses and
research mentoring in the following areas:
·
CRIME, LAW & DEVIANCE;
·
FAMILIES, AGING, AND HEALTH;
·
POLITICAL SOCIOLOGY & SOCIAL
MOVEMENTS;
·
RURAL SOCIOLOGY & DEVELOPMENT;
·
SOCIAL INEQUALITIES;
·
WORK, ORGANIZATIONS & ECONOMY.
These areas incorporate faculty
interests and expertise in other substantive specialties such as applied
sociology, community, cross-national comparative sociology, environmental
sociology, gender, media studies, science and technology, social psychology,
and sociology of religion.
Students select courses within and
across these specialization areas to develop individually-tailored programs of
study that meet their intellectual interests and that correspond to their
career objectives. The Sociology faculty
realizes that some of the most exciting work occurs across specialization areas
and at the interstices of sociology and other related disciplines. Students at both the M.A. and Ph.D. levels are
encouraged to fashion programs of study that explore these intellectual
linkages.
Ph.D. students, in consultation with
their faculty advisory committee, select two specialization areas, one of which
must be in Sociology. The other
specialization area may be either in Sociology or in a related substantive area
(e.g., behavioral science in medicine, social theory, women’s studies,
etc.). A declared specialization area is
not required at the M.A. level. For
students who intend to go on for the Ph.D., exposure through coursework to
several subdisciplines may be beneficial. Other students may want to pursue a more
specialized track to pursue particular intellectual and/or career interests.