"The sociological imagination is a quality of mind that seems most dramatically to promise an understanding of the intimate realities of ourselves in connection with larger social realities."
--C. Wright Mills, The Sociological Imagination
Welcome
to the Department of Sociology. We seek to understand the actions of individuals
by situating them within the social contexts in which they take place. Sociologists
are interested in discovering the underlying regularities of social life,
how these patterns of people's behavior have come to be, and how they differ
across both time and space. We analyze both how these structures shape and
how they are reproduced and transformed by our actions. The scope of sociology
is quite broad, ranging from the study of fleeting encounters in public to
the analysis of global social processes. The purpose of our curriculum is
to familiarize students with the basic approach and findings of sociology,
its methods of gathering and evaluating evidence, its major theoretical approaches,
and the ways in which sociological knowledge can both enrich our self-understandings
and enhance our capacities for democratic citizenship.
Sociology prepares students for a wide variety of careers.
Our students have gone on to careers in the public, private, and nonprofit
sectors. Many of our alumni pursue graduate degrees in sociology, law, and
related fields.
-The Department of Sociology welcomes Matt Bakker to the faculty as a visiting professor. Matt will teach courses on developing countries, global inequality, and Latino immigration.
-Professor C.J. Pascoe's co-authored book, Hanging Out, Messing Around, and Geeking Out, is now available.
-Sociology alum Alice Gallmeyer ('08) and Professor Wade Roberts recently published a paper in The Social Science Journal entitled, "Payday Lenders and Economically Distressed Communities: A Spatial Analysis of Financial Predation."
-Congratulations to Michael Freeman ('10) on winning the Abbott Prize! Mike will be pursuing a Masters in Public Health at the University of Washington.
-Congratulations to Emily Moore ('12) on her summer internship with the National Center for Health Statistics in Washington, DC.
-Sociology majors Caroline Hodge '09, Britt Landis '11, and Julia Sick '11 will participate in the Public Interest Fellowship Program.
-Professor Kathy Giuffre's recently published book, Collective Creativity, is now available. Praise from Ashgate Publishing: "Theoretically sophisticated, yet grounded with rich empirical data, this book will appeal not only to anthropologists with an interest in the South Pacific, but also to scholars concerned with questions of ethnicity, creativity, globalization and network analysis."
-Anna Wool '08 wins first prize in the Alpha Kappa Delta 2009 Undergraduate Paper Competition for her paper, "Like Water off a Duck: Stigma and the Jewish Assessment of Christian Public Religious Displays in an Alabama City."
-The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal feature Professor C.J. Pascoe.
-Professor Pascoe participated in the collaborative project, "Kids' Informal Learning with Digital Media: An Ethnographic Investigation of Innovative Knowledge Cultures." Learn more