Sociology

Total Courses Required

Nine

Core Courses

SOC 100, SOC 303, SOC 401, SOC 410. The required courses in the major, including the required 300-level course, must be taken on campus.

Other Required Courses

Of the remaining five courses, one must be at the 300-level.

Number 300 & 400 Level Courses

Four

Senior Requirement & Capstone Experience

The senior requirement consists of the completion of 1) SOC 410 (Senior Seminar in Sociology) with a grade of C- or higher AND 2) a senior thesis paper with a grade of C- or higher. The capstone experience for majors includes the completion of SOC 410 (Senior Seminar in Sociology) and a 25-35 page thesis based on original research. The first half of the seminar involves common readings on a broad theme of sociological relevance; the second half of the seminar is devoted to students' individual projects and presentations of their work in class. Students are also required to present their final work during the annual Sociology and Anthropology Senior Symposium at the end of the spring semester.

Recent changes in the

Writing in the Major

SOC 401, Methods of Social Research, fills the writing in the major requirement for Sociology.This course is designed to introduce students to the scientific method as it applies to quantitative research in sociology. Students learn the strategies of research design, hypothesis formation, scaling and measurement, survey construction, and data processing, analysis, and interpretation. They conduct their own original research projects using techniques of quantitative analysis.Through these projects, students learn how to write the four different sections of a sociological-oriented scholarly journal article: literature review, methodology, analysis and discussion/conclusion.

Total Courses Required

Five

Core Courses

SOC 100

Other Required Courses

Number 300 & 400 Level Courses

One