Learn new ways to understand your life and activities in a social context. Our students connect intellectually and personally with sociology coursework, think critically about their classroom experiences, consider thoughtfully the larger world, and gain a sense of the moral and ethical implications of the production and application of sociological knowledge.?

Sociology is the study of human action from the point of view of social interactions?covering everything from the analysis of short contacts between anonymous individuals on the street to the study of global social processes. Students in our courses apply rigorous theories and methods of social inquiry to real-world problems. Our department specializes in outstanding training in multiple methods of social inquiry, including ethnography, documentary film, qualitative interviewing, historic/archival research, and survey research. We also teach students to work with critical social theories, which explore social inequality, the relationship between language and power, and the social construction of reality.