Undergraduate A.B. Concentration Requirements
Our A.B. concentration program helps students develop a versatile and marketable skill set, including: critical thinking and analysis; polished written and oral communication; collection and interpretation of data, including statistical information; and in-depth engagement with the major social and policy issues of our time.
Sociology offers flexibility and diversity. Students can elect a broad sociological training, or a focus on one of six topical areas: Diversity and Inequality in the U.S., The Individual and the Social Order, The Social and Economic Development of Nation-States, and Social Policy.
However, students may elect to construct a more individualized program of study, structuring their concentration courses to suit their own intellectual and personal goals.
Requirements
The A.B. concentration in Sociology provides a broad liberal arts education focusing on excellence in analytical and writing skills. Nine courses are required:
- An introductory course
SOC 0010 Perspectives on Society
SOC 0020 Perspectives on Social Interaction
SOC 0130 American Heritage: Democracy, Inequality and Public Policy
SOC 0150 Economic Development and Social Change
SOC 0170 The Family
SOC 0200 Population and Society - SOC 1010 Sociological Theory (or an equivalent)
- SOC 1020 Methods of Social Research
- SOC 1100 Introductory Statistics for Social Research
- Three 1000-level sociology courses
- One additional sociology course beyond the introductory level
- One undergraduate (SOC 1870) or, with permission, graduate seminar
Honors and Capstone
Honors are available to students who fulfill their concentration work with distinction. The GPA in Sociology courses must be 3.5 or above at the start of the student’s senior year.
Honors
It is very exciting to finish your sociology concentration with an honors thesis, in which you conduct original research, working closely with one or more faculty members. An advisor and a topic should be chosen by the end of your junior year, so that your full senior year is available for research. You choose both an advisor and a reader to help guide your project. At the beginning of your senior year, you file a written statement with your Concentration Advisor that details your honors thesis.
As an honors student, you are expected to enroll in SOC 1950 (senior seminar) and to enroll in SOC 1980 and 1990 (independent research courses) in order to develop the substantive integration of your concentration studies, and to prepare your thesis. With your advisor’s consent, you may substitute other courses for those listed above.
The Capstone Experience
We encourage all concentrators to have a capstone experience. Presently, only honors students are required to do this, by taking a year-long individual research practicum with a faculty member that results in an honors thesis. The Undergraduate Advisor and Undergraduate Committee will take steps to encourage non-honors concentrators to engage in a capstone experience. The capstone can be done by taking a one-semester practicum in independent research, or by engaging in original research in a seminar. The capstone experience may take forms other than a traditional seminar paper or thesis. For example, a student might work with a faculty member in an Odyssey program to design a new course, produce a video ethnography, assist in organizing an academic conference, or produce a photographic exhibit.
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