Major in Sociology/Anthropology
What are Sociology and Anthropology? These social science disciplines combine scientific and humanistic perspectives in the study of collective life. While emerging from different intellectual traditions, the two disciplines have grown closer over time, sharing similar methodologies and common areas of interest. Sociology involves the study of societies and contemporary social issues. Areas of interest include the effects of globalization on societies; social inequalities as structured by race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and social class; immigration; social movements; changing patters of family relations; and the role of societal institutions such as the healthcare and education systems in structuring our lives. Anthropology examines the relationships among cultural, socioeconomic, and physical phenomena, sharing many of sociology’s areas of research. The department offers courses in both cultural anthropology, focusing on the organization of human communities, and physical anthropology, focusing on the evolution and ecology of both human and nonhuman primates.
Combined in one major, the disciplines provide students with a wide range of courses explaining many aspects of social organization. In addition to preparing students for graduate work in the respective disciplines themselves, the major provides a valuable liberal arts background for students interested in many different varieties of human experience and behavior and the ways these may be interpreted. Likely careers include:
- Business and industry
- Community planning and social services
- Criminology and the system of justice, including law
- Demography
- Education
- Gerontology
- Health services
- Human resources and personnel work
- Market research
- Public administration
- Social work
Major Requirements:
The major is housed in the Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work, and shares courses and faculty with the B.A. in Social Work. It is among the majors offered for evening-only and weekend-only students as well as for students taking courses during the day; required courses are scheduled in all three time sessions.
Of the 35 (nine courses) that make up the major, four specific courses are required:
SOC 100 Introduction to Sociology
SOC 200 Sociological Theory
SOC 201 Sociological Research
ANT 201 Cultural Anthropology
Students then choose from among a wide range of course offerings in two disciplines, Sociology and Anthropology, for the five courses needed to complete the major, so long as at least one is another course in Anthropology and three of the five courses are at the 300 or 400 level.