View information for the Department of Sociology and Gerontology, including Learning Objectives for the department and its programs.
View the degree program Roadmap, which provide recommended advising maps to complete the degree program. Please consult your academic advisor as you develop your academic plan.
Sociology is the scientific study of human social interaction and institutions. From its origin in nineteenth-century industrializing Europe, sociology developed as a methodologically rigorous, empirically based analysis of social structure.
The study of Sociology provides students with a rewarding academic experience as well as a variety of career possibilities. Recent graduates of the department have applied their training to enter prestigious graduate schools or to obtain entry-level management and administrative positions with such varied organizations as large and small businesses; criminal justice agencies; child welfare organizations; local welfare and mental health departments, the criminal courts, and social service agencies.
The pivotal sociological concept, social structure, rests on the observation that something exists in society more than simply the sum of individuals. As humans interact, they create social structure - a real “thing,” not directly visible but nevertheless observable in its consequences. The concept of social structure denotes interaction networks, social organization, and power relationships. Social structure is essential to understanding human life inasmuch as it shapes humans’ options, actual choices and resultant biographies.
What often appear to, and are taken for granted by, the non-sociological eye simply as personal troubles are in fact the result of social structural tensions. From the sociological perspective, effecting change necessarily involves understanding social structure.
Sociology majors receive a strong grounding in traditional and contemporary social theory, methods of conducting social research, and techniques of analyzing social data. Students can select elective courses from areas including social institutions such as the family, religion, and medicine, and social processes such as social change, social deviance, personality and society, and drug use.
Angalia habari kwa Idara ya Sociology na Gerontology, ikiwa ni pamoja na Malengo ya Kujifunza kwa idara na programu zake. Angalia programu ya shahada Roadmap, ambayo kutoa mapendekezo ya ushauri ramani ya kukamilisha programu ya shahada. Tafadhali wasiliana na mshauri wako wa kitaaluma unapoendeleza mpango wako wa kitaaluma. Sosholojia ni utafiti wa kisayansi wa mwingiliano wa kijamii wa binadamu na taasisi. Kuanzia asili yake katika karne ya kumi na tisa kuendeleza Ulaya, sociology maendeleo kama methodologically rigorous, empirically msingi uchambuzi wa muundo wa kijamii. Utafiti wa Sociology hutoa wanafunzi na uzoefu wa kitaaluma yenye thawabu pamoja na uwezekano mbalimbali wa kazi. Wahitimu wa hivi karibuni wa idara wametumia mafunzo yao kuingia shule za kuhitimu za kifahari au kupata nafasi za usimamizi na utawala wa kiwango cha kuingia na mashirika kama biashara kubwa na ndogo; mashirika ya haki za jinai; mashirika ya ustawi wa watoto; idara za ustawi wa ndani na afya ya akili, mahakama za jinai, na mashirika ya huduma za kijamii. "Mtazamo wa msingi wa sosholojia, ""muundo wa kijamii,"" unategemea uchunguzi kwamba kuna kitu katika jamii zaidi ya jumla ya watu." Wanadamu wanaposhirikiana, wao huunda muundo wa kijamii - "kitu" halisi, kisichoonekana moja kwa moja lakini hata hivyo kinaweza kuchunguzwa katika matokeo yake. Dhana ya muundo wa kijamii inaonyesha mitandao ya mwingiliano, shirika la kijamii, na mahusiano ya nguvu. Muundo wa kijamii ni muhimu kwa kuelewa maisha ya binadamu kwa kuwa huunda chaguzi za wanadamu, chaguzi halisi na wasifu unaotokana nazo. Mambo ambayo mara nyingi huonekana, na yanachukuliwa kwa kawaida na jicho lisilo la kijamii, kama matatizo ya kibinafsi, kwa kweli ni matokeo ya mvutano wa muundo wa kijamii. Kutoka kwa mtazamo wa kijamii, kusababisha mabadiliko lazima kuhusisha kuelewa muundo wa kijamii. Majors ya Sociology hupokea msingi mkubwa katika nadharia ya kijamii ya jadi na ya kisasa, mbinu za kufanya utafiti wa kijamii, na mbinu za kuchambua data za kijamii. Wanafunzi wanaweza kuchagua masomo ya kuchagua kutoka maeneo ikiwa ni pamoja na taasisi za kijamii kama vile familia, dini, na dawa, na michakato ya kijamii kama vile mabadiliko ya kijamii, kupotoka kwa kijamii, utu na jamii, na matumizi ya dawa za kulevya.