"The sociological imagination is a quality of mind that seems most dramatically to promise an understanding of the intimate realities of ourselves in connection with larger social realities."
--C. Wright Mills, The Sociological Imagination
Welcome
to the Department of Sociology. We seek to understand the actions of individuals
by situating them within the social contexts in which they take place. Sociologists
are interested in discovering the underlying regularities of social life,
how these patterns of people's behavior have come to be, and how they differ
across both time and space. We analyze both how these structures shape and
how they are reproduced and transformed by our actions. The scope of sociology
is quite broad, ranging from the study of fleeting encounters in public to
the analysis of global social processes. The purpose of our curriculum is
to familiarize students with the basic approach and findings of sociology,
its methods of gathering and evaluating evidence, its major theoretical approaches,
and the ways in which sociological knowledge can both enrich our self-understandings
and enhance our capacities for democratic citizenship.
Sociology prepares students for a wide variety of careers.
Our students have gone on to careers in the public, private, and nonprofit
sectors. Many of our alumni pursue graduate degrees in sociology, law, and
related fields.
-Professor C.J. Pascoe participated in the collaborative project, "Kids' Informal Learning with Digital Media: An Ethnographic Investigation of Innovative Knowledge Cultures." The digital youth project explores how kids use digital media in their everyday lives. Learn more
-Naomi Klein, author of The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism, delivered this year's O'Connor Lecture on Monday, October 13th, in the Shove Shapel.
-The department is pleased to welcome four new members to the department. CJ Pascoe is joining us as a new assistant professor. She will teach courses on sexuality, deviance and social control, and the sociology of everyday life. Her book, Dude You're a Fag, is the winner of the American Education Research Association's 2008 Outstanding Book Award. Mark Jones is joining us as a visiting assistant professor. Pam Leutz is the department's new administrative assistant and Alice Gallmeyer is the department's paraprof.
-Sociology alumnus, Drew Foster '08, has been awarded the Fulbright Scholarship to continue his thesis research in Japan next year.
-Congratulations to sociology alumna, Amy Reedy '08, on being awarded second prize in the national Alpha Kappa Delta 2008 Undergraduate Paper Competition for her paper, "A Longitudinal Study of Female Gender Performance in the Classroom."
-Check out the most recent edition of the sociology newsletter.