Is the American family system really falling apart? Has the "War on Drugs" changed people's behavior? How do religious cults so powerfully control their following? These are just a few of the questions that represent the breadth of sociological inquiry a field as exciting, diverse, and often as topical as the daily headlines.

As a Sociology major, you will find many career opportunities in community and regional planning, family and healthcare services, and teaching. This major can also prepare you for graduate study in law, social work, public administration, and community organization. The Department's Certificate in Applied Social Research offered through the Center for Social Research can qualify you for positions in government and private companies involved in research, data analysis and data presentation.

In the Department of Sociology, you will explore the causes and consequences of social behavior. Through the Department's courses, you will learn how to organize information, conceptualize and solve problems, evaluate programs, analyze and present data all skills of tremendous value to today's employer. Your investigations will be led by an energetic and active faculty of teacher-scholars. Your professors will share their specific interests and current research with you. Some areas of recent faculty investigation include corporate control, doctor-patient relationships, fathers' involvement in child-rearing, environmental racism, and drug use among teenagers.

As a Sociology major, you will choose one of the following areas of concentration:Social Inequality, Social Organization and Social Change, or Sociology in Applied Settings. You will also have the opportunity to gain valuable research skills as an intern working for the Center for Social Research located in the Department. The Center conducts funded research for local and state agencies.

Some of the many interesting electives in the sociology department include Drugs and Society, Sociology of the Family, Aging and Society, Popular Culture, Race and Ethnic Relations, Cultural Anthropology and a variety of internship opportunities.