We seek to enhance our students' lives through thoughtful and diverse teaching pedagogies which emphasize the scientific, interpretive, and critical skills needed to conduct theoretically sound, methodically rigorous, and multifaceted analyses of human social phenomena at both the local and global levels. We offer students direct opportunities to develop and apply those skills through traditional research and experiential learning activities. We believe our students and community are best served by emphasizing a strong foundation in the fundamental and broad perspectives of (sociology) which permit students to analyze and understand social phenomena across times, places, and cultures while minimizing ethnocentric biases.
Our Mission
The Sociology department at the 91社区 is committed to serving the university, our discipline and the community at large.
We are scholars with a vigorous commitment to quality and rigorous undergraduate education. We are dedicated to strengthening the university's educational goals through our multiple course offerings in the core curriculum and through our program of study.
We seek to enhance our students' lives through thoughtful and diverse teaching pedagogies which emphasize the scientific, interpretive and critical skills needed to conduct theoretically sound, methodologically rigorous and multifaceted analyses of human social phenomena at both the local and global levels. We offer students direct opportunities to develop and apply those skills through traditional research and experiential learning activities.
We believe our students and community are best served by emphasizing a strong foundation in the fundamental and broad perspectives of the discipline which permit students to analyze and understand social phenomena across times, places and cultures while minimizing ethnocentric biases. With this foundation, our graduates gain greater flexibility in career choices, are able to take leadership roles in their community and are better prepared to live effectively in this new global era.
As scholars, we are committed to advancing the knowledge of our discipline through research and publications in a variety of specialty areas; developing pedagogical materials; participating in regional, national and international professional meetings; and providing professional service to scholarly organizations. We respect and support the diverse research topics and approaches of our members in their scholarly activity.
We seek to support the university and community wherever our expertise meets broader needs. This involves bringing the best sociological knowledge to bear on the concerns, needs and problems faced in these environments.聽
Vision and Goals
We seek to become a distinguished undergraduate department recognized by the success of our graduates and faculty in both the scientific and larger community. We seek this objective through:
- Careful and thoughtful hiring of new faculty and instructors who can broaden our department's course offerings and contribute to our scholarly community.
- Curriculum development that will continue to strengthen our students' skills and knowledge and prepare them for living wisely.
Intended Student Outcomes/Goals
The specific sociology program objectives are intended to ensure a rigorous and academically substantial program that focuses on conceptual learning and the scientific method. 聽The specific program goals are listed below:
- Critical Analysis:聽Students will be able to critically analyze social situations using sociological theory.
- The ability to recognize social forces and patterns in their daily life
- The disposition to question the taken-for-granted assumptions in the social world
- The skills to reflexively understand one's own behavior
- The capacity and attitude to challenge the forces of reification聽
- Sociological Knowledge:聽Students will have a broad-based knowledge of principles and practices in sociology.
- The fundamental knowledge of social stratification and inequality based on such dimensions as race, class, and gender
- The ability to identify and understand social institutions
- The knowledge of research design and statistical analysis
- The knowledge of the predominant sociological perspectives and theories
- Effective Communication:聽Students will be able to communicate effectively in both written and oral format
- The ability to change and adapt writing and presentation style to different audiences聽
- The skills to present an argument based on logic
- The capacity to know how and when to reference other's work and scientific evidence
- The disposition to engage in debate with with respect and civility
- Sociological Perspective:聽Students will possess the skills necessary to practice sociology
- The capacity to recognize appropriate evidence and properly apply it to support an argument
- The skills to design research, gather and analyze social data using appropriate methods
- The ability to use appropriate technologies to conduct literature reviews and collect existing data
- The skills to construct an investigative technique that is grounded in social theory
- The ability to relate empirical findings to the wider theoretical knowledge base
- Independence and Creativity:聽Students will develop and display the ability to work independently and creatively.
- The ability to work on projects which entail ambiguity
- The skill to select research topics that are feasible聽
- The capacity to build on existing sociological knowledge rather than restating it