Sociology/Anthropology Major

All majors must complete a minimum of 40 credits within the program. Required courses include:

• SOA 100 - Culture and Society (4 Cr.)
• SOA 200 - Development of Social Thought (4 Cr.)
• SOA 201 - Writing and Interpreting Social Life (4 Cr.) (fulfills the writing proficiency requirement in the major)
• SOA 217 - Methods of Social Research (4 Cr.)
• Two 200-level elective SOA courses (8 Cr.)
• Three 300- or 400-level sociology & anthropology OR two 300- or 400-level sociology and anthropology courses and two sociology & anthropology practicum courses. (12 Cr.)
• SOA 497 - Senior Capstone in Sociology and Anthropology (4 Cr.)

Concentration in Health and Medicine

The concentration in health and medicine is designed for students interested in the many methodological and theoretical approaches sociologists use to study illness, health, health care systems and policy, and the field of medicine. Students seeking applied research and policy careers in public and private health, mental health, and social service organizations and agencies, as well as those who plan to apply to doctoral programs with health, medical sociology, or medical anthropology concentrations will find this concentration of particular interest and utility. Courses examine the phenomena and definitions of health, illness, and disability (both mental and physical), as well as patient experiences of health care, differential access to medical resources and inequality in treatment, medical education, and the structure of the health care system. Students will be offered insight into the organization of health care systems and policies both in the United States and globally and the professions that make up these systems such as medicine, psychology, and social work. Students graduating with a concentration in health and medicine will be well suited to go on in the sociology of medicine; to undertake research positions in health services organizations, research organizations and institutes, mental health fields (such as psychology and social work); or to work in the field of public health.

• In the course of completing the concentration, students will take three courses, one of which must be at the 300- or 400-level. These courses should include:

•  

• SOA 265 - Health and Illness (4 Cr.)

• AND/OR

• SOA 389 - Seminar: Sociology of Mental Health (4 Cr.)
• One or two of the following: SOA 208 , SOA 211 , or SOA 482 , SOA 383  

Concentration in Social Justice

The social justice concentration helps focus the student’s coursework around issues of inequality and social justice. The concentration brings sociology and anthropology’s long standing interest in inequality (in realms such as class, race, gender, and culture) together with a consideration of the roles that institutions play in exacerbating or reducing inequality. Students who elect this concentration are strongly encouraged to participate in community-based learning, whether through courses in or outside of the concentration.