Welcome to the Department of Sociology's Web Site!

Our Mission Statement:

To build a department that educates and empowers people and encourages activities that reflect our aspiration for a more humane and just society. We aim to promote vigorous research and debate on social issues, to train research scholars and teachers, and to analyze society in a critical manner. Our faculty promote a commitment to solving social problems. Thus, we provide students with the opportunity to engage in academic debates on social issues and we promote among our students the intellectual and technical skills necessary to analyze social problems. We want our students to develop a sociological perspective of the world, that is, to know that individuals operate as members of social groups. These social groups have histories, create meanings, and initiate new members. We can understand social groups by gathering evidence and interpreting it.

Recent Events: SUMMA Study Day
SUMMA (The Sociology Undergraduate Major and Minor Association) recently sponsored a study day in Gladfelter 764. The purpose of the day was to provide a relaxed atmosphere, complete with plenty of coffee and pastries, where students and professors could meet up and go over the past semesters work ahead of the fall exam period. Below are a few snap shots of the festivities!