Department of Sociology and Anthropology
Sociology and Anthropology BS - Overview
Integrated Learning
Our degree program prepares students for leadership roles in an increasingly diverse and global society. The curriculum is dedicated to developing your competency in understanding and appreciating social and cultural complexity and diversity through time and across the globe. In our classes, you are exposed to a wide range of theoretical perspectives and research skills that enable you to pursue a wide range of career options and to engage as problem solvers of contemporary global and local issues that crosscut the economy, politics, society, gender, ethnicity and culture.
Our program is unique in a number of important ways. While most undergraduate programs feature sociology or anthropology, our integrated, interdisciplinary degree program explores the common scholarly roots and creative differences of the two disciplines. This gives you a synergistic set of perspectives and skills that prepare you for undertaking social analysis in the widest array of social and cultural settings.
Experiential Learning
Most importantly, we understand how much students value experience outside the classroom. Our program challenges you to apply your classroom knowledge through hands-on learning. You can study abroad, or in an ethnographic or archaeological field school as a way to develop global experience and understanding. You can apply the latest techniques of archaeological science in the archaeological laboratory. You can apply your develop career expertise through cooperative education working for a company or internship with an agency.
Career Orientation
Our Bachelor of Science degree offers you an intensive educational experience, since you take half of your undergraduate courses in the major. In contrast, Bachelor of Arts programs at other campuses only require that one-quarter of courses be in the major. Our intensive Bachelor of Science education, the technological orientation of the university, and emphasis on hands-on learning give you a competitive advantage in the workplace. You can take advantage of the 200+ technical, creative, and humanistic programs on campus through pursuit of a Minor, Immersion, or double major to build an educational portfolio that helps you stand out from the crowd.
Personalized Learning
The flexibility in our program allows you to exercise choice and personalize your degree, depending on your individual goals. You make choices about:
- Track Specializations: Choose from Urban Studies, Cultural Anthropology, Sociology, or Archaeology. Each track has a long list of course electives.
- Experiential Learning: Choice between a Practicum and a paid Co-Op position. The Practicum can be fulfilled through study abroad, internship, or archaeological or ethnographic field school.
- Senior Research: In your final year, you choose the type of research project that best suits your goals. Students planning to enter the workforce might choose the one-semester, library-based Senior Research Project. Those heading to graduate school are encouraged to choose the two-semester Scholar's Thesis I & II sequence, which gives you first-hand experience in designing your own independent research project, collecting and analyzing the data, and writing about it for a scholarly audience.
Our Faculty
The Department of Sociology and Anthropology has one of the large faculties in the College of Liberal Arts. Our faculty members are known both for their research and their devotion to teaching. You will have the opportunity to learn from renowned scholar-teachers.