Welcome to the Sociology Department

As part of the prestigious Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, our faculty focuses on understanding, critiquing, and addressing structural and social inequalities. Known nationally for our expertise in qualitative methods, our award winning faculty also provide excellent training in quantitative research methods, theory, and a wide variety of sociological issues. Our faculty research, and our courses, include a range of areas such as health, aging, life course, globalization, immigration, transnational studies, family, education, work, power, capital, and culture. 

Undergraduate training in sociology emphasizes broad understandings of how societies operate.  Students develop more in-depth understanding of particular institutions and practices, including health care, families, education, criminology, environment, labor, industry, and immigration.  They also develop expertise on particular social issues, including sex and gender, race, ethnicity, class, social policies, globalization, and power.  This knowledge provides a useful background for students pursuing a wide range of careers.  Our alumni hold positions in education, journalism, social services, marketing, business, government, strategic planning, criminology, personnel, health care, and law.  Those who pursue graduate training find they are well prepared.

Graduate training is organized around eight major areas: (1) Globalization, Immigration, Transnational Studies; (2) Population and Place; (3) Education and Family; (4) Health, Aging & Life Course, Disability; (5) Inequalities; (6) Power, Capital, and Politics; (7) Methods; and (8) Theory.  Our aim is to prepare students for all aspects of their career: research, teaching, publishing, grants, and mentoring. We begin with professional development seminar that assures that all students have the opportunities they need to become fully prepared future scholars.  Our PhD students hold positions at prestigious research universities, liberal arts colleges, NGOs, government offices, and corporations.

The Sociology Department at Syracuse University offers core training in sociological issues, methods, theory, and practice.  Our department includes 18 current faculty, 7 affiliated faculty, and 10 emeriti faculty, many of whom have won national and international awards for their work and hold leadership positions in our national organizations.  Our sociology faculty are affiliated with numerous Syracuse University Programs and Centers including: the Aging Studies Institute; the Asian/Asian American Studies Program; Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) Studies; Women and Gender Studies; Disability Studies; African American Studies; Native American Studies; Cultural Foundations of Education; the Humanities Center; the Institute for Veterans and Military Families, the Institute for the Study of the Judiciary, Politics and the Media, the Center for Policy Research; the Program on the Analysis and Resolution of Conflict; the Lerner Center for Public Health Promotion and the Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs. The department provides opportunities for joint degrees or collaborative study with such centers as well.