SOCIOLOGY
2013-2014

Professors: Mary Ann Clawson, Chair; Alex Dupuy; Robert Rosenthal, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs

Associate Professor: Jonathan Cutler

Assistant Professors: Robyn Autry; Greg Goldberg; Basak Kus; Daniel Long; Laura Stark, Science in Society Program

Departmental Advising Experts 2012-2013: Mary Ann Clawson, Jonathan Cutler, Alex Dupuy

Department/Program Home Page

The program is designed to help students develop new frameworks for analyzing a broad array of social relations--from everyday life interactions to large-scale historical and structural transformations and to cultivate a critical appreciation for the academic discipline of sociology.

Application to Declare the Major for the classes of 2015 and 2016. Students who wish to declare the major must have successfully completed or be currently enrolled:

SOC151 (Introductory Sociology)

Application to Declare the Major beginning with the class of 2017. Students who wish to declare the major must have successfully completed or be currently enrolled:

SOC151 (Introductory Sociology)

And, one of the following:

*Note: Soc212 & 202 are not required for the declaration of the major but they are required for the completion of the major.

Major Requirements. Majors must complete a total of 10 courses in fulfillment of the major requirements.

All sociology majors must enter their senior year having taken a minimum of three courses within the Wesleyan sociology department. This includes at least one of the two required courses (SOC202, Sociological Analysis or SOC212, Sociology and Social Theory).

Honors Program Requirements. Students are invited to explore with their faculty advisor the possibility of qualifying for honors. Discussion should be initiated in the fall of the junior year. Students interested in the sociology honors program should obtain a copy of the department guidelines elaborating all of the steps in the process of qualifying for honors. These guidelines are available online and in the sociology department office.

All honors candidates must meet the course and sociology GPA requirements, but fulfillment of these requirements is not sufficient to guarantee qualification to register as an honors candidate. Sociology majors who wish to be registered as honors candidates must submit a thesis proposal by the end of spring semester of their junior year. The department faculty will determine, in light of the thesis proposal and the course and grade point averages stipulated below, if the applicant will be authorized to register as an honors candidate.

To qualify for honors, students must have taken at least five courses in the Wesleyan Sociology Department by the end of the sixth semester and at least six Wesleyan sociology courses by the end of the seventh semester. Students must have an A- (91.7) average in all sociology courses taken at Wesleyan, but a student who has taken only five courses in the department by the end of the sixth semester and has an A- average in them may register as a candidate. SOC 202 Sociological Analysis and SOC 212 Sociology and Social Theory must be completed by the end of the sixth semester with a minimum of A- in each.

Teaching Apprentice Credits. Sociology Teaching Apprentice Credits may not count toward the major and must be taken Credit/Unsatisfactory.

Major Advising. Each major is assigned a faculty advisor with whom the student works out a program of study.

Transfer students. Major Declaration and Completion Requirements are subject to the approval of the Sociology Department faculty. Transfer students are encouraged to meet with the Department Chair and then petition to use prior coursework credits toward fulfillment of the Wesleyan Sociology Department Declaration and Completion requirements.

Study abroad. Study abroad is fully compatible with completing the major, but students who plan to go abroad for a semester are expected to discuss with their major advisors how such studies will fit into their overall academic plans before finalizing their plans.

Double majors. Students also may have double majors, for example, history and biology or anthropology and English. All the requirements of the two majors must be met, except when faculty representatives of the two departments approve alterations in a student’s program. Please consult with the department chair or a department advisor.

Education-in-the-field credit. Students, whether majors or non-majors, seeking education-in-the-field credit must provide the department, in advance, with an acceptable prospectus of their work and assurance of professional guidance during the field experience. Students must submit research papers based on this experience. These papers should refer substantially to sociological literature pertinent to their field experience.

Sociology department resources and course offerings. Majors and non-majors alike are advised that the Public Affairs Center Data Laboratory is readily available to all sociology students. The department maintains a comprehensive archive of sociological data for use in student research projects. And in addition to the extensive sociological holdings in Olin Library, the department has a library of important reference works. Occasionally, financial assistance is available for students engaged in research.

In planning their programs, students should examine the full list of WesMaps course offerings. Other information about the sociology major is available in the department office, Public Affairs Center 122.