Sociology

The sociology curriculum will give you qualitative and quantitative research skills to tackle pressing 21st century issues. Courses draw attention to history, culture and social structure and their effects on people’s lives.

Analyze structures of power and hierarchy, draw connections between your personal experiences and larger social and historical processes and question preconceived ideas about the nature of society and representation of global cultures.

Program Type
Major
Department
Sociology & Anthropology

Sociology focuses on some of the most pressing social issues of the day: inequality, poverty, immigration, discrimination, health and well-being and religion in public life. Our faculty excel in innovative teaching techniques, including community-based learning where students combine classroom and hands-on experiential learning. Holy Cross sociology graduates go on to careers in business, public policy, education, non-profits, medicine and law, among others.

Program Highlights 

As one of the two most diverse majors on campus, we strive to build and maintain an intellectual community that values differences whether it be of race, ethnicity and national origins, gender and gender identity, sexuality, ability, socioeconomic status, culture and/or religion. Our faculty pride themselves in providing individual attention to every student, thanks to our small class sizes, our commitment to engaged learning and our incorporation of new pedagogical approaches that value equity and inclusion. Our curriculum pairs well with Africana Studies, Gender, Sexuality, & Women’s Studies, Latinx, Latin American, & Caribbean Studies, Peace & Conflict studies and also many majors and minors, allowing students the opportunity to simultaneously major in sociology while exploring other degree possibilities.

Areas of Study

  • Cultures and social institutions
  • Corporate responsibility & critiques of capitalism
  • Public policy
  • Religion
  • Social inequalities
  • Families, childhood and youth, aging and death
  • Migration and immigration
  • Social change and social movements
  • Sociology of knowledge
  • Work
  • Mobilities

Requirements

The major requires a 10-course minimum.

  • The Sociological Perspective (Sociology 101)
  • Logics of Inquiry (Sociology 223)
  • The Development of Social Theory (Sociology 241)
  • Social Statistics (Sociology 226)
  • One advanced sociology course at 300 or 400 level: e.g., a seminar, tutorial or research practicum
  • Five sociology electives, two may be anthropology courses.
     

A maximum of 14 courses can be taken in the major.

Students interested in the sociology major should complete the Sociological Perspective early in their program. While all majors explore a range of social phenomena and issues, students are also encouraged to design a program that creates a subdisciplinary specialization within the department's offerings. Sociology majors are expected to complete the required courses in Theory and Social Statistics soon after declaring the major. Once students have taken Social Statistics, they should enroll in Logics of Inquiry, preferably by their third year.

Study Abroad is enthusiastically supported. Students who study abroad may transfer up to four courses, usually electives, toward the major. In some cases, the required courses Social Statistics, Logics of Inquiry and/or Social Theory can be taken abroad.

Sample Courses

Course Catalog
  • Social Class & Power
  • Environmental Racism
  • Medical Sociology
  • Womxn of Color Feminism
  • Freedoms & Unfreedoms
  • End of Life
  • Utopian & Dystopian Worlds
  • Global Sense of Home
  • Food & Mobility

Department Highlights

  • Faculty Research with Students

    There are many research opportunities for students in the department. Students can work with faculty on their research (or develop their own research projects) through the Weiss Summer Fellowship. Research Assistantships and other research opportunities are also available. Many students have presented with faculty at national conferences while others have co-published with our faculty.

  • Study Abroad

    Study Abroad is enthusiastically supported as an integral part of the sociology curriculum. We have the second highest percentage of majors who study abroad. Students can spend a year or a semester in places like Argentina, Australia, Ireland, Spain or Scotland, to name a few. Students who study abroad may transfer up to four courses, usually electives, toward the major. In some cases, the required courses Social Statistics, Logics of Inquiry and/or Social Theory can be taken abroad.

  • Alpha Kappa Delta

    AKD is the International Sociology Honor Society for sociology majors who meet particular GPA requirements. It is over one hundred years old and was established to acknowledge and promote excellence in the scholarship of social problems, sociology and intellectual activities that lead to the improvement in the human condition.

  • Imse Award

    The Imse Award was established in 1990 by Thomas P. Imse to acknowledge the graduating Sociology member of AKD with the highest average in Sociology courses mediated by the student’s commitment to learning and to Sociology in particular. As Imse noted in establishing the award, AKD was founded on the idea that sociological knowledge “is sought and gained as a service to humankind; that the sociological scholar has a sense of concern for society.” The winner is selected by a committee of sociology faculty and receives $500, a plaque and recognition in the Department.

Meet Your Department Chair

Daina Cheyenne Harvey - Associate Professor, Department Chair Environmental Studies , Urban Studies

Meet all the faculty and staff from the department of Sociology & Anthropology.

All Faculty & Staff

Community-Based Learning

Many of our sociology courses involve community based learning. A pedagogical strategy that includes a wide variety of instructional methods and programs that educators use to connect what is being taught in schools to their surrounding communities, including local institutions, history, literature, cultural heritage and natural environments. Community-based learning is also motivated by the belief that all communities have intrinsic educational assets and resources that educators can use to enhance learning experiences for students.

Explore Opportunities

Outcomes

Majoring in sociology provides a strong preparation for positions throughout the business, health, social service and government worlds. Employers look for people with the critical thinking and research skills that an undergraduate education in sociology provides.

My sociology degree has helped me tremendously in the workplace by providing me with the tools to critically analyze situations, and advocate for my clients. My sociology degree has also transformed me into a more socially conscious individual, and therefore I am able to ask my colleagues and clients thought-provoking questions to prompt conversations. I am most grateful for the intellectual perspective that my sociology has provided me with to succeed in the corporate world.

James Dale James Dale '19, Client Manager at Unum Insurance

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