Sociology and Anthropology

Sociology: Major 
Anthropology: Major, Minor

The sociology and anthropology department will challenge you to critically examine continuing and urgent issues of inequality and social marginalization, focusing on complex human interactions in diverse cultures within a globalized world. 

You will learn to analyze structures of power and hierarchy, draw connections between your personal experiences and larger social and historical processes, as well as question preconceived ideas about the nature of society and representation of cultures around the world. Our graduates enter a wide variety of occupations well prepared with sharp analytical skills and as knowledgeable and engaged citizens.

The department combines a humanistic concern for the quality and diversity of human life with a commitment to the empirical analysis of culture and society. 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. The anthropology curriculum focuses on human cultural experiences around the world, with an emphasis on the contemporary challenges wrought by globalization. Courses often highlight the geographical areas in which faculty work (Latin America, Asia, and Africa) and focus on a diverse range of topics.

Sociology and Anthropology Department Statement on Black Lives Matter: Racial Justice and Action

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Program Highlights

Classes in sociology and anthropology give students the analytical tools to apply to complex issues that face us in the 21st century, including:

  • Global structures of inequality
  • Race and ethnicity
  • Gender and sexuality
  • Power and class
  • Religion
  • Environment
  • Media and popular culture
  • Health, medicine, and the body
  • Social movements
  • Family and kinship
  • Work and employment
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Opportunities

From internships to study abroad to independent research, opportunities abound for sociology and anthropology students.

Students in a garden
In the Community

Many department courses engage students in community-based learning, where academic learning and civic engagement meet.

Alumni in Rehm Library
Careers

Graduates apply their skills in many careers, including business, health, education, marketing, and non-profits.

Sociology and Anthropology News

Alvaro Jarrin, assistant professor of anthropology. Photo by Austin Bosworth
Holy Cross Professor’s Cultural Anthropology Research Highlighted in Australian Science Magazine
Recent studies analyzing the role played by race in influencing response to cosmetic surgery have yielded controversial results, notably that the race, of both patients and observers, appears to impact the perceived attractiveness of rhinoplasty patients. Alvaro Jarrin, assistant professor …
Emily Campbell
Holy Cross Professor Shares Advice on Supporting Those Grieving Opioid Epidemic Victims
As part of her research on grief in the American opioid epidemic, Emily B. Campbell, visiting lecturer of sociology, spoke to grieving mothers who lost children to opioid addiction. In a piece written for The Conversation, she shared some advice …
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Blog: Brown Baker ’20 Hopes to Become Fluent in Russian During Year Abroad
NAME Emily Brown Baker ‘20 HOMETOWN Harper Woods, Mich. (near Detroit) AREAS OF STUDY Sociology and Russian double major, Peace and Conflict Studies concentration WHERE SHE’S STUDYING Russian State University for the Humanities (RSUH) in Moscow, Russia DURATION Full academic …