Many sociology graduates from The College of Wooster go on to graduate school in sociology or related fields. Those who enter the job market have started careers in business, education, law, public administration, public health, social work, counseling, research, and criminal justice. Recent graduates include a high school principal, journalist, research fellow and other roles.
The program emphasizes the value of learning how to deal with contemporary social issues and how to develop problem-solving and research skills. Students have abundant opportunities to learn and conduct research outside the classroom, including a course taught once a year in a juvenile prison and semester programs abroad. Faculty members bring expertise in systems of inequality, race and ethnicity, gender, medical systems, welfare reform, criminology, nonprofit work, environmental advocacy, etc. Students can opt to be part of a 3-2 program with Case Western Reserve University, allowing them to graduate with a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in social work in five years.
Learn about Anthropology at Wooster
Professor of Women's, Gender, & Sexuality Studies; Sociology and Anthropology (on leave 2022-23 academic year)
Professor of Sociology and Anthropology; Department Chair of Urban Studies
Professor and Department Chair of Anthropology and Sociology; East Asian Studies
Assistant Professor of Sociology and Anthropology (On Leave Spring 2023)
Associate Professor of Archaeology; Sociology and Anthropology; Program Chair for Archaeology
Administrative Coordinator - Africana Studies, Archaeology, East Asian Studies, Middle Eastern & North African Studies, Religious Studies, Sociology and Anthropology, South Asian Studies, Urban Studies, Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
Assistant Professor of Sociology and Anthropology; Latin American Studies; Women's, Gender, & Sexuality Studies
As the holiday season approaches, an article published by the History Channel discussing holiday traditions during World War II highlighted the work of Pam […]
Major: Sociology Class Year: 2023 Organization: Quality Control Sports As an intern at Quality Control Sports, I will be working with the basketball division […]
Major: Sociology Class Year: 2023 Organization: Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting As an intern at the Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting, l will write […]
Mark Bergen ’07, a technology reporter for Bloomberg News, published Like, Comment, Subscribe: Inside YouTube’s Chaotic Rise to World Domination, the first book to […]
The basic challenge in sociology is to understand ourselves and others more fully. The discipline asks us to probe beneath the surface and to question why people behave as they do, especially in group situations. The sociological perspective asks us to question what we often take for granted, why our society operates as it does, and how our social arrangements could be different.
Students who major in sociology must take 12 department-related courses, including courses in anthropology, social statistics, classic and contemporary social theory.
In the senior year, each student works with a faculty mentor to conduct an intensive investigation into a subject of the student’s choosing, which results in the Independent Study thesis. Recent students have explored major social problems such as crime, homelessness, or poverty as well as issues affecting individuals and families such as college dating behavior, the effects of athletic participation on academic performance, and working mothers.
View the IS Handbook for Sociology and Anthropology
| Student | Year | I.S. Title | Major 1 | Major 2 | Advisor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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“I met a grandfather who climbed over a 6-foot-tall fence to rescue a puffin. It’s not that they devote their lives to these birds, […]
Name: Sky Gill Major: Statistical and Data Sciences Minors:Sociology, Environmental Studies Advisors: Dr. Christina Horr, Dr. Jillian Morrison (second reader) Foster care in the […]
Name: Megan Tuennerman Majors: Sociology, Environmental Studies Advisors: Dr. Heather Fitz Gibbon This study analyzes the factors, internal and external, that affect the relationship […]
Name: Rachel Marie Osterhouse Major: Sociology Minor: Political Science Advisors: Thomas Tierney, Setsuko Matsuzawa This research paper examines the stigma surrounding women’s health and […]
Many majors elect to enter graduate study in sociology. Others move into careers in business, education, law, public administration, social work, counseling, museum studies, and criminal justice. For example, one recent graduate is working as a career counselor at Georgetown University; another is an associate attorney in a law firm; others have titles ranging from medical social worker to college librarian to bank manager.
Mark Bergen ’07, a technology reporter for Bloomberg News, published Like, Comment, Subscribe: Inside YouTube’s Chaotic Rise to World Domination, the first book to […]
Some of golf’s most prestigious events – like U.S. Opens, Ryder Cups, U.S. Amateur Championships, and Curtis Cups to name a few – are […]
Google the name “Ayesha Bell Hardaway” and you’ll find this 1997 College of Wooster grad everywhere. She’s in video clips offering legal analysis for news […]
After graduating from The College of Wooster, Rasmia Kirmani-Frye ’95 immediately knew she wanted to move to New York City and begin a career […]
In 1989 Mr. and Mrs. Lewis N. Stieglitz, M.D. from Concord, New Hampshire, established an endowed fund in memory of their son Martin, a Sociology major, who died in an off-campus apartment fire, spring semester, 1989. The fund enables the Department to invite prominent sociologists and anthropologists to campus each year as Stieglitz Lecturers.