|
UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAM
Welcome!
The members of the Department of Sociology welcome all current and
prospective sociology majors! This brief outline is designed to help
you as you major or minor in sociology and prepare for your future. The
Department of Sociology wishes to help you in whatever way its
members can. The Department encourages you to talk with faculty
members whenever you believe they can assist you, and also
encourages you to take advantage of the opportunities that the
department and the university have to offer to students. An expanded
version of this outline is available in the Sociology Handbook,
which you can obtain in office 321 of Sloan College. More
information can be obtained from the Sociology Department,
email.
Click
on an item or scroll down this page for information about:
Sociology
- Major & Minor- Distinction
- AKD - Links -
Resources
- Awards - Our
Faculty
Sociology:
What and Why?
What is Sociology?
How do people live and act with one another? How do people create,
maintain, and change social life? Sociology investigates these and
other questions. Sociologists explore how people structure social
life and the consequences of those structures for human behavior.
Sociologists examine populations, their formation, characteristics
and impact on social life. Sociologists study how people interact
with one another in order to accomplish joint activity. Human
behavior is social. Therefore, sociologists have broad interests.
Sociologists explore families, the experiences of diverse ethnic
groups, organizations, the socialization of children and youth,
social networks, the life cycle of people, inequality, the
institution of religion, gender, the development and change of
entire societies, and much more.
Why Study Sociology?
You may wish to study sociology for many reasons. If you are curious
about social life, about what people do and why and with what
consequences, then you may wish to study sociology. Through studying
sociology, you will develop your ability to wonder about social life
and to explore it carefully. You will learn to question common
sense, raise significant questions, examine arguments, synthesize
information, analyze data, make conclusions, and present your
understanding orally and in writing. Through a major in sociology,
you can prepare yourself well for a wide range of careers. An
undergraduate degree in sociology provides strong preparation for
entry level positions in social service, government, and business. A
major in sociology produces a firm liberal arts foundation for
entering professional schools in law, education, social work, and
other fields. Of course, an undergraduate degree in sociology is
excellent preparation for graduate work in sociology to become a
researcher, professor, or consultant.
In
2008, the American Sociological Association prepared a Data Brief on
Current Jobs, which you can read here in a pdf file: "What
are they Doing with a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology."

top
The Sociology Major
The Department of Sociology offers two undergraduate degrees.
Students may elect to earn a Bachelor of Arts or a Bachelor of
Science in Sociology. The sociology requirements are the same for
each. Please see the Undergraduate Studies Bulletin and the Guidelines for Advisement for the different
requirements in mathematics, humanities, and social sciences for
each degree.
The pre-major and the major requirements
must be
completed with a grade of C or better.
I. Pre-major Requirements
1. SOCY 101 Introductory Sociology--prerequisite for all other
sociology courses.
2. SOCY 220 Elementary Statistics for Sociologists--prerequisite for
SOCY 300, 310, and 320. It can be met by satisfactorily completing PSYC 227, MGSC 291, STAT
201 or an equivalent course in quantitative methods. The department
encourages sociology majors to take SOCY 220.
II.
Major Requirements
1. Any TWO of the following three courses are required:
SOCY 300
- Social Structures (also the prerequisite for
SOCY 500 to 509)
SOCY 310
- Social Demography (also the prerequisite for
SOCY 510 to 519)
SOCY 320
- Individual and Society (also the prerequisite
for SOCY 520 to 529 & 557)
2.
FIVE sociology courses at the 300-level or above in addition to
requirement # 1. The department offers a variety of courses that
explore particular areas of social life, such as the family,
minority groups, aging, children and youth, collective behavior, sex
roles, social problems, inequality, death and dying, education, and
more.
3.
TWO 500-level courses. These are intended to be small, junior/senior level seminars.
The Sociology Minor
The Sociology minor consists of 6 sociology courses for 18 hours. It
begins with SOCY 101, which should be taken before the other courses
in the minor. While SOCY 220 need not be the second course taken for
the minor, the sociology department advises that this requirement be
met early in the minor.
1. SOCY 101 Introductory Sociology
2. SOCY 220 Elementary Statistics for Sociologists
(If an equivalent statistics course, such as PSYC 227, MGSC 291, or STAT
201, or some other statistics course accepted by the sociology
department is used to meet this requirement, then another sociology
course will need to be taken to have a total of six sociology
courses.
3. One SOCY 500-level course
4. Three other sociology courses at the 300, 400, or 500 level. SOCY
399 can be used to meet this requirement.

top
Distinction in Sociology
To
graduate with Distinction in Sociology, a student must earn at least
a 3.5 grade point average in sociology and at least a 3.5 in
non-sociology courses. In addition, the student must plan and
conduct his/her own research project described and presented in a
paper. The student who seeks graduation with Distinction must select one faculty member to chair
the committee that guides and evaluates his/her work. The committee
will be composed of at least three faculty members including the
chair. The student and the chair of the committee will consult with
one another to select the other members. To meet the requirements
necessary for Distinction, the student must successfully defend
his/her proposal and final paper to the committee. Upon the
completion and acceptance of the paper, the student will
receive three hours credit in Sociology 698 (independent research).
Other requirements to attain a degree in sociology will remain the
same. Ideally, the project should be finished within two semesters.
The consensus of the committee is necessary to pass the two oral
defenses. Research projects must conform to the University’s
policy on the treatment of human subjects. Proposals must
additionally be subjected to the scrutiny of the Sociology
Department’s ethics committee.
.
Alpha Kappa Delta
The University of South Carolina, Columbia hosts the GAMMA chapter
of Alpha Kappa Delta, the international sociological honor society.
Sociology majors (and other students with a serious interest in
sociology) maybe eligible to become members. Look for announcements
each year concerning this opportunity.
.
Links
USC
Undergraduate Studies
Bulletin - Includes information about Admissions, Regulations, Student Life, Fees and Refunds, Financial Aid and Scholarships, and Academic Programs.
Undergraduate
Studies - Information from the Office of the Dean of Arts &
Sciences. Includes information on undergraduate scholarships.
.
Career
Resources: Some
Useful Documents
USC
Career Center - Useful Resources for Career Planning,
Career Center, 6th floor, William H. Close Building (Business Administration
College building), (803) 777-7280.
career@sc.edu
Career
and Job Information (including job listings) - Specifically
designed for students interested in various areas of application in
sociology.
Graduate School Resources
- Options for continued education.
The
Arts and Sciences Career Development Program - Paving the way
for students' success following graduation.
Community Service Programs (for developing service opportunities in
the community) - #039 of Russell House Student Union, lower west wing,
(803) 777-5780.
Embarking Upon a Career with an Undergraduate Degree in Sociology
-
American Sociological Association,
1722 N Street NW, Washington, DC 20036-2981,
(202) 833-3410.
Career
Exploration:
Every semester devote
some time (perhaps one hour each week) to career exploration.
Use the services of the Career Center; search the web to
learn about careers; where possible, tie a course assignment to a
potential career; do a phone interview with people in careers that
interest you and shadow them for part of a day; go to USC's Career
Festivals to learn more about careers and employers even if you're
not a senior; consider taking SOCY 399 (Independent Study in
Sociology) and tie what you do in it to career interests; use
volunteer activities and part-time jobs for learning about careers
and developing career skills, and more! Ask supervisors to write
letters of recommendation for you when you end a volunteer activity
or part-time job. You'll
have those recommendation letters to use for future job
applications. Use the Career
Center at the start of your senior year to look for your first job
upon graduation.
Check the workshops for grants held during
Fall 2011!

top
Undergraduate
Student Awards
Every
year, the Sociology Department organizes two competitions for
undergraduate students:
Outstanding Senior Major in Sociology
Award - The Department of Sociology faculty selects each
spring one or more senior sociology majors (who have graduated in
the previous August or December or will graduate in May) to receive
this award. The faculty makes its decision based primarily on the
academic accomplishments of the sociology majors and on any other
relevant accomplishments and activities.
Rising Senior of the Year Award - The
College
of
Arts
and Sciences sponsors a Rising Senior of the Year award for each of
its department. To be eligible for this award, which is decided in
the spring semester, sociology majors must meet the following
criteria: declared sociology major; cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher;
3.5 or higher GPA in course work at USC; 3.5 or higher GPA in
sociology courses; must have completed 75 hours by the beginning of
the spring semester; must maintain full-time enrollment (12 hours
minimum) for the following fall and spring semesters; at least 24
hours earned at USC, Columbia by the beginning of the spring
semester; and at least 4 of the sociology major requirements (out of
11) met by the beginning of the spring semester.

top
About
Our Faculty
Here
are a few words about the members of our teaching faculty. More
information, including personal websites and email, can be found on the Faculty
Page.
JASON CUMMINGS
works in the areas of medical sociology, mental
health, race & ethnicity, gender and stratification, centering on
racial and gender disparities in health and well-being.
MATHIEU DEFLEM specializes in sociology of law, social control,
deviance, terrorism and
counter-terrorism, and policing, especially from a
comparative-historical perspective.
BARRY MARKOVSKY specializes in group processes, social psychology,
social networks, theory construction methods and experimental
research methods.
PATRICK NOLAN is a macro-comparative-evolutionary sociologist. He
has published a number of papers on macro-sociology,
stratification, and ecological-evolutionary theory.
JIMY SANDERS teaches an undergraduate course that facilitates
"statistical literacy."
Emphasis is placed on becoming familiar with the types of
data and statistics commonly reported in the media.
BRENT SIMPSON teaches and researches in the areas of
social psychology, trust, altruism, and prosocial behavior.
SHELLEY SMITH interests are in socioeconomic inequality,
stratification, and research methods.
She teaches both undergraduate and graduate courses in
these areas.
LALA
CARR STEELMAN earned her
bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina at
Chapel
Hill and her M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from Emory University.
IRENA STEPANIKOVA earned a Ph.D. from Stanford University in 2006.
Her research and teaching interests include race/ethnicity, social
psychology, and medical sociology.
SHANE THYE earned a
bachelor’s degree in experimental psychology from the University
of Iowa and received a Ph.D. from the Iowa Department of Sociology
in 1997.
DAVID
WILLER
focuses his research on the structural determinants of power,
exploitation, and domination. He
is currently using Elementary Theory of Social Structures which he
founded to offer new historical explanations based on that
experimentally tested theory.
More
information about our professors can be found on the Faculty
Pages.
More information can be obtained from the Sociology Department,
email.
|