Academic Bulletin

College of Arts & Sciences - Undergraduate

SOCIOLOGY - Dept. Code: SOC
www.as.miami.edu/sociology

Educational Objectives | Degree Programs | Major | Minor | Departmental Honors

Introduction

The Department of Sociology offers two majors-sociology and criminology. A student majoring in Sociology or Criminology may not minor in the other. Courses for both majors are designated SOC; see course list below. For information on Criminology please see the CRIMINOLOGY section of the Bulletin.

Course work in SOCIOLOGY is designed to provide scientific training for understanding the organization and fluid nature of contemporary society, patterns of social change, and the mutual influence between macro structures and processes (society and culture) on one hand, and the micro level (individuals and groups) on the other.

Educational Objectives

SOCIOLOGY courses have several objectives, including:

1.  strong component of a liberal arts education, including skills that employers seek;
2.  valuable undergraduate preparation for pursuing careers in such fields as journalism, politics, public relations, business or public administration-fields that involve investigative skills and working with diverse groups;
3.  excellent grounding and training for future graduate work to become a professor or a research or applied sociologist.

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Degree Programs

Students may earn a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology. The Department of Sociology also offers graduate degrees in Sociology with emphases in medical sociology, race and ethnic relations, and criminology.

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Major

A major in SOCIOLOGY requires: a minimum of 31 credits, including Sociology 101, 210, 211, 212, 501, and two of the following courses: SOC 301, Social Organization; SOC 302, Social Psychology: Sociological Perspective; SOC 303, Social Inequalities. All courses taken for major credit must be passed with a grade of C- or higher with an overall GPA of 2.0. Normally students cannot transfer more than 12 credits toward the major.

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Minor

A minor in SOCIOLOGY consists of 15 credits in Sociology, including SOC 101 and at least six credits in courses at the 300 level or above. All courses taken for minor credit must be passed with a grade of C- or higher with an overall GPA of 2.0.

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Departmental honors

Graduation with Departmental Honors is available to eligible students who fulfill the following:

1. Students desiring Departmental Honors in Sociology or Criminology must maintain an overall GPA of 3.3 and a GPA of 3.5 in Sociology or Criminology. They must also achieve a minimum of B in all Sociology/Criminology courses. For transfer students, the Department uses the cumulative, combined GPA calculated by the Office of the Registrar.

2. A student seeking Departmental Honors is required to write an independent research paper which is submitted to the Undergraduate Committee. The nature of the independent research project is determined by the faculty member(s) with whom the student works. This project is done in SOC 498 & SOC 499 (Honors I & II). The student should have the same professor(s) for all six credits.

3. Recruitment of eligible students is by department invitation at the beginning of a student's junior year.

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