What can you do with a major or minor in Sociology? A major or minor in Sociology provides students with vital intellectual and occupational skills, including analytical thinking; creative problem solving; effective written and oral communication; collecting, analyzing and interpreting data; and gaining expertise regarding the impact of social and cultural dynamics on individual and societal trends.
Our majors and minors pursue careers in a variety of fields, such as:
Social-Justice Related Activism
Law and Criminal Justice
Education and Social/Human Services
Research—especially public health and medicine, public opinion research, market research/marketing, as well as occupations requiring data collection, analysis, and project direction skills (e.g., nursing, policy work, journalism, engineering, computational sciences)
Public Service/Government and Administration
Nonprofit organizations
Business, Management, and Human Resources
The Sociology major core courses include an introduction to sociology and sociological research, theory and writing, and community-based research. Beyond that, dive deep into areas that match your interests! Students may pursue broad training in sociology by choosing from a wide variety of sociology electives, or they can choose electives from one or more focus areas, such as Crime/Deviance, Family, Health, Social Inequality, or Social Research. Sample courses include:
SOCI 101 Introduction to Sociology
SOCI 180 Social Problems
SOCI 209 Sociology of Crime
SOCI 217 Sociology of Race and Ethnicity
SOCI 226 Families and Society
SOCI 252 Health, Medicine, and Society
SOCI 309 Drugs and Society
SOCI 320 Sociology of Sport
SOCI 362 Ethics and the Responsible Conduct of Research
SOCI 381 Social Inequality: Race, Class, Gender – and Beyond
SOCI 443 Sociology of Mental Health
SOCI 454 Physical Health Disparities
SOCI 492 Special Topics (topics vary, one recent offering was Approaches to Police Reform)
The core requirements of the major, as well as a selection of other courses, are offered regularly online, making it possible to earn a degree primarily at a distance if desired.
We strongly encourage students to seize the opportunities provided for internships and research experiences, which play a key role in helping students gain experience and build the strongest after-graduation opportunities. Many students have room to combine their interest in sociology with one of the many interdisciplinary programs/certificates offered in the College of Arts and Sciences and beyond.
Interested in learning more? See requirements in the Undergraduate Catalog and contact any of the Sociology academic advisors to discuss what a major or minor in Sociology looks like for you! Schedule an appointment with Annel Gonzalez, Kendall Helling, Alexis Partridge, or Mikayla Tegler through Student Success Hub (https://cas.unl.edu/major-advisors) or come for a Zoom drop-in (https://cas.unl.edu/drop-in-advising-schedule). We look forward to meeting with you soon!
More details at: https://soc.unl.edu/