Sociology M.A.
General Graduate Program Requirements
Graduate School policies and standards can be found on the Graduate School Policies page.
The minimum GPA for any graduate program is 3.0. Individual programs may require more than a 3.0 to remain in good standing.
The minimum grade for a course to be accepted toward any requirement is C. Individual programs may require higher grades for specific courses.
MASTER OF ARTS - SOCIOLOGY
- Graduate students must have previously taken or plan to take SOCI 455 or an equivalent.
- At least half of all credits earned for the degree, excluding a combined total of 10 semester credits for thesis and research, will be at the 500- or 600-level; however, with a few exceptions, 400-level courses may also be applied to the graduate degree. All undergraduate courses taken for graduate credit require a graduate increment consisting of additional reading or writing. 400-level courses that have been approved to be offered for graduate credits have the words "Level: Undergraduate-Graduate" in their course descriptions.
- Students in the graduate program can pursue either a thesis option or an applied sociological experience option:
- Students interested in the thesis option must complete 30 credits. A minimum of three of these credits (and a maximum of six) will be in SOCI 599. A thesis is an original, in-depth study of a social phenomenon, in which the student makes clear linkages between sociological theory, data collection and/or analysis, and research findings.
- Students interested in the applied experience option must complete 30 credits, six of which must be in SOCI 598. Students who select this option will complete a year-long internship and will engage in extensive written reflection about that experience under the supervision of a faculty member.
- Students will formally express interest in one of these two options during the spring semester of their first year. Students interested in the thesis option will submit a brief proposal for their project. The Sociology faculty will review all thesis proposals, select a sub-set of proposals to support, and assign a faculty mentor to each selected project. Students interested in the applied sociological experience option will work with their faculty advisor to select several appropriate field sites for their applied experience and will apply for internships at that site. During their second year, these students will work with the faculty member supervising the department’s internship course to develop and complete an extensive written reflection about their applied experience.
Course Requirements
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Qualitative Methods | 3 | |
Complete one of the following courses: | ||
| Qualitative Methods | ||
| Qualitative Research Methods | ||
| Quantitative Methods | 3 | |
Complete one of the following courses: | ||
| Quantitative Methods | ||
| Social Data Analysis | ||
| Writing-Intensive Course | 3 | |
Complete one of the following courses: | ||
| Victims and Society | ||
| Seminar in Crime & Deviance | ||
| Homicide | ||
| Writing for Sociology | ||
| Contemporary Social Theory | ||
| Seminar in Crime & Deviance | ||
| Thesis or Applied Experience | 21 | |
Complete the following courses for the thesis option: | ||
15-18 credits in graduate-level Sociology (SOCI) courses. | ||
| Thesis (6 credits) | ||
Complete the following course for the applied experience option: | ||
15 credits in graduate-level Sociology (SOCI) courses. | ||
| Sociology Internship (6 credits) | ||
| Total Hours | 30 | |