Sociology

Sociology is the study of social life, social change, and the social causes of human behavior. It focuses on how people coordinate their activities to achieve both individual and collective goals. Sociology is different from the other social and behavioral sciences in two important ways. First, it places primary importance on the social group within the larger society. Second, it seeks to explain the broad range of human behavior as it is influenced by the social context. Thus, sociology studies the major issues of our times and seeks to understand their complexity and predict their future. It investigates how patterns of social activity originate, what sustains them, why they take one form rather than another, and how they change. Since the focus is on social life, the subject matter of Sociology covers a range of topics from issues of race, social class, and gender to broad matters such as immigration, education, health, and culture. Sociology provides an excellent program of study to prepare students for both advanced degrees and employment after graduation.