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• Double Major: A Good Idea or Too Much Stress?
• English Major: Yields Great Communication Skills
• Sociology Major: Utilizes the Teachings of Other Disciplines to Highlight World Issues
• Finance Major: Excellent Choice for People With an Affinity for Numbers
• Computer Science Major: Solid Choice for Analytical & Imaginative Individuals

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Sociology Major: Utilizes the Teachings of Other Disciplines to Highlight World Issues

Sociology is a fascinating study that blends the teachings of other disciplines to help understand the world and how it works. Studying as a sociology major may involve coursework that also deals with psychology, economics, history, and political science. Students who select this major may also touch on topics like gender studies, ethnic studies, and cultural studies. Sociology embraces a number of different sciences, so a sociology major will study:

• How businesses function by looking at economic processes, organizations, institutions, and relationships
• How politics and the legal world function by looking at social movements, revolutions, law, and politics
• How science and medicine function to create truth and change the world
• How societies function, how they perpetuate inequalities and create opportunities
• How communities of belief and family are created and function to structure culture and religion

Sociology, then, is the study of the social world and how it operates. As you might imagine, a sociology major has many career opportunities after graduation. Some continue on to more schooling; it is not uncommon for a sociology student to go on to law school, medical school, or earn a graduate business degree. Other students choose to go to work after earning their four year degree. With a sociology degree the student might:

• Work in a college or university, in the alumni office, admissions, or in the placement office
• Work in government services, such as agriculture, housing, commerce, labor, or transportation departments
• Work in business as an advertising executive, human resources manager, salesperson, consumer researcher, or trainer
• Work in a health services capacity as a rehabilitation counselor, hospital admissions specialist, or for an insurance company
• Work in the field of corrections as a probation or corrections officer
• Work in the social services field, providing administration, recreation support, or case management

As a sociology major student, you will encounter a diverse range of classes. Most of them will be fascinating, and you’ll quickly see how the many different courses inform each other. Some of the required classes may include:

• Introduction to Sociology
• Social Problems
• Sociological Inquiry
• Class, Race, and Gender
• Suburban and City Life
• The Context of the Family
• Sociology of Gender
• Sociological Theory
• The Social Construction of the Society and Self
• Research Methods
• Race and Ethnic Relations
• Status, Class, and Power
• Deviance and Social Control
• Culture and Society
• Aging in American Society

As can be clearly seen, sociology encompasses a broad and fascinating range of subjects that can easily prepare the student to take on an interesting career, or continue their education to the next level. Sociology is a subject that the student can utilize in a nearly endless number of ways.

A sociology major is a good choice for a person who is intellectually curious and wants to know more about how societies operate, and how this operation affects the world around us. The field of sociology enjoyed a prominence in the social turmoil of the 1960’s and 1970’s. The number of students choosing this major declined a bit throughout the 1980’s, but interest in the subject matter is now increasing as individuals become more aware of the issues people around the world are facing on a daily basis. Sociology enlightens the student and prepares them to take on many different career roles.