What are the constraints of your culture? Wouldn’t you like to know? Wouldn’t you like to break them?
Sociology equips students with the tools to critically examine the social world around them. Through our courses, students will examine institutions and policies that shape opportunities as well as cultures, social norms, and social contexts that influence identity and behavior. Focusing on issues ranging from race, gender, immigration, culture, and religion, students are encouraged to critically engage with contemporary social challenges at both local and global scales.
Explore Wide, Then Focus
The program provides students with maximum exposure to the breadth of the field before offering four concentrations in a chosen area of interest.All areas emphasize social action. Students may choose from:
- Sociology (self-design)
- Local and Global Communities and Social Change
- Social or Health Advocacy
- Education and Society
Courses
A sampling of the coursework offered includes:
- Self and Society
- Class, Power and Privilege
- Culture, Consumption, and the City
- Birth and Death
- Families, Communities, Cultures
See the Courses page for more.
Inside Sociology
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The Buzz About Bees: Collecting Honey to Examine DNA
Professor Stephen Harris and students in this new course extract honey from our own Purchase College bee hives. -
Professor Lisa Jean Moore Explores Horseshoe Crabs on Plumb Beach
Three alumni were among the group observing the crabs and their changing habitat.
