Welcome to the Sociology

Department

Department Location: Hart Hall 201

Main Office: Hart Hall 201

Administrative Assistant: Sarah Whittey

Phone: 508-531-1355

Chairperson: Dr. Kim Mac Innis

Office: Hart Hall 228

Phone: 508-531-2392

What is Sociology?

Sociology is the study of human social relationships and

institutions. It is an exciting and illuminating field of

study that analyzes and explains important matters in

our personal lives, our communities, and the world.

At the personal level, sociology investigates the

social causes and consequences of such things as

romantic love, racial and gender identity, family

conflict, deviant behavior, aging, and religious faith.

At the societal level, sociology examines and

explains matters like crime and law, poverty and

wealth, prejudice and discrimination, schools and

education, business firms, urban community, and

social movements. At the global level, sociology

studies such phenomena as population growth and

migration, war and peace, and economic

development.

Bachelor of Arts in Sociology Program

Overview

The Department of Sociology offers programs for students interested

in studying patterns of human behavior; the structure and

process of groups and organizational life; institutions such

as the family, religion, and education; and social change.

The study of Sociology is excellent preparation for employment in

public and private sector social agencies, government

agencies such as health and human services, and private

industry. It also provides a useful background for graduate

training in Sociology, other liberal arts fields, or further

studies in law, business, and health services. Students

planning to become teachers find sociology a valuable

liberal arts major to help them prepare for their profession.

The Department welcomes education majors who wish to double

major in Sociology. Professional sociologists increasingly

work in new areas, in addition to those in which they have

usually been employed, namely college and university

teaching, research, and consulting in private industry.

Sociology Major, General

Required Courses (12 credits):

SOCI 102 Introduction to Sociology

SOCI 300 Seminar: Social Theory (CWRM))

SOCI 390 Seminar: Research Methods in Sociology

SOCI 391 Seminar: Social Data Analysis

Choose seven additional sociology courses. Three of the

seven courses will be required from three categories

(see web site for detailed information)

Capstone Requirement (3 credits): ONE of the following:

SOCI 485 Honors Thesis

SOCI 496 Seminar: Critical Issues in Sociology

SOCI 497 Research

SOCI 498 Internship in Sociology

(36 credits)

Sociology Minor

Students must take 18 credits including:

SOCI 102: Introduction to Sociology

SOCI 300: Social Theory

*See Web Site for Detailed Information

Regarding Additional Courses

Sociology Concentrations

Sociology majors have the opportunity to

concentrate in areas of Sociology including

the following:

• Sociology, Global Studies and Social

Justice

• Sociology, Education Concentration

• Sociology, City, Community and Region

Concentration

*See Web Site for Detailed Information

Co-Curricular OpportunitiesThe Sociology Department actively facilitates undergraduate research

projects as well as the senior honors thesis. Our honor students

present at our Undergraduate Research Symposium at BSU, the

annual BSU New England Undergraduate Sociology Research

Conference and forums at various schools across the country.

The Sociology Department supports an honors society for its most

successful students, and there is also a Sociology Club open to all

purely on the basis of interest.

Alpha Kappa Delta (AKD) is a prestigious international Sociology Honor

Society that includes many of our students.

Bridgewater Sociology students have done internships at government

offices from local to federal levels, Probation Offices, Homeless

Shelters, Schools on Wheels and many more venues.

Bridgewater Sociology faculty are active in organizing study abroad

experiences in many parts of the world, including Canada, Japan

and Peru.

Academic Advising

Students are assigned an advisor upon joining the department. This

information can be found on Degree Audit or Degree Works by mid-

semester. You will be notified via e-mail when it is time to make an

appointment with your advisor.

Throughout the semester, full-time faculty hold regular office hours,

posted outside their office doors and on our web site. During advising,

which begins in early November and early April, several weeks before

online registration for the following semester, fulltime faculty post

extended office hours, and most of them use a sign-up sheet for

students to select times for appointments.

Students should bring printouts of their degree audits and at least a

preliminary course selection to their advising appointments. Advisers will

check to see that students are progressing successfully through the

major and choosing the correct courses.

Meet Our Faculty

• Kim Mac Innis is a Professor and

Chairperson of Sociology. She earned her

PhD from Northeastern University. Her

specialties include sexual violence, mass

murder, social theory, gun control, mass

media and Canadian Studies.

• Walter F. Carroll is Professor of Sociology

and a faculty member in Asian Studies. He

received his PhD in Sociology from American

University. His specialties include urban

studies, gun violence, data analysis and the

sociology of food.

Meet Our Faculty

• Patricia J. Fanning is a Professor of

Sociology and received her PhD from Boston

College. Her research interests include

medical sociology, social theory, ethnicity,

Irish studies, and the Sociology of Art.

• Jodi Cohen is a Professor of Sociology and

received her PhD from Northeastern

University. Her specializations include

Education, Gender & Sexualities,

Motherhood, and Cultural Heritage Studies.

Meet Our Faculty• Fang Deng is Professor of Sociology and

received her Ph.D. from the University of

Chicago. Her research interests are East

Asian Societies, Globalization, Sociology of

Organizations, and Social Research

Methodology.

• Michele Wakin is an Associate Professor of

Sociology and earned her PhD from the

University of California Santa Barbara. Her

specialties include Homelessness,

Qualitative Methods, Urban and Community

Studies, Race/Class/Gender Inequality.

Meet Our Faculty• Norma Anderson is an Assistant Professor

of Sociology and received her PhD from the

City University of New York. Her research

areas include global sociology, medical

sociology, and knowledge construction. Her

work focuses on inequalities related to

development in Africa, specifically Malawi.

• Kimberly E. Fox is an Assistant Professor of

Sociology and received her PhD from Loyola

University Chicago. Her specialties include

work and organizations, family, gender,

inequality, time use studies, data analysis

and research methods.

Meet Our Faculty

• Colby King is an Assistant Professor of

Sociology who received his PhD from the

University of South Carolina. His primary

areas of academic interest and research are

urban sociology and stratification, inequality,

and social class.

• Aseem Hasnain is an Assistant Professor of

Sociology who received his PhD from the

University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. His

research interests include political sociology,

social theory, South Asia and the Middle

East.

Meet Our Faculty

Meghan Murphy is an Assistant Professor

of Sociology who earned her PhD

from the University of Buffalo. Her

main specializations are education,

gender & sexuality, qualitative

research methods, and media &

popular culture. She is also a graduate

of BSU!

Recommended Courses for New Students

and Transfer StudentsSOCI 102 Introduction to Sociology- 3 Credits

This course covers such areas as social structure, basic human

institutions, analysis of social processes and major social

forces. Offered either semester. (CMCL; CSOC)

SOCI 199 - First Year Seminar – 3 Credits

First Year Seminars (FYS) are writing-intensive, various topic

courses that introduce students to academic thought,

discourse and practices. Students will improve their

writing, reading, research and basic information and

technology skills while learning to work both collaboratively

and independently in specific areas of interest. These

courses will fulfill the First Year Seminar requirement and

may fulfill other requirements for the core curriculum.

(CFYS)

Overriding a Prerequisite

If you want to

enroll in an upper-

level course

without having the

exact prerequisite,

you must complete

the following form,

allowing you to

enroll in the

course.

Make sure you have the correct CRN numbers for registration

(noted in the yellow box on the sample registration form )

BEFORE LEAVING

• Please feel free to ask any questions about

transferring courses or courses you are interested in.

• Please have your DegreeWorks Audit reviewed and

receive your sticker for checkout later in the day.

• If you need to adjust your schedule proceed to the

schedule adjustment area after your degree audit is

reviewed. Bring a prerequisite override or drop/add

form, signed by your department chair, if necessary.

Thank you and welcome to the

department of Sociology!!