All students should feel free to consult all members of the Department for help in constructing their program and schedules. The Department encourages students to explore the full range of disciplines in the liberal arts and to resist concentrating in too narrow a range of subjects. Students should consult faculty members to discuss their courses each term and to plan a course of study over several years. A sociology major also offers students several opportunities for both individual and group projects. In these courses, students acquire the skills necessary to describe patterns of human interaction.
Statistical inference provides a formal link between sociological theory and social experience.
Although not required, other courses offer students training in qualitative research methods. Permission to complete the core courses at another institution must first be obtained from the department chair. Some students develop an interest in a particular substantive area of sociology to more fully integrate theoretical and methodological technique with descriptive materials. These concentrations are a collection of interrelated courses within the Sociology Department that have developed over the years in response to faculty and student interest. These subjects do not, however, exhaust either competence of faculty or interest of students.