Undergraduate Studies in Sociology at Boston College

Sociology examines the organization, structure, and change of societal groups. It combines rigorous methods of inquiry and analysis with a remarkable freedom of choice in research topics: mass media, the American Dream, intimacy and sexuality, racism, gender issues, technology, the family, war and peace, and deviance and social control, to name just a few of the subjects referenced on one of our typical course lists. At Boston College, sociologists also take a transformative, activist approach toward issues of social injustice and inequality, making the sociological experience here not only rigorous and creative but socially relevant and engaged. Training in this field is useful in a broad range of occupations, and also prepares students for graduate study in a number of disciplines (sociology, social work, urban affairs, public health, governmental administration, criminal justice, law, industrial organization, and education, among others).

Sociology students learn many ways of acquiring knowledge: interviews, examination of historical and personal documents, official records, careful observation of groups in which we participate, experiments, surveys, and the collection and analysis of quantitative data. These techniques are taught in our required methods courses (SC215 Social Theory and SC210 Research Methods) and statistics courses (SC200 Statistics), which are sought out by students from departments all over the university. We also offer two types of internship courses: one focusing on sociology in general that's offered by John Williamson, whose research focus is in death and dying and social security issues, and one on criminology offered by Jessica Hedges, a practicing attorney in Boston. As indicated above, our courses reflect the diversity of sociology, ranging from anthropology, to the sociology of mental health and illness, to corporate social responsibility. (See our course list for complete offerings.)

The diverse possibilities in sociology are also reflected by our faculty, which includes scholars like Stephen Pfohl, who studies postmodernism and psychoanalysis, among other topics, and who creates art that experiments with new mediums of sociological exchange; Zine Magubane, an influential scholar and prolific writer (with article titles like "Globalization and Gangster Rap: Hip Hop in the post Apartheid City"); Paul Schervish, who runs the Center on Wealth and Philanthropy and has been named to the Nonprofit Time's "Power and Influence Top 50" for four years running; Eva Garroutte, a member of Cherokee nation who examines issues affecting American Indians; and Juliet Schor, who's been interviewed by the Today show and NPR and featured in the New York Times, the Washington Post, and several other publications for her books on the impact of consumerism on daily life. Our Faculty Profiles page describes the scholarly focus for all of our distinguished and widely published faculty.

Our faculty and our students (both grad and undergrad) also provide examples of social commitment. To name just a few examples, Professor Charles Derber studies, teaches, and writes about political issues, and has also been engaged in political activism since the civil rights movement. Professor Michael Malec, currently the Director of Undergraduate Studies, annually leads a service trip to Nicaragua for participating BC undergrads. Sociology Honors students typically develop thesis projects reflecting their social commitment, such as Holly Unger's Organized Anarchy: a case study of the Urban Ecology Institute's Natural Cities Program. And two recent winners of the Romero Scholarship, a university financial award presented to the BC junior who best represents the ideals of the martyred activist Archbishop Romero, have been sociology majors: Arivee Vargas and Omar González. For both grad and undergrad sociology students, this social commitment often carries over into their post-graduate employment, like former undergrad Alexander Cheney, who led workshops and organized protests against the war as co-Executive Director of Boston Mobilization, and former grad student Leah Schmalzbauer, who studies the impact of the global economy on Honduran immigrants to the United States.

We invite you to look over our website and see whether the study of sociology at Boston College seems right for you. Be sure to note our newsletter, Sociology Speaks, and our Distinguished Visiting Scholar Series, which brings prominent scholars to the BC campus for public lectures. If you have any questions about our program, feel free to email us at sociology@bc.edu, call 617-552-4130, or drop by our office at McGuinn 426.

Jamel Mims ('08) received a Fulbright Fellowship to study in China, where he plans a sociological study of Beijing's hip-hop, urban and street culture.

Sociology undergrad alumna Katherine Adam ('07) is the first undergraduate in the history of BC to have her undergraduate thesis published as a book, The New Feminized Majority.