PhD Program
Consult the Sociology
Graduate Handbook for
detailed information on
the graduate programs
Description
The PhD program is organized around the theme Social Economy and Social Justice: Gender, Race, and Class in a Global Context, and prepares students for careers as university and college faculty and as researchers and decision makers in business, the public sector, and non-profit organizations. The primary criteria for admission are academic performance and promise of outstanding work.
Requirements
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Application procedures.The Doctoral degree is completed by:
- Obtaining a Master’s degree in the department, including the completion of ten courses, a Master’s thesis or paper, and passing an oral defense.
- Taking an additional eight courses beyond the equivalent of the Master's degree in Sociology, including a second graduate-level Research Methods course.
- Meeting a one year full-time residency requirement. (Full-time residency is a three course load for two consecutive semesters, exclusive of the Summer session.)
- Passing a Comprehensive Examination, consisting of two area examinations and an approved doctoral dissertation proposal.
- Completing a doctoral dissertation and passing an oral defense.
Among the courses needed for completion of the Ph.D. degree, six are required. The required courses are:
- A two semester sequence in Social Theory, SC715, "Classical Social Theory" and SC716, "Contemporary Social Theory";
- A two-semester sequence in Statistics (SC702 and SC703);
- A one-semester course, "Advanced Research Methods" (SC710);
An additional graduate research methods class (for example, in field research, advanced quantitative techniques, historiographic research).
The Ph.D. Comprehensive Exam has three components: two examinations in specialty areas of the student’s choice, and an oral defense of the dissertation proposal. These area examinations test advanced knowledge in the student’s chosen specialties. One or both of the area examinations may assume the form of a paper of publishable quality to be submitted to a sociology journal.