The Renovation of Murray Hall

Welcome To The Department of Sociology!

Sociology is a vibrant, exciting inquiry into the most interesting subject of all, human beings in a social context. Over the course of its 200-year history, sociologists have studied a broad range of social phenomena ranging from the dynamics of interpersonal interaction and relationships, to the composition and global interrelationships of the world's societies. In short, sociologists have contributed to our understanding of social beings from the smallest encounters to the largest units of society and culture.

Whether the topic of analysis is crime and deviance, marriage and family relationships, population dynamics, race and ethnic relations, medicine, aging, or death, sociology contributes a distinctive framework for investigating, theorizing, and ultimately better understanding human societies.

The diversity of our faculty is reflected in the many different types of courses offered. Our current faculty are experts in such classical topics as those mentioned above, as well as law and society, industry and work, ethnicity and gender, organizational deviance, and urban and environmental sociology. Many undergraduate majors take advantage of the applied research option by selecting supervised work-related internships, either paid or voluntary.

The Department of Sociology offers B.A. and B.S. degrees in general sociology, applied sociology, or sociology with an anthropology emphasis. The general sociology degree provides students the opportunity to obtain a strong liberal arts degree with a maximum number of hours in the areas of sociology that they prefer. The degree provides a superb foundation for pursuing a professional or graduate degree in sociology, or in related fields of study. The applied sociology option focuses on either social and criminal justice, environmental issues, social gerontology, or social and community services. It provides practical experience for future employment in a variety of settings. Finally, the anthropology emphasis degree allows students to combine their study of sociology with one of its closest sister-disciplines.

The graduate program at OSU offer M.S. and Ph.D. degrees with concentrations in environmental sociology, complex organizations, deviance & criminology, social inequality and social psychology. Our graduates work in academia, public administration, social services and the private sector.

Due in part to Oklahoma's rich Native American culture, our department also includes the related area of cultural anthropology. Our resident anthropologist brings expertise in the native peoples of the New World, specifically those of Central America and the U.S. southern Plains.

Overall, we continue to believe that the strength of out program lies in the interrelated diversity of our faculty members and their willingness to assist undergraduate and graduate students in designing an education that best suits their individual interests and career aspirations.

Patricia Bell, Head
006 Classroom Building
Phone: 744-6105
Fax: 744-5780