Boston University Sociology Undergraduate Program

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"Being part of the Boston University’s Sociology Department has been the highlight of my experience at college and shaped my ambitions for the future. The faculty’s passion for the material makes classes exciting and fascinating, and their friendliness, guidance and genuine attentiveness distinguishes students into individuals rather than mere numbers lost in a vast university population. I have had the opportunity to participate in a sociology conference in Montreal and research my own interests in transnational corporate power and water privatization with the possible end of publication; but more importantly, the knowledge I am exposed to here has beneficially shaped how I see the world and my role within it."

-Erica Blom, Sociology, Class of 2007 and American Sociological Association Honors Program, 2006

As a first year medical student, if there is one trait I have learned and observed that creates a good physician, it is the ability to empathize with others, especially your patients, because with empathy comes trust, rapport, empowerment, and ultimately an effective diagnosis and treatment. There is no better way to practice in my opinion, and such an attitude stems from the training I received as an undergraduate in sociology, of all majors, which taught me better than a natural science, that medicine extends beyond the cellular halls of research and into the socio-cultural background of the patients themselves.”

-Joanna Ng, Class of 2006, currently BU Medical Student

Overview

Coursework in sociology offers training in critical analytic skills; broad knowledge of social relations, social systems, and processes; and substantive expert knowledge in a variety of sociological subfields, from medical sociology to urban sociology; from global and transnational social relations to gender inequality and organizational forms; from law and social processes to racial and ethnic relations. Because it is a comparably broad field, sociology provides useful tools for a variety of careers. Sociology graduates work in fields like medicine, law, market research, business, journalism, social work, criminal justice, policy analysis, and nonprofit organizations.

The following list of a notable people with a BA, MA, or PhD in sociology gives a sense of sociology's diversity (the list comes from the American Sociological Association):

Politics:

Wellington Webb, mayor of Denver

Brett Schundler, mayor of Jersey City

Annette Strauss, former mayor of Dallas

Rev. Martin Luther King

Roy Wilkins, former head of NAACP

Rev. Jesse Jackson

Rev. Ralph Abernathy

Shirley Chisholm, former Congresswoman from NY

Maxine Waters, Congresswoman from LA

Barbara Mikulski, US Senator from Maryland

Tim Holden, Congressman from Pennsylvania

Cardinal Theordore McCarrick, Archbishop of Washington, DC

Saul Alinsky, father of community organizing

Saul Bellow, novelist

Ronald Reagan (double major in sociology and economics)

Emily Balch, 1946 Nobel Peace Prize winner (a social worker and social reformer)

Francis Perkins, social reformer and former Secretary of Labor

Richard Barajas, Chief Justice, Texas Supreme Court

Arts:

Saul Bellow, novelist

Regis Philbin, no-talent TV host

Dan Aykroyd, actor/Blues Brother

Robin Williams, actor/comedian

Paul Shaffer, bandleader on David Letterman Show (and before that, Saturday Night Live)

Dinah Shore, singer

Ruth Westheimer, the "sex doctor"

Sociology also provides excellent preparation for graduate study in various fields. For example, prelaw students may wish to take courses in the sociology of law, criminology and criminal justice, and deviance and social control. Students pursuing careers in business may wish to take courses in the sociology of work, business and society, formal organizations, technology, and law. The Sociology Office in Room 260 has further material on career resources, provided by the American Sociological Association, for students to consult.

The Department is also proud to have a unique student group, the award-winning Undergraduate Sociology Association (USA). Students majoring and minoring in sociology are encouraged to join this independent organization, which provides a number of services and programs for students including University-wide panel discussions of public interest topics, film showings, service projects, social events, and participation in the Department's Undergraduate Programs Committee planning and policy-making activities. Members elect offices each Spring for the next academic year [president, vice-president, secretary, treasures]. Upon timely application to the Student Activities Office [SAO] at the George Sherman Union, the USA may receive funding for sponsored events. For further information, view the USA's homepage.

For more information on the undergraduate program, please follow the links above. The website of the American Sociological Association also has excellent resources for students, including a biannual newsletter, The Student Sociologist (www.asanet.org).

Wondering what else you can do with a degree in sociology? Check out this recent ASA publication: "What they are Doing with a Bachelor's Degree in Sociology."

department of sociology
boston university
96 cummington street
boston, MA 02215

tel 617.353.2591
fax 617.353.4837
e-mai socinfo@bu.edu