Undergraduate

Training in sociology confers deep understanding of social organization and human relations along with skill in managing and drawing inferences from data, making our major an ideal home for students considering careers in urban planning, data science, education, law, medicine, public service, journalism, social work, or marketing. UChicago’s approach to sociological education and training also gives students a firm foundation for pursuing specialized graduate work and academic careers. We are a small major and a tight-knit community in which undergraduate students interact frequently with faculty and graduate students in the classroom and through mentored research experiences. Our program is designed to meet the needs of diverse students and advance a personalized, student-designed specialty that reflects the common threads connecting their interests, coursework, and B.A. thesis research.

Currently, favorite traditions of the undergraduate program include the annual “sociological donut tour” of Chicago neighborhoods, the Week 8 celebration of our impending graduates at the BA thesis mini-conference, and the Sunday night UChicago party held at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, where undergraduate and graduate students meet up with current and former faculty and throngs of alumni. Join us!

What is Sociology? Why should you major in it?

To paraphrase Georg Simmel, sociology isn’t just a great pot into which a bunch of topics related to society are dumped. It represents a particular perspective on the world, one that is very different from common-sense and commonly available perspectives rooted in, say, economics, biology, physics, or psychology. Sociologists tend to explain the world using words like social structure, culture, agency, and process rather than self-interest, genetics, evolution, natural laws, or neural wiring. A sociological perspective can be very powerful, casting a new and clarifying light on important social issues and problems, from racial segregation in the United States to democratic backsliding globally. 

The sociology program has two major goals. The first is simply to teach students how to think sociologically. To this end, it will help them develop a theoretical vocabulary and an understanding of the methods professional sociologists employ in doing their research. These methods typically involve the use of statistics, systematic observation, interviews, big data, and archival material. The second major goal is to have students exercise their sociological imaginations by conceiving and conducting their own research projects, either in the context of individual courses or, ideally, a year-long capstone sequence. 

Students will develop a valuable set of skills in the course of the sociology program. Most importantly, they will learn to think sociologically and deepen their sociological imaginations. They will gain a fluency in sociological theory, learning how to navigate ideas in general, and some proficiency in quantitative, qualitative, and historical methods. They will learn to design and carry out research projects. 

These skills are not only personally enriching but eminently marketable. In recent years, our students have gone on to matriculate in top-tier graduate programs not just in the social sciences but in schools of medicine, business, law, education, and social work. They have been recruited by law firms, investment banks, community organizations, government agencies, nonprofits, social media companies, and start-ups. The goal of the program overall is not just to produce more professional sociologists but, rather, more sociologically minded citizens. 

CONTACTS
Director of Undergraduate Studies: Marco Garrido