I. Sociological Imagination
- Students should acquire a sociological perspective on the interconnection between social structures and the life experiences of individuals; students should be able to understand how sociological and anthropological insights can be utilized to analyze and address major social issues.
II. Traditions of Social Thought
- Level 1: Students should become acquainted with broad traditions of social thought so as to gain an understanding of the sociological/anthropological perspective as a way to examine and study human society and culture.
- Level 2: Students should learn to apply these traditions in order to analyze sociocultural phenomena and to formulate theoretically significant research questions; students should develop the skills to critically evaluate these traditions of social thought, including their respective strengths, weaknesses and limitations.
III. Research Methodology
- Level 1: Students should learn to use others' research in their own inquiries about sociocultural phenomena.
- Level 2: Students should develop a methodologically critical attitude towards the research enterprise and towards assertions of relationships between sociocultural phenomena, so that they can critically evaluate others' research.
- Level 3: Students should develop the research skills necessary to design and conduct their own research, with an awareness of how decisions of design may affect the outcome, as well as be able to summarize and analyze the results of their own research and to communicate their conclusions in a professionally acceptable way.
IV. Substantive Areas of the Discipline
- Students should gain an understanding of the major findings in particular substantive areas of sociology/anthropology.
V. Social Diversity
- Students should gain an appreciation for and an understanding of social diversity in contemporary culture, including both diversity between and within various cultural traditions and specifically in terms of socially defined categories such as class, race, and gender.
VI. Career Opportunities
- Students should become familiar with the opportunities for graduate study in areas related to Sociology and Anthropology as well as with the various options available for careers for students with a background in sociology and anthropology.