FAS - Sociology

The Department of Sociology offers students the opportunity to apply the full range of sociological theories and sociological methodologies to problems of structured social inequalities and their emergence, forms, and consequences for identities and conflicts at all levels from small groups to global social formations. The department is particularly strong in the studies of social inequalities of gender, race, class, and nation.

There are three overlapping approaches to the study of social inequalities represented in the department. One focuses on the interconnections among gender, race, and social class as dimensions of inequality and resistance. Another examines social inequalities in comparative, historical, and global perspective. A third focuses on the social network dynamics and processes that establish, maintain, or dissolve structured social inequalities.

Graduate students are encouraged to combine their work in sociology with multidisciplinary study in a particular area by enrolling in one of the following certificate programs: Asian Studies, Cultural Studies, Eastern European Studies, Latin American Studies, Russian Studies, West European Studies, or Women's Studies.

Contact Information

Department Chair: Patrick D. Doreian

Main Office: 2G03 Posvar Hall

Phone: (412) 648-7585

Fax: (412) 648-2799

E-mail: socdept+@pitt.edu

Web site: http://www.pitt.edu/~socdept/sociology.html

Facilities

The Department of Sociology has a computer classroom and graduate computing laboratory. This facility contains 13 networked computers: eight Windows and four Mac+Windows stations, plus an instructor's Windows device. All computers are connected to the University's main applications server. The department also maintains a Sun server that provides databases of particular interest to sociologists, including the historical U.S. censuses, social network databases, and various demographic databases.

Publications

Journal of Mathematical Sociology: Members of the department founded the journal in 1971. For the last fourteen years, the journal has been edited in the department.

Admissions

Entrance into programs leading to the Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy degrees in Sociology requires a baccalaureate degree in one of the arts or sciences from an accredited institution of higher learning acceptable to the Department of Sociology and the University of Pittsburgh. Qualified students from any discipline are considered for admission.

Prerequisite for admission to the PhD program is a Master of Arts degree or equivalent preparation (plus approval from the Admissions Committee). Students entering with an MA degree from another institution may petition the Admissions Committee for a waiver of the core courses and a transfer of credits.

Applicants must submit to the departmental Director of Graduate Studies transcripts of all college-level work, three letters of recommendation, a career statement, and scores on the verbal, quantitative, and analytical sections of the Graduate Record Examination. International applicants are also required to submit TOEFL scores. Two copies of the Application for Admission to Graduate Study form should be completed and submitted along with the application fee. Applications are accepted for Fall Term admission until April 15. To be considered for financial awards, applications must be completed by March 15 (January 15 for international applicants). The department admits students only for the Fall Term.

Financial Assistance

Teaching assistantships and fellowships, Andrew W. Mellon Predoctoral Fellowships, Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowships (administered by the University Center for International Studies), Provost Development Fellowships and graduate student research assistantships are available. See Fellowships and Traineeships in the FAS section of the bulletin for details.

Degree Requirements

The minimal requirements established by the Graduate Faculty of the University, as described under General Academic Regulations, and any additional requirements of FAS Graduate Studies described under FAS Degree Requirements, should be read in conjunction with program-specific degree requirements described in the following sections.

Requirements for the Master's Degree

For the MA degree, students must earn 36 credits in approved graduate courses. The 36 credits must include completion of the 18-credit core course sequence: Central Themes in Social Theory, Research Design, either Qualitative or Quantitative Methods, Teaching Seminar, and two concentration seminars with grades of B or better. Students must then pass an examination covering one of the general fields: global and comparative sociology; social network processes; or gender, race and class. This examination, together with the required course work, will serve as a basis for granting the Master of Arts degree and admission into the doctoral program.

First-year graduate students will be advised by the Director of Graduate Studies. After a student completes one term of full-time graduate work, she or he will choose an advisor who represents the field that the student plans to choose for the MA comprehensive examination.

Requirements for the PhD Degree

Credit Requirement

The PhD program requires 72 credits earned from a combination of the required core course sequences, MA courses, additional graduate sociology seminars, and any suitable combination from course work, independent study, research, or dissertation work.

Advising and Supervision

First-year graduate students will be advised by the Director of Graduate Studies. After a student completes one term of full-time graduate work, the student will choose an advisor who represents the field that the student plans to choose for the MA comprehensive examination. In preparation for the PhD comprehensive examination, students will establish a comprehensive committee consisting of three Graduate Faculty members: two examiners (one of which will be designated as chair) from the major area of study and one examiner from the minor area. Following successful completion of the comprehensive examination, the student will form a doctoral committee, consisting of four Graduate Faculty members, including one faculty member from a department other than Sociology. All doctoral committees must be approved by the full faculty of the department.

Supervised Teaching Experience

Supervised teaching experience is an integral part of the doctoral program. Typically, teaching experience is gained by conducting recitation sections of an introductory course, by assisting a faculty member in an undergraduate course, or by teaching an undergraduate course.

Comprehensive Examination

The PhD comprehensive examination consists of two stages. The first stage is either a take-home or in-class written examination covering questions in the student's major and minor fields. The second stage, contingent upon successful completion of the written examination, consists of an oral examination covering both fields. Two-thirds of the comprehensive examination will focus on one of the three general concentration fields of sociology offered by the department: global and comparative sociology; social network processes; or gender, race, and class. One-third of the examination will be on the student's minor field, which may include work done in other departments. The comprehensive examination should be taken at the middle or end of the student's third year of study.

Dissertation Overview

At this stage students will have selected, in consultation with their dissertation committee, a suitable dissertation topic. Students present a written prospectus to their committee describing the purpose, scope, and method of proposed study and the sources upon which it will be based. Students are encouraged to give careful thought early on in their graduate work to possible doctoral research topics and discuss their interests with related faculty.

Final Oral Examination

The final oral examination in defense of the doctoral dissertation is conducted by the dissertation committee.

Course Listings

SOC 2004 Central Themes of Social Theory

SOC 2005 Research Design

SOC 2011 Global and Comparative Seminar 1

SOC 2012 Global and Comparative Seminar 2

SOC 2021 Social Networks Seminar 1

SOC 2022 Social Networks Seminar 2

SOC 2031 Gender, Race, Class Seminar 1

SOC 2032 Gender, Race, Class Seminar 2

SOC 2101 Sociological Theory 1-Classical

SOC 2102 Sociological Theory 2-Post-classical

SOC 2103 Sociological Theory 3-Recent

SOC 2104 Formal Theory

SOC 2122 Seminar on Contemporary Theory

SOC 2201 Statistical Methods

SOC 2202 Quantitative Methods

SOC 2203 Qualitative Methods

SOC 2204 Computer Methods

SOC 2222 Social Network Analysis

SOC 2223 Simulation of Social Processes

SOC 2230 Comparative Research

SOC 2231 Evaluation Research

SOC 2240 Seminar in Population

SOC 2302 Sociology of Religion

SOC 2303 Political Sociology

SOC 2304 Modernization

SOC 2306 Sociology of Revolution

SOC 2307 Nationality and Citizenship

SOC 2316 Collective Memory

SOC 2332 Research Topics on Latin America

SOC 2340 World Systems: Theory and Research

SOC 2341 Social Movements

SOC 2342 Cultural Sociology

SOC 2401 Societal and Global Inequalities

SOC 2402 Complex Organizations

SOC 2403 Knowledge in Society

SOC 2404 Social Psychology

SOC 2405 Economic Sociology

SOC 2406 Medical Sociology

SOC 2425 Mental Health and Illness

SOC 2426 Historical, Sociological Perspectives of Public Health

SOC 2429 Women in Society

SOC 2430 Comparative Social Policies

SOC 2431 Health Organizations and Professions

SOC 2442 Deviance

SOC 2451 Family

SOC 2461 Structural Sociology

SOC 2970 Professionalization and Teaching Seminar

SOC 3193 Feminist Theory

SOC 3342 Sociology of Education

SOC 3343 Comparative Education