Faculty
Said Amir Arjomand, Professor, Ph.D., University of Chicago: Comparative, historical, political sociology; religion.
Javier Auyero, Assistant Professor, Ph.D., The New School for Social Research: Culture, urban poverty and social inequality; Latin American studies.
Diane Barthel, Professor, Ph.D., Harvard University: Culture; sex roles; historical. Recipient of the State University Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching, 1989, and the President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching, 1989.
Ivan D. Chase, Associate Professor, Ph.D., Harvard University: Social inequality; social structure; resource allocation; cross-species comparisons.
Stephen Cole, Professor, Ph.D., Columbia University: Science; theory; culture. Recipient of the State University Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching and President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching, 1992.
O. Andrew Collver, Associate Professor, Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley: Complex organizations; demography; ecology.
Kenneth A. Feldman, Professor, Ph.D., University of Michigan: Social psychology; higher education; socialization. Reciepient of the State University Chancellor's Award, 1995, and the President's Award for Excellence in Teaching, 1995.
John H. Gagnon, Professor Emeritus, Ph.D., University of Chicago: Deviance; family simulations; sexual conduct; social change.
Norman Goodman, Distinguished Teaching Professor and Distinguished Service Professor, Ph.D., New York University: Social psychology; family; socialization. Recipient of the State University Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching, 1976.
Michael Kimmel, Professor, Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley: Comparative and historical development; social movements; gender and sexuality.
Hermann Kurthen, Visiting Assistant Professor, Ph.D., Freie Universitat Berlin: Globalization; comparative economy; society and politics.
Daniel Levy, Assistant Professor, Ph.D., Columbia University: International migration; globalization; political sociology.
Catherine Marrone, Lecturer, Ph.D. Stony Brook University: Sociology of medicine and of aging; sociology of gender and of gender and work.
Timothy Moran, Assistant Professor, Ph.D., University of Maryland: Comparative sociology, inequality, economic sociology, global social processes, quantitative methods.
Oyeronke Oyewumi, Associate Professor, Ph.D., Univrsity of California, Berkeley: Comparative and historical sociology; race, gender, family inequalities in global systems.
Ian Roxborough, Professor, Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison: Joint Appointment with History; Comparative social structures; development; social change; war and the military.
James B. Rule, Professor, Ph.D., Harvard University: Theory; political sociology; technology.
Michael Schwartz, Professor, Ph.D., Harvard University: Methodology; historical; political economy; business structure; social movements. Recipient of the State University Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching, 1975.
Jackie Smith, Associate Professor, Ph.D., University of Notre Dame: Global sociology; social movements; international organizations; environmental sociology.
Judith Tanur, Distinguished Teaching Professor, Ph.D., Stony Brook University: Statistics; methodology; social psychology. Recipient of the State University Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching, 1990, and the President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching, 1990.
Kiyoteru Tsutsui, Assistant Professor, Ph.D., Stanford University: Political sociology; social movements; comparative historical sociology; economic sociology; quantitative methods.
Andrea Tyree, Professor, Ph.D., University of Chicago: Demography; social stratification; statistics; ethnicity.
Affiliated Faculty
Richard Howard, Philosophy
Joseph Schwartz, Psychiatry
H. Barry Waldman, Dental Health
Adjunct Faculty
Estimated number: 2
Teaching Assistants
Estimated number: 25
Major in
Sociology
Department of Sociology
College of Arts and Sciences
Chairperson: Norman Goodman
Director of Undergraduate Studies: Andrea Tyree
Undergraduate Secretary: Sharon Worksman
Office: S-401 Social and Behavioral Sciences
Phone: 631-632-7700
Web address: http://www.sunysb.edu/sociology
Minors of particular interest to students majoring in sociology: anthropology (ANT), business management (BUS), human sexual and gender development (LHD), international studies (INT), political science (POL), service learning for community action research (LCR)
Sociology is the systematic study of social life. It is based on the assumption that there is a certain pattern to the way people live and think and that by studying their behavior and attitudes, this pattern can be discovered and explained. Sociologists investigate how the group influences behavior, from the smallest (a two-person relationship, like husband and wife) to the largest (huge organizations, such as General Motors or the Catholic Church). Anything having to do with social behavior is the subject matter of sociology.
The Bachelor of Arts program at Stony Brook seeks to develop in students both an understanding of a history of social thought and skills in the collection and analysis of social data. The core program includes two semesters of sociological theory, one semester of research methods, and one semester of statistics.
Students who have completed this program have attended graduate schools in sociology or related disciplines, law school, social welfare, and pursued careers in advertising, marketing, and business management. Some work at market research (studying for large companies what products people want to buy), demography (studying the population scientifically, as in the United States census), criminology (investigating the causes and nature of crime and criminal justice), urban planning, polling, and public opinion (like the Gallup or Harris Polls).
Requirements for the Major in Sociology (SOC)
The major in sociology leads to the Bachelor of Arts degree. All sociology courses offered for the major, except those graded S/U, must be passed with a letter grade of C or higher. Of courses outside the department offered for the major, only one may be taken with the Pass/No Credit option.
Completion of the major requires 39 credits, of which 30 to 33 are in sociology courses.
- Study within the Area of the Major
- Required courses:
- SOC 105 Introduction to Sociology
- SOC 201 Research Methods
- SOC 202 Statistical Methods in Sociology or another allowed statistics course
- SOC 361 Historical Development of Contemporary Sociology
- SOC 362 Introduction to Sociological Theory
(SOC 361 and 362 should be taken consecutively during the junior or senior year)
- Sociology electives
Free selection of courses, totaling 15 credits, from among all sociology course offerings. - If any required course is waived for any reason, it must be replaced with an additional elective.
- Only six credits of independent study courses (SOC 447, 487, and 488) may be used toward the requirements of 15 elective credits in sociology.
- Study in Related Areas
- Upper-Division Writing Requirement
At least three courses (nine credits) chosen from one of the following related social sciences: Africana studies (only those courses with designator AFS), anthropology, economics, history, linguistics, political science, psychology, and women’s studies (only those WST courses crosslisted with social sciences courses). Credits from applied social science professions such as social work, police science, education, and management science are not applicable. Courses that are crosslisted with a sociology course do not satisfy this requirement.
Sociology majors are expected to fulfill the upper-division writing requirement by the end of their junior year. Students may meet the requirement by having their writing evaluated in certain upper-division sociology courses (list available in the department). Students who have indicated that they wish to have their writing evaluated receive a separate report on writing proficiency in addition to their regular course grade.
Students whose writing is not judged adequate should consult with the director of undergraduate studies on further steps to fulfill the writing requirement.
- The Department of Sociology requires that transfer students take at least 12 credits in residence at Stony Brook to complete the sociology major.
- No transferred sociology course with a grade lower than C is accepted for credit in the major.
The honors program is open to seniors majoring in sociology who have maintained a g.p.a. of 3.50 in the major and 3.00 overall, and who have completed or are in the process of completing the methods and statistics requirement and the upper-division writing requirement. Students should apply for the honors program before the beginning of their senior year. With the approval of the sponsoring faculty member, the student must submit a written proposal for a major paper or research project to be completed during the senior year. Acceptance into the honors program depends on the approval of the proposal by the department.
In the senior year, the student enrolls in SOC 495 during the first semester and SOC 496 during the second semester, for a total of six credits. The student’s major paper or research project must be completed no later than four weeks prior to the end of the second semester, to allow for possible revisions. It is read and evaluated by a committee consisting of the student’s sponsor, one other sociology faculty member, and one faculty member from another department.
If the honors program is completed with distinction and the student has achieved a 3.50 g.p.a. in all sociology courses taken in the senior year, honors are conferred.
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