Sociology Major, PhD

A minimum of 51 credit hours beyond the master’s degree is required for the PhD degree. These credit hours include 24 credit hours of Doctoral Research and Dissertation and a minimum of 27 credit hours in graduate course work (9 courses). Students must also pass two qualifying exams in theory and methods no later than the beginning of the third year of study and a comprehensive examination in one of the four areas of concentration (criminology, critical race and ethnic studies, environmental sociology, and political economy), write a dissertation based on original research, and pass a final oral examination on the dissertation.

The following requirements must also be met:

• Three core courses (9 credit hours): SOCI 621 ; SOCI 631 ; one from SOCI 633 , SOCI 636 , SOCI 638 , or SOCI 640 .
• 9 credit hours, including foundations class, in area of concentration.

The criminology concentration includes SOCI 505 , SOCI 652 , SOCI 654 , and SOCI 655 .
The critical race and ethnic studies concentration includes SOCI 509 , SOCI 552 , SOCI 616 , and SOCI 694 .
The environmental sociology concentration includes SOCI 503 , SOCI 661 , and SOCI 665 .
The political economy concentration includes SOCI 504 , SOCI 541 , SOCI 543 , SOCI 644  and SOCI 645 .

• 9 credit hours in second area (another concentration in Sociology, a foreign language, interdisciplinary social theory graduate certificate, statistics minor, or an additional area proposed by the student in consultation with their advisor and approved by the graduate committee).
• At least 12 credit hours (4 courses) must be completed at the 600-level.
• At least 24 credit hours of SOCI 600  Doctoral Research and Dissertation.
• If not completed at the MA level, SOCI 506 , SOCI 511 , SOCI 521  and SOCI 531  (credit hours will not count toward the minimum number of credit hours required for the PhD).