Requirements
Course work
The Master of Arts degree with a major in sociology requires a minimum of 30 credit hours beyond the bachelor’s degree. At least 21 total hours must be completed in 500 and 600 level courses. MA students may take 9 hours in 400 level courses that carry graduate credit (in consultation with their advisor). Twelve (12) hours may be taken outside the department with the advisor’s consent. Students must complete all requirements within 6 calendar years of enrollment.
All MA students must complete the following requirements (6 courses for 15 credit hours):
SOCI 506 (2 hours)
SOCI 511 (1 hour)
SOCI 521 (3 hours)
SOCI 531 (3 hours)
Two courses (Foundations and one other) in a specialty area (Criminology, Environmental Sociology, or Political Economy). Choose one from SOCI 503 , SOCI 504 or SOCI 505 AND choose one additional course in the same area.
Specialty Areas:
The criminology concentration includes SOCI 505 , SOCI 652 , SOCI 654 , and SOCI 655 .
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 .
Students entering the MA program who have not completed at least one undergraduate course in statistics or its equivalent must take STAT 531 prior to enrolling in SOCI 531 . Students may additionally elect to complete requirements for the statistics minor. A minor in statistics consists of 9 hours of statistics courses. See Department of Statistics, Operations and Management Science for requirements.
Thesis Option
MA students choosing the thesis option are required to complete 9 hours of course work in sociology in addition to the required 15 hours described above and 6 hours of SOCI 500 . When a decision is reached about the thesis topic, the student should consult with the faculty member whose interests most closely match the student’s and with whom the student can establish a strong working relationship and request that the faculty member chair the thesis committee.
Non-Thesis Option
MA students choosing the non-thesis option are required to complete the required 15 hours described above and 15 additional hours of course work. Plans for the completion of the non-thesis MA must be filed in writing with the Director of Graduate Studies. Further details are available in the Sociology Graduate Student Handbook.
