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 Business Analytics and Statistics 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.
