Harry F. Dahms, Sociology, and Allen R. Dunn, English, Co-Chairs

The Interdisciplinary graduate certificate in Social Theory will enable students to develop rigorous interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary training in diverse areas of social theory, such as classical social theory, contemporary sociological theory, critical social theory, critical literary theory, critical race theory, feminist theory, poststructuralist theory, and postcolonial theory. The certificate will introduce students to a range both of modes of interpretation and of ways of framing research, and encourage them to adopt and refine the methods that best meet their needs. It will enhance students’ analytical and critical skills, expand their intellectual horizons (both spatially/geographically and temporally/historically), and promote their abilities to deconstruct and reconstruct representations of social, political, cultural, and economic reality along a spectrum ranging from individual experiences to national and global constructions of identity.

The certificate is designed to provide a supplementary perspective for students already enrolled in graduate programs.

Campus Code

Knoxville Campus

Graduate Certificate Type

Add-On

Admissions Standards/Procedures

• Prospective candidates for the certificate may take up to 6 credit hours of certificate classes before formally applying for admission to the certificate. To apply:
• Current degree-seeking graduate student - application to the certificate must be made through the Office of Graduate Admissions by completing an online abbreviated application (application fee is waived for currently enrolled students) and notify the Co-Chairs of the certificate program.

Academic Standards

• Once admitted for the certificate, students must maintain a GPA of at least 3.0.

Credit Hours Required

18 graduate credit hours

Required Courses

• 18 credit hours drawn from at least two different disciplines.
• For students enrolled in a MA degree program, no more than 12 credit hours of courses from the home department or program of the MA degree may be applied towards the certificate.
• Students may choose from the following courses:
  • CFS 550 ,
  • CSE 526 , CSE 539 , CSE 609 , CSE 639 ,
  • ENGL 507 , ENGL 576 , ENGL 584 , ENGL 590 , ENGL 688 , 
  • GEOG 599 ,
  • HIST 557 ,
  • MFLL 584 ,
  • PHIL 522 , PHIL 528 , PHIL 622 , PHIL 624 ,
  • SOCI 504 , SOCI 521 , SOCI 533 , SOCI 621 , SOCI 644 , SOCI 652 , SOCI 654 , SOCI 661  
  • Other courses may be applied to the certificate with the prior approval of the student’s certificate advisor and the certificate Co-Chairs.

Non-Course Requirements

• All courses must be selected in consultation with a faculty member serving as the student’s certificate advisor.
  • This faculty member must approve all certificate courses for individual students prior to their being taken, except that, as noted above, up to 6 credit hours may be accepted from candidates upon admission.
• Each student should choose a committee consisting of the certificate advisor and two additional faculty members, who must be members of the certificate program’s core or affiliated faculty.
• Completion of a capstone experience in the home department, such as
  • the oral presentation of research results to a scheduled meeting of faculty and student members of the certificate program, or
  • the submission of a published piece of work for discussion at a scheduled meeting of faculty and student members of the certificate program.
• Completion of the capstone experience must be certified by the student’s certificate advisor and the certificate Co-Chairs.
• After completing all requirements, submit the Completion of Certificate Program form, with signatures, to The Graduate School for processing.