In addition to undergraduate studies, the Department of Sociology and Anthropology offers a M.A. and three Ph.D. programs:
The study of crime, social control and violence has become arguably the fastest growing subfield within sociology. At its heart, the study of social control and violence speaks to what it means to have society and community, as many of our most basic human relations are shaped by notions of right and wrong, acceptable and unacceptable.
Studies of community have been the core of sociology from the beginning of the discipline. Sociology faculty in Community at West Virginia University bring this tradition into the modern era by using innovative research methods and theories to study important sociological problems in urban, rural and suburban places.
The specialization in culture includes three overlapping areas of inquiry: culture, social psychology and media. The underlying goal that unites these areas of inquiry is to examine micro-macro linkages and discover the relationships between society and the attitudes, beliefs and behaviors of individuals. The first area, culture, involves the study of how systems of ideas shape other social structures.
Courses in the department also are intended to facilitate the application of sociological and anthropological principles to a wide range of contemporary social problems.
To learn more about this program, and to meet the faculty and advisors that you will guide your studies, visit the program website.
