Our Department is actively engaged in research and teaching, and maintains a strong commitment to diversity in our graduate and undergraduate education. Our mission is to advance the comprehension of society, and explain and analyze human relationships, social institutions, and the dynamics of social change. Our faculty engages major sociological issues of global, national, and regional significance. Click here to view a letter from our Chair, Dr. Beverly Burris.

Our Department specializes in a variety of research and teaching areas, including (but not restricted to):

• Comparative Sociology and Latin American Studies
• Criminology
• Medical Sociology
• Race, Gender, Inequalities
• Institutional Analysis (Education, Religion, Political, and Economic Systems)

Furthermore, our faculty and students actively affiliate with a wide range of campus-wide research centers, including:

• Institute for Social Research
• Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Center for Health Policy
• Latin American and Iberian Institute
• Institute for the Study of “Race” and Social Justice
• Southwest Hispanic Research Institute
• Center for Regional Studies
• Center on Alcoholism, Substance Abuse, and Addictions
• Southwest Institute of Religion and Civil Society