Sociology studies the interaction and relationships among human groups and institutions and how behavior is shaped by these relationships. It examines how society maintains stability and how it changes, investigating both consensus and conflict among social groups. Sociology's subject matter consists of social institutions including family, work, religion, and social processes such as identity development, deviance and socialization. Sociology majors explore foundational ideas about the nature of society, are introduced to key subfields of the discipline, and acquire fundamental research and analysis skills to carry out their own inquiries. The department's faculty members emphasize empirical work in a number of subfields including applied and community sociology, the family, health and medicine, law and society, international and global sociology, gender, the sociology of religion, qualitative and quantitative research methods and cultural anthropology.
Sociology embodies the essential values of a liberal arts education in its emphasis on analysis and problem solving, comparative thinking, writing and critical inquiry. In providing such skills, sociology is a good background for professions in teaching, medicine, social work, law, business and social justice. Finally, sociology provides the breadth of theoretical and methodological training for advanced graduate work in all the behavioral sciences.