The Bachelor of Arts in Sociology will provide you with a degree that can launch you into a variety of careers. Not only will you have the opportunity to specialize within a specific area of sociology, but you will also build skills in social science foundation courses. The program is flexible enough to allow you to also complete an interdisciplinary certificate.
The following information comes from the official EWU catalog, which outlines all degree requirements and serves as the guide to earning a degree. Courses are designed to provide a well-rounded and versatile degree, covering a wide range of subject areas.
Sociology Major, Bachelor of Arts (BA)
Within the Bachelor of Arts degree, the Department of Sociology and Justice Studies offers a program in sociology, blending career education and the liberal arts. The education goal is not to train students; neither is the goal to educate students solely in sociology. Rather, the goal is to use the discipline as a way to critically synthesize what is learned in a liberal arts program.
The program envisaged here provides a general background that will enable the student to move into a variety of career paths while retaining the opportunity for particular specializations within sociology and thematically related disciplines. Our EWU Sociology alumni have successful careers in a wide variety of fields such as business and human resources, journalism, K-12 education, higher education, institutional research, law, nonprofit, social services, criminal justice, and government. The Sociology B.A. degree also equips students with a strong academic foundation for a wide variety of academic and professional graduate programs.
The Department of Sociology and Justice Studies believes that a university must educate broadly to enrich both career and life. Our sociology curriculum was designed to be flexible so that students can work closely with their major advisor to select courses and participate in applied learning opportunities that will accommodate their academic areas of interest and prepare them for the career paths they choose to pursue. Under the “Experiential Learning in Sociology“ requirements, students can take a course entitled “Doing Sociology” that helps them explore potential careers, and they can participate in an internship, work with a professor one-on-one through directed-study and/or engage in research that culminates in a senior thesis.
World Language Requirement: Two years of a single high school world language or one year of a single college-level world language is required.
| Sociology Core Courses | ||
| SOCI 101 | INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY | 5 |
| SOCI/CRIM 356 | INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL STATISTICS | 5 |
| SOCI 357 | METHOD FOR SOCIAL RESEARCH | 5 |
| or CRIM 330 | SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH METHOD | |
| SOCI 465 | CONTEMPORARY SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY | 5 |
| Required Subject Areas | ||
| Deviance and Social Control-choose one of the following | 5 | |
| SURVEY OF CRIMINOLOGY | ||
| SOCIOLOGY OF DEVIANCE | ||
| JUVENILE DELINQUENCY | ||
| CRIMINOLOGICAL THEORY | ||
| Race, Gender, and Class-choose two of the following | 10 | |
| SOCIAL PROBLEMS | ||
| RACE AND ETHNIC RELATIONS: GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES | ||
| SOCIAL STRATIFICATION | ||
| ASIAN AMERICAN CONTEMPORARY ISSUES | ||
| GLOBAL MIGRATION | ||
| Collective Behavior and Social Movements-choose one of the following | 5 | |
| SOCIOLOGY OF REVOLUTIONS | ||
| SOCIAL CHANGE | ||
| Social Institutions-choose one of the following | 5 | |
| SOCIOLOGY OF SPORT | ||
| MEDICAL SOCIOLOGY | ||
| SOCIOLOGY OF EDUCATION | ||
| Social Interaction and Identity-choose one of the following | 5 | |
| SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY | ||
| IDENTITY AND POWER | ||
| Experiential Learning in Sociology-choose two of the following | 10 | |
| DOING SOCIOLOGY | ||
| SENIOR THESIS | ||
| INTERNSHIP | ||
| DIRECTED STUDY | ||
| Required Senior Capstone | ||
| SOCI 490 | SENIOR CAPSTONE: SOCIOLOGICAL PRACTICE | 5 |
| Total Credits | 65 | |
The following plan of study is for a student with zero credits. Individual students may have different factors such as: credit through transfer work, Advanced Placement, Running Start, or any other type of college-level coursework that requires an individual plan.
Courses could be offered in different terms, checking the academic schedule is paramount in keeping an individual plan current. Students should connect with an advisor to ensure they are on track to graduate.
All Undergraduate students are required to meet the Undergraduate Degree Requirements.
This major requires the completion of the World Language requirement. Students pursuing a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree must complete two years of a single language in high school or one year of a single language in college.
| First Year | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall Quarter | Credits | Winter Quarter | Credits | Spring Quarter | Credits |
| ENGL 101 | 5 | ENGL 201 | 5 | Sociology Subject Area Elective2 | 5 |
| SOCI 101 (Social Science BACR 1) | 5 | MATH 107 | 5 | Humanities & Arts BACR 21 | 5 |
| Humanities & Arts BACR 11 | 5 | Social Science BACR 21 | 5 | Natural Science BACR 11 | 5 |
| 15 | 15 | 15 | |||
| Second Year | |||||
| Fall Quarter | Credits | Winter Quarter | Credits | Spring Quarter | Credits |
| SOCI 357 or CRIM 330 | 5 | SOCI 356 or CRIM 356 | 5 | Sociology Subject Area Elective2 | 5 |
| Sociology Subject Area Elective (Diversity - graduation requirement)2 | 5 | Sociology Subject Area Elective2 | 5 | Elective - minor or general elective | 5 |
| Natural Science BACR 21 | 5 | Elective - minor or general elective | 5 | Elective - minor or general elective | 5 |
| 15 | 15 | 15 | |||
| Third Year | |||||
| Fall Quarter | Credits | Winter Quarter | Credits | Spring Quarter | Credits |
| Sociology Subject Area Elective2 | 5 | Sociology Subject Area Elective2 | 5 | Sociology Subject Area Elective2 | 5 |
| Elective - minor or general elective | 5 | Elective - minor or general elective | 5 | Elective - minor or general elective | 5 |
| Elective - minor or general elective | 5 | Elective - minor or general elective | 5 | Elective - minor or general elective | 5 |
| 15 | 15 | 15 | |||
| Fourth Year | |||||
| Fall Quarter | Credits | Winter Quarter | Credits | Spring Quarter | Credits |
| SOCI 465 | 5 | Elective - minor or general elective | 5 | SOCI 490 (Senior Capstone - graduation requirement) | 5 |
| Sociology Subject Area Elective2 | 5 | Elective - minor or general elective | 5 | Elective - minor or general elective | 5 |
| Elective - minor or general elective | 5 | Elective - minor or general elective | 5 | Elective - minor or general elective | 5 |
| 15 | 15 | 15 | |||
| Total Credits 180 | |||||
University Graduation Requirements (UGR) and Breadth Area Course Requirements (BACR) courses may be less than 5 credits and additional credits may be required to reach the required 180 total credits needed to graduate. Students should connect with an advisor to ensure they are on track to graduate.
Required Subject Areas–choose 40 credits in the following subject areas from the approved lists: Deviance and Social Control, 5 credits; Race, Gender, and Class, 10 credits; Collective Behavior and Social Movements, 5 credits; Social Institutions, 5 credits; Social Interaction and Identity, 5 credits; Experiential Learning in Sociology, 10 credits.
Pre-requisites: SOCI 101.
This course seeks to realize two complementary objectives: First, to acquaint the origins of sociological inquiry and the variety of styles and logical systems which shape such research; secondly, to demonstrate the nature of the research techniques which follow.
Pre-requisites: SOCI 101.
Examines the conditions under which deviance as a social reality emerges, develops, and changes over time. Typical concerns are the process of social typing; official responses to deviances; managing the deviant identity; and the role of bureaucracies and social class in promoting deviance as a political construction.
Pre-requisites: English competency.
Satisfies: a university graduation requirement–global studies.
Introduces critical debates in the study of migration in social sciences and related disciplines. Investigates the causes and consequences of modern population mobility from a comparative perspective by posing a core question: what are the socio-cultural, economic, and political outcomes of migration across sending and receiving countries?
Pre-requisites: SOCI 101.
An analytic approach to the social-psychological consequences of social structure. Focal concerns may include alienation, anti-psychiatry, personality and social class, role behavior, and socialization.
A Sociology major gives you a deep understanding of social structures, relationships, and institutions. You’ll gain the tools to think critically, communicate effectively, and engage with diverse perspectives.
Through hands-on research and analysis, you’ll explore complex social issues like inequality, justice, and community development. You’ll also learn how to address those challenges.
Whether you’re drawn to social services, public policy, education, healthcare, or research, the Sociology degree prepares you to make a meaningful impact. Its versatility opens career pathways in the public and private sectors, with a shared focus on improving communities and organizations.
Explore the countless career paths for Sociology Majors: