sociology phd programs california

Course Requirements

A minimum of 60 graduate units is necessary for the PhD, among which are the following required courses: SOCI 500   ,  SOCI 510   , SOCI 520   , SOCI 521   , SOCI 511   , and SOCI 621    or 620   . In addition, each student must specialize in two subareas of sociology and must take at least 8 units in each area such as: urban sociology, complex organizations, stratification, ethnic relations, sociology of aging, medical sociology, communication and culture, deviance, sociology of gender, demography, and so on.

Screening Procedure

Normally, students must complete the screening procedure during the third semester of enrollment. Students will have completed two full semesters of work by this point and, hence, will have taken no fewer than 16 and no more than 32 units, including at least the following: SOCI 500   ,  SOCI 510    and SOCI 511   . Students are evaluated on subject matter competence and satisfactory progress. When the screening procedure is successfully completed, the student has one semester in which to form a qualifying exam committee.

Empirical Paper

Each student is required to complete an independent empirical research project that is approved by two members of his or her qualifying exam committee. In some instances, this requirement may be met by acceptance of a satisfactory master’s thesis from some other university.

Foreign Language Requirement

The department does not generally require proficiency in a foreign language; however, as with other courses outside the department, a student’s qualifying exam committee may in some cases require proficiency in a foreign language.

Qualifying Examinations

Following the completion of their empirical papers and most of their course work, students are required to take a written and oral examination in their two standard areas. If the written examination is passed, the oral part of the examination can be devoted to a preliminary discussion of dissertation plans. When these are completed successfully, the student is advanced to PhD candidacy.

Dissertation

After the dissertation is completed, the student and the dissertation committee, in conjunction with the department chair, may elect either a defense oral or a final oral examination in defense of the dissertation. The defense oral is normally chosen in sociology.

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The graduate program offers broad training in sociology, with several areas of concentrated expertise: education; family, life course, and sexualities; global inequality and change; immigration; population; organizations, occupations, and labor; social inequality: race/ethnicity, gender, and class/stratification; social movements and political sociology; social networks; organizations, occupations, and labor; and the study of democracy.  We are committed to theoretically informed and empirically grounded scholarship.  We welcome multidisciplinary pursuits, forging links with other units on the campus and beyond.  We also embrace a broad range of methods – including ethnography, experiments, formal modeling, historical-comparative analysis, and surveys – to pursue answers to questions of substantive and theoretical importance.  The program offers both MA and PhD degrees, although the latter is emphasized.

Leading sociologists have worked at the University of California, Irvine, from its founding in 1965, but the doctoral program in sociology only began in 1998.  Since that time, the department’s rise and expansion have been extraordinary.  In 2010, an external review team concluded: “The recent history of the Department of Sociology at U.C. Irvine is a success story unparalleled at the national level. From its inception, the department has made remarkable strides in quality through a hiring strategy that included a handful of senior ‘stars’ in key areas and then aggressive recruitment at the associate and particularly the assistant professor level.” 

The faculty now consists of 32 full-time members, including nationally and internationally recognized innovators in both qualitative and quantitative methods, as well as influential scholars in core areas of the discipline.  Faculty members publish broadly in scholarly and public outlets.  Many hold leadership positions in disciplinary associations and editorships of professional journals (including Social Networks, Social Problems, Contemporary Sociology , and currently the International Journal of Comparative Sociology ).  Many also compete for national research funding, organize national and international conferences, and engage in community activism.

Resources for graduate students extend well beyond the department.  UCI’s nationally-recognized program in Criminology, Law, and Society offers opportunities for study in these areas, and members of the department have close ties with the Institute for Mathematical Behavioral Sciences; the Center for the Study of Democracy; Center for Organizational Research; the Center in Global Peace and Conflict Studies; the Center in Demographic and Social Analysis; the Center in Law, Society, and Culture; and the Center for Immigration, Population, and Public Policy.  All provide interested students with additional research communities and opportunities. Students have taken courses with faculty in these programs and from faculty with related interests in other social science fields, including anthropology and political science.

By design and disposition, our faculty is committed to working collaboratively with graduate students.  Our graduate program is constructed to help students move from being consumers of research to being producers of important, and published, work.  In addition to numerous opportunities for collaboration with faculty members, students must, by the end of their second year, produce independent research targeted for journal publication.  Students who take advantage of these opportunities have good success in finding professional employment.  Recent graduates have accepted tenure-track positions at both small colleges and major research universities, including University of California-Los Angeles, Tulane University, the University of Washington, the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, and the University of California-Riverside.  Current graduate students have won external research funding and published a wide array of journal articles and book chapters. Given the department’s ongoing growth and enhanced national visibility, we are confident our students will continue to do well on the job market.

The University of California-Irvine provides an extraordinarily supportive environment for the department’s continued development.  Located midway between San Diego and Los Angeles, adjacent to Newport Beach, Irvine offers a Mediterranean climate, easy access to mountains and the beach, and a central location in rapidly changing Orange County.  The campus also benefits from the resources of the entire University of California system, including a world-class library and numerous internal research centers. The University of California has designated Irvine as a growth campus, and resources have followed accordingly.  UCI has grown not only in size but also in quality; for several years, US News and World Report has ranked UCI about the tenth best public university in the United States.

Because the School of Social Sciences enrolls more undergraduates than any other school, and because sociology is a popular undergraduate major, there are ample teaching assistant positions available, allowing graduate students in sociology to support themselves through graduate school.  The department also offers research assistant positions and scholarships for particularly well-qualified students.

We are particularly interested in attracting highly qualified students whose interests dovetail with the strengths of the faculty.  Admissions decisions are based on the applicant’s academic performance in college, GRE scores, letters of reference, and the candidate’s own statement of purpose and submitted academic work.  In keeping with the department’s long-standing commitment to diversity, we encourage applications from ethnic minority and economically disadvantaged students.  In recent years, the department has been able to guarantee funding to all admitted students for five years of study.

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• Graduate Program

The Sociology Department at UCSC is intellectually innovative, both in its interdisciplinary nature and in its commitment to inquiry that is engaged with the world beyond the university. The Ph.D. program leads to both academic and non-academic careers. The program is designed to educate students in sociological theory and methods and in the discipline’s major substantive areas, while simultaneously exposing students to other arenas of intellectual inquiry that will aid them as they pursue their research questions and interests. After completing a group of required courses, students work closely with individual faculty members to design their course of study. The program leads to a Ph.D. in Sociology. The Sociology program at UCSC is a Ph.D. program, not an MA program. Students have the option of applying for a non-terminal Master’s degree en route to the Ph.D.

There are two parts to the core curriculum. The first part of the curriculum is a basic grounding in sociological theory and methods. Students are able to do more advanced work through independent study with particular faculty members who have similar research interests. Generally such studies follow preparatory course work with the faculty members. The second part of the curriculum is exposure to research in five areas of concentration. Students are not required to choose among the fivethree areas to the exclusion of the others as we recognize the overlap and important cross-fertilization of these themes. Most faculty research cuts across these thematics and faculty identify with multiple areas of interest. Moreover, a broader thematic concern with World-Building, Political Imaginaries, Alternative Futures weaves through each of these areas directing attention to processes and practices of social change and social reproduction, the making and unmaking of political collectivities, the affective dimensions of political life, and utopian/dystopian thought and practice. These areas are: (1) Political Economies and Political Ecologies, (2) Space, Place, and Mobility, (3) Culture, Knowledge, and Power (4) Publics, Policy, and Law, (5) World Building, Political Imaginaries, and Alternative Futures. In addition, students are trained in multiple methods in preparation for conducting their own research. View the course requirements via the UCSC Catalog.

Graduate students are funded through teaching assistantships, teaching fellowships, research fellowships, and other grants or fellowships.  Many faculty in the Sociology Department have affiliations with other departments and programs on campus where students participate in research projects under the auspices of interdisciplinary research groups  where they receive research grants that support graduate student research assistantships, which include the National Science Foundation and Science and Justice Fellowships.  The graduate program consequently encourages interdisciplinary work. 

For detailed information on funding, refer to the Funding Opportunities page.  Refer also to our list  of affiliated working groups, research clusters, centers, and initiatives.

DESIGNATED EMPHASIS

Graduate students in sociology may obtain a Designated Emphasis on their Ph.D. diploma indicating that they have specialized in a specific field in addition to Sociology. Designated Emphases are available in many departments, including Feminist Studies, Latin American and Latino Studies, Environmental Studies, Philosophy, or Education. Learn more about Designated Emphasis .

PUBLISHING AND CONFERENCES

Many of our graduate students present papers at professional conferences and publish articles during the course of their graduate studies. The sociology master’s paper is designed to prepare students to write for professional journals. Ongoing faculty seminars focusing on concrete research topics and problems are available for advanced graduate students working on papers and dissertations in related areas.

The Sociology Department provides graduate students with various teaching opportunities in the form of teaching assistantships and teaching fellowships. Teaching assistants teach course sections, and students who have advanced to candidacy can apply to teach their own course as a teaching fellow. Graduate students are typically required to serve as teaching assistants for at least three quarters for the Sociology undergraduate program, with training provided by the department and by Graduate Division prior to the beginning of fall quarter. Students gain or hone their skills in articulating ideas, organizing and presenting materials in a logical sequence, listening attentively, and discerning student comprehension.

Contact the Graduate Coordinator at [email protected] , or call (831) 459-3168.

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Department of Sociology - UC Santa Barbara

The University of California, Santa Barbara provides a unique environment for graduate work in Sociology. Situated on a stunning peninsula on the Pacific Ocean, the university offers a top-tier sociology program with world-renowned faculty. Graduate students benefit from rigorous training in theory and methods and in diverse substantive research areas, including:  Conversation Analysis ;  Culture ; Global Studies;  Gender and Sexualities ;  Race, Ethnicity, and Nation ; and  Social Movements . UCSB’s sociology graduate students have gone on to top jobs at other universities and numerous research, policy, and activist professions.  Recent Placements of Graduates .

Graduate study in the UCSB Sociology Department is characterized by several distinctive features. Students have the opportunity to work closely and collaboratively with world-class faculty who are engaged in cutting-edge scholarship. The Department is especially renowned in the areas of gender, sexualities, and feminist theory, the sociology of culture, race and ethnicity, Latina and Latino studies, globalization and its effects, social movements, conversation analysis, and social networks. Students are offered strong training in theory and qualitative and quantitative methodologies, and they are encouraged to range broadly across fields and methodologies. The UCSB campus is known for breaking down traditional disciplinary boundaries, and interdisciplinarity is actively practiced by Sociology faculty and students. Many of our students take seminars, find research opportunities, and connect with additional mentors in other departments. The political relevance of scholarship is widely valued here, and the Sociology Department has a strong tradition of mixing scholarship with activism and concerns for social justice.

2023-24 Graduate Student Handbook

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Graduate Advising

Director of Graduate Studies Sarah Thébaud

Graduate Program Advisor Monica Gascon

Location 3111 Social Sciences & Media Studies

Advising Hours 9:00 to 12:00 & 1:00 to 4:00 Monday – Friday

Contact Info [email protected] (805) 893-3328 (805) 893-3324 (Fax)

Frequently Asked Questions

• What is a filing fee leave of absence? A  filing fee leave of absence  is designed for students in their last quarter of completing a PhD or terminal master's degree.  The leave protects your student status, and allows you to complete your final degree requirements (generally file your thesis/dissertation) during the quarter without registering for classes and paying full student fees.  When filing, you would pay a nominal filing fee.
• How do I add or drop members from my thesis/dissertation committee? Complete  Committee Form I-A .  The form is used to add and remove dissertation committee members as necessity dictates. Form I-A is reviewed by the Graduate Division Academic Services and approved by the Department Chair and Graduate Dean.
• What is the deadline to advance to candidacy for next quarter? Specific deadlines can be found on the Graduate Division Calendar or the Registrar's website.
• What is the deadline to register for classes? Quarterly deadlines can be found on the Registrar's website.  http://www.registrar.ucsb.edu/
• Where can I get information about UCSB Commencement? https://ext-prod.graddiv.ucsb.edu/commencement
• When should I advance to candidacy? https://ext-prod.graddiv.ucsb.edu/policy-procedure/academic-deadlines
• Do you have a list of upcoming grad courses? See attachment below (subject to change):

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Graduate Program

The Department of Sociology at the University of California San Diego offers training in a wide range of theoretical and methodological approaches from the humanistic to the computational. We have particular concentrations of expertise in the following areas:

Politics, Economics and Law brings together faculty with research interests in governance structures, political economy, political discourse, economic development, regulatory frameworks, markets and marketization, political and other social movements, and policy analysis. Collectively, they explore the intricate interplay between legal frameworks, political and economic systems, and societal dynamics.

Faculty In This Area: Michel Estefan, Ivan Evans, John Evans, David FitzGerald, Lane Kenworthy, Martha Lampland, Thomas Medvetz, Kwai Ng, Juan Pablo Pardo-Guerra, Akos Rona-Tas, Gershon Shafir, and John Skrentny

Global, Migration, and Ethnic Studies brings together faculty with research interests in global diplomacy, comparative politics, migration policy, refugee rights, social construction and negotiation of racial-ethnic categories, and the socio-economic impacts of migration. Collectively, they address the complex challenges and opportunities arising from the interconnected world of international relations, globalization, and human mobility.

Faculty In This Area: Ivan Evans, David FitzGerald, Bennetta Jules-Rosette, Lane Kenworthy, Gershon Shafir, John Skrentny, Christena Turner, Vanesa Ribas, and Jake Watson

Sociology of Science/Knowledge, Environment, and Medicine brings together faculty with research interests in the social construction of scientific knowledge, environmental justice, health disparities and medical ethics, technology and society, and public health policy. Collectively, they offer an often interdisciplinary approach to understanding the implications of scientific knowledge & ethics on individual wellbeing and organizational culture.

Faculty In This Area: Camila Alvarez, Mary Blair-Loy, Ivan Evans, John Evans, Harvey Goldman, Neil Gong, Bennetta Jules-Rosette, Martha Lampland, Thomas Medvetz, Daniel Navon, Juan Pablo Pardo-Guerra, Danielle Raudenbush, John Skrentny, and Charles Thorpe

Social Inequalities brings together faculty with research interests in economic disparities, race and ethnicity, gender and sexuality studies, social mobility, and the examination of systemic factors that contribute to and perpetuate social inequalities. Collectively they create an interdisciplinary research environment that seeks to address and mitigate the multifaceted challenges faced by diverse communities.

Faculty In This Area: Camila Alvarez, Mary Blair-Loy, Michel Estefan, Ivan Evans, Neil Gong, Lane Kenworthy, Kevin Lewis, Richard Pitt, Danielle Raudenbush, Vanesa Ribas, Akos Rona-Tas, John Skrentny, and April Sutton

Sociology of Culture and Institutions brings together faculty with research interests in cultural theory, media studies and visual culture, cultural production and consumption, identity formation, institutional and organizational culture, and the examination of how cultural practices shape and are shaped by societal norms. Collectively, they examine the intricate dynamics of human expression, representation, and meaning-making within different social contexts.

Faculty In This Area: Mary Blair-Loy, Harvey Goldman, Bennetta Jules-Rosette, Martha Lampland, Kevin Lewis, Thomas Medvetz, Daniel Navon, Kwai Ng, Juan Pablo Pardo-Guerra, Richard Pitt, Charles Thorpe, Christena Turner, Jake Watson

Our program is designed to prepare students for two main goals: to contribute to the development of knowledge about societies and thereby advance the discipline of sociology; and to teach sociology at the graduate and undergraduate levels. The majority of graduates from the program find teaching and research positions in colleges and universities; many also work in nonacademic research and social policy positions. The department offers a course of study leading to the doctor of philosophy degree. It does not accept applicants seeking only an MA degree

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Graduate Coordinator:

Teresa eckert, email: [email protected], phone: (858) 534-4627, purchasing/reimbursements/travel:, rick clarke, email: [email protected]  , phone: 858-534-4627, shanley miller, email:   [email protected], phone: 858-534-4757, erica kinslow, email:   [email protected], phone: 858-534-4626, teresa wassum, email: [email protected], phone: 858-822-1673.

What are you looking for?

Graduate program, the department of sociology at the university of southern california offers graduate students a vibrant academic environment in an exciting and diverse urban center. our graduate students enjoy an exceptionally generous financial aid package . upon graduation, our students take academic positions in research universities, liberal arts colleges, and other academic institutions. see a full list of our placements here ., to learn more about life as a usc graduate student, see what alumni have to say about the program and our graduate students’ recent publications, fellowships, and awards ., see program requirements and how to apply for more information..

Department of Sociology

Graduate Program

Welcome! Thank you for your interest in the doctoral program in sociology at the University of California, Riverside. Training graduate students for successful careers as scholars and teachers of sociology is a core part of the Department of Sociology’s mission.

Admitted students take required courses in sociological theory and methods (both qualitative and quantitative), as well as in any two of the department’s seven areas of specialization:

• Criminology & Socio-Legal Studies
• Gender Studies
• Medical Sociology
• Organizations & Institutions
• Political Economy & Global Social Change
• Race & Class Inequality
• Social Psychology

Students normally complete the core program in theory and methods during the first year of study, finish all requirements for the MA by the end of the second year, and pass their qualifying exams in two areas of specialization and commence work on the doctoral dissertation by the end of their fourth year. Students are encouraged to present papers at professional conferences and publish scholarly articles both independently and with faculty.

Graduate students typically work as teaching assistants for one or more quarters during their time in the program. They also work as instructors, either during summer session or the normal academic year, in the later stages of the program.

Organized research opportunities are available to students through the  Colleges & Universities 2000 Project , the  Institute for Research on World-Systems , the  Presley Center for Crime and Justice Studies , and the  Social Psychology Research Lab , as well as through the schools of medicine and public policy. Our students and faculty conduct research in the communities around UCR, as well as around the globe.

Opportunities for professional and instructional development are available through the department and on campus through the  GradSuccess program ,  University Teaching Certificate Program , and the  Teaching Assistant Development Program , which offers a certificate in college-level instruction.

Our program is supported by extensive resources of the Graduate Student Resource Center of the Graduate Division which offers a number of services to promote student success:  travel and research funding, Peer Mentorship Program, International TA Support Program, the Graduate Writing Center, and GradQuant research methods consulting.

Recent graduates of the doctoral program in sociology at UCR have had  success in attaining academic positions following completion of the PhD. Recent PhDs have also accepted tenure-track positions at Rutgers University, the University of British Columbia, Virginia Tech University, as well as several comprehensive universities.

Since 2008, recent PhDs have gone on to hold postdoctoral fellowships at UCLA, UC San Diego, University of South Florida, University of Utah, Stanford University, and Yale University. Some of our students have taken administrative or research positions in academia.  Others have taken applied positions outside of academia, such as at the Geena Davis Institute for Gender in Media, NYC Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice, the RAPP Marketing Agency, and the Social Security Administration in Washington.

UC Riverside is located in inland Southern California, a driving distance from California beaches, mountains, and deserts. Downtown is two miles from campus and includes many fine restaurants, the Fox Theater, and the Culver Arts Center in addition to City of Riverside Museums. Nearby attractions include Palm Springs, Disneyland and other amusement parks in Orange County, professional sports teams in Anaheim and Los Angeles, skiing and hiking in the San Gabriel Mountains, the otherworldly Joshua Tree National Park, and the beach cities of Dana Point, Laguna Beach, Manhattan Beach, Newport Beach, and San Clemente. The Coachella Music Festival is held in nearby Indio every April. Palm Springs and Riverside both hold international film festivals.

UC Riverside is one of 10 campuses of the largest and most prestigious public university system in the world, the University of California. UCR is a thriving campus of more than 23,000 students offering more than 60 major fields of study, a medical school, and professional schools of business, education, engineering, and public policy. The university is the home to a Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry, four University Professors (the highest rank in the University of California), six members of the National Academy of Science, 49 National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship winners, 48 winners of Guggenheim Fellowships, and 18 Fulbright Scholars. It is also the home of such well-known writers as Reza Aslan, Laila Lalami, Jane Smiley, and Susan Straight.

UCR is one of the nation’s most diverse universities and is known for its celebration of diversity. In 2015, the Association of Public and Land Grant Universities (APLU) recognized UCR with its “Project Completion” Award in part for the much higher graduation rates it had achieved over a five-year period and in part for the nearly-equivalent graduation rates of students from the four major racial-ethnic groups on campus. The campus is highly ranked by Washington Monthly for its contributions to students’ social mobility.

For more information about diversity resources at UCR, go to  https://diversity.ucr.edu/ .

Doctoral Program in Sociology

Doctoral Program at the Department of Sociology is conducted through courses and participation in seminar series led by the Department’s senior faculty members. Faculty members working at the Department represent different theoretical perspectives and methodological starting points, which ensures a lively and creative research environment.

The purpose of Doctoral program is to deepen the candidate’s knowledge and understanding of the subject and to enable the development of scientific independence and critical thinking. The doctoral program in sociology at Uppsala University consists of courses totaling 75 ECTS credits and the independent thesis work corresponding to 165 ECTS credits. The learning objectives for doctoral and licentiate degrees are stated in the General Study Plan for doctoral program in sociology.

A doctoral student is normally employed on a full-time basis for a period of 4 years, and as a doctoral student you usually work with three different tasks: taking doctoral courses, writing a doctoral thesis, and participating in departmental teaching.

The work on the thesis is carried out in the active research environment at the Department, where research is conducted in several areas. Most of the Department’s researchers and doctoral students are connected to some of the Department’s research groups.

Admission of doctoral students takes place every two years. The next round of admissions is planned for autumn 2026. Occasionally, individual doctoral students may be admitted within the framework of externally funded research projects, when special calls can be made. Normally, there is detailed information in the announcement of doctoral positions on how to apply and what documents you need to submit along with your application. The application is made via the Uppsala University’s online system for vacant positions.

Courses autumn 2024

Classical sociological theory - syllabus. Pdf, 175 kB.

More information

For further information on doctoral program in sociology contact Director of Doctoral Studies Reza Azarian.

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