Union College Department of Sociology

Ours is a complex and multi-faceted world that cannot be studied and analyzed solely through books and lectures. While students need a rigorous intellectual path of academic study, it is important to combine this with individual and group research and internship/field experiences. Such experiences increase first-hand awareness of what shapes the lives of people throughout the world.

Change rarely happens in an isolated fashion. Whether the system is political, economic, or social, the results of change often reach far beyond the boundaries of a local community or nation. It is the interrelated and interactive nature of the world system that is the focus of the Department of Sociology's nationally and internationally comparative "hands-on" education in the major. Our students develop a wide range of skills and a background of knowledge that enables them to:

critically analyze ideas and theories

put ideas and theories into quantifiable contexts

examine many points of view concurrently

identify social patterns and changes close to home and far away

systematicaly and courageously search for answers to common problems