Welcome to Sociology at Union!
Whether you are a student, a prospective student or other visitor, we hope this website will give you a good introduction to Union Sociology. We are a small, but growing, department whose faculty's interests are wide-ranging. Please feel free to contact us, if you have questions about us that are not answered here.
What is Sociology?
The American Sociological Association [ASA] explains our discipline this way:
"Sociology is:
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the study of society
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a social science involving the study of the social lives of people, groups, and societies
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the study of our behavior as social beings, covering everything from the analysis of short contacts between anonymous individuals on the street to the study of global social processes
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the scientific study of social aggregations, the entities through which humans move throughout their lives'
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an overarching unification of all studies of humankind, including history, psychology, and economics"
Our Department's Approach
While students need a rigorous intellectual path of academic study, sociology cannot be studied solely through books and lectures. Students must also have research and internship/field experiences that will increase their first-hand awareness of what shapes the lives of people throughout the world. In our nationally and internationally comparative "hands-on" major, our students develop a wide range of skills and 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
- systematically and courageously search for answers to common problems
Click here to view Winter 2012 course offerings
Click here to view the Senior Thesis Guidelines
10/3/11: UPDATE! VOLUNTEERS NEEDED for FLOOD RECOVERY WORK!
Many of our neighbors in Schenectady and Schoharie Counties suffered terrible damage in the flooding from Hurricanes Irene and Lee. The Union community is stepping up to help with recovery. If you want to help, contact the Kenney Center, either by phoning 388-6609 or going to their FaceBook page. Winter is coming very fast, do your part for your neighbor! Take a look at this YouTube video created by Josh DeBartolo UC'08. Josh was born and raised in Schoharie. When the floods happened in August, he quit his job to stay and help his community recover. If you haven't seen how bad things are just a few miles from our campus, take a look and be moved! Video of Schoharie Flooding Josh has been posting photos all month on his own FaceBook page, too.
Q: What do Ronald Reagan, Michelle Obama and Martin Luther King, Jr have in common? A: They were all sociology majors!