Graduate Program

The graduate program in Sociology at the University of California, Santa Cruz is an interdisciplinary program that leads to a Ph.D. The M.A. degree may be taken enroute to the doctorate, but a master's program per se is not available.

The graduate program is designed to educate students in the major areas of contemporary American sociology and has recently been revised. We attempt to retain the pioneering quality of our program, continue the goal of mapping out innovative directions that other departments might follow, but still pursue the major intellectual concerns of the discipline.

The program provides a general background in sociological theory and methods and also stresses independent work. After completing a group of required courses, students design their own course of study. They work closely with individual faculty members throughout their graduate careers.

The program is intended to lead to both academic and nonacademic careers, and the interests of the faculty reflect this twofold objective. At present, faculty members are working in the following areas: political sociology, social inequality, social psychology, feminist theory and the sociology of gender, deviance, race and ethnicity, social movements, sociology of medicine, political economy and economic sociology, historical and comparative analysis, capitalism and nature, language and social interaction, development and underdevelopment in the Third World, culture and mass media, and law and crime.

When asked what they most appreciate about the sociology graduate program, most students cite the students' and faculty's wide-ranging activism and commitment to large-scale social change, in combination with their dedication to teaching, scholarly analysis, and understanding of the social forces of our society. Social change and research concerns cluster around environmental, racial, feminist, Latin American, peace, and class issues. The Sociology Department's colloquium series, as well as occasional national and international conferences held on campus on one or another of these concerns, enhance scholarship, practice, and collegial networks. The diversity in age, ethnicity, and work experience of the student body enriches this work.

Numerous sociology students present papers at professional conferences and publish articles during the course of their graduate studies. The sociology master's paper is designed in part 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 graduate program encourages interdisciplinary work. Many of the faculty in the Sociology Department have additional interests and are affiliated with other departments on campus. There are limited fellowship and grant opportunities for advanced students (particularly at the dissertation level) to participate in research projects under the auspices of several research groups, specifically those in global transformations, Latin American studies, bilingual research, international economics issues, and cultural studies; there are also research opportunities in the areas of feminist studies, gay and lesbian studies, and environmental studies.

In addition, seminars in the psychology, anthropology, history, and history of consciousness graduate programs are open to sociology students. Students who wish to work with faculty in other disciplines are encouraged to enlist the aid of the sociology graduate director or their advisers in contacting individual faculty members .

Graduate students in sociology may obtain a parenthetical notation on the sociology Ph.D. diploma indicating that they have specialized in women's studies, environmental studies, Latin America Latino studies, and several other areas of study. They must meet reqirements spelled out by the relevant department and their committee members.

Recent graduate alumni are now assistant and associate professors of sociology at UC Berkeley, UC Riverside, Ohio University, and Loyola Marymount University, among other institutions. Though a majority of students have chosen to pursue academic careers, graduates are working in areas such as health care consulting, psychotherapy, and free-lance writing and research. (see Alumni)

The core curriculum is divided into two parts: (1) basic grounding in theory and methods, and (2) exposure to research in the following three areas of concentration-(A) economy, development, and environment; (B) inequality and identity; and the third area, (C) culture, knowledge, and power.