Sociology and anthropology are two social sciences that seek to understand the relationship between individuals and the social worlds they create and inhabit. Sociologists and anthropologists investigate how societies are organized, how cultures are reproduced, and how these processes shape individual identities.

The Sociology Department aims to understand the social changes taking place throughout the world and relate them to the developments in the contemporary United States.

NSU’s sociology program includes emphases on criminal justice or human services to help prepare you for many different jobs in fields such as law, law enforcement, social welfare, business administration, education, communications, and advocacy.

Sociology is the branch of science that specializes in the study of human societies and human social interaction. As a Thiel College sociology major, you will study a wide range of topics including marriage and family, community, criminology, diversity, social movements, and even art, music, and film!

Sociology takes you beyond a superficial understanding of the world. It highlights the connections between individuals’ experiences and larger social forces, and how each affects the other. Understanding broad social structures and cultural/historical tendencies at work within societies gives you a strong foundation for making an impact through research, participation, and action.

Are you interested in why people do what they do, and why the world works the way it does? With our Sociology major, you’ll gain the skills and knowledge to understand how institutions and organizations shape individual life experiences, including systematically analyzing the behavior patterns of social, political, religious, educational, and business organizations to identify the causes of problems such as violence, crime, divorce, poverty, racism, sexism and more.

The undergraduate degree provides a strong liberal arts preparation for careers in business, social services, government service, journalism and public relations, public administration, education, counseling, and medicine. 

Sociologists offer a critical examination of social processes, which includes analyzing their function in society and historical context. The development and existence of social inequalities over time is also a key area of study.

Challenge the status quo. Sociology is the systematic study of human societies, their patterns, and arrangements, their processes of development and change.

Gain an in-depth knowledge of human social behavior in our rapidly changing world with the online Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from Southwest Minnesota State University. Finish your degree in two to four years and build a versatile skill set you can apply in a range of careers. The fully online curriculum is designed to help you develop critical thinking, written and oral communication skills, cultural competence, and self-awareness to graduate ready for the workplace or continued study.

The Social Studies Education program is designed to parallel Social Science and History with special emphasis on teaching techniques needed by candidates for Education Certification at the elementary and secondary levels.

History and Social Science students at Siena Heights experience a variety of classroom and extracurricular learning opportunities. Class size is typically 15-20 students, enabling students to develop effective discussion skills. Students learn from video and web-based presentations as well as instructor lectures, classroom activities, and other learning adventures.

Comprising the heart of the WLU liberal arts experience, we engage students in collaborative scholarship, weaving together varied perspectives about human experience and culture to examine historical, political, spatial, and philosophical concerns. If you are interested in sharing your love of social studies, you may want to consider a teaching career.

With strong foundations in sociological research and theory, you'll learn about the self and society, and the importance of institutions, interactions, and inequalities in social life.

Schools ask a great deal from their Social Studies teachers, especially at the secondary level. Often, these instructors need to be experts in history and government. Lakeland's Social Studies Education program prepares future teachers to succeed in a wide variety of classroom settings.