Sociology

KAYLIN BOURDON, PH.D.
JAMIE DOLAN, PH.D., DEPT CHAIR

Mission

The mission of the Sociology program is to provide students with the requisite analytical tools for delving beneath the surface of everyday reality and perceiving the deeper meanings, recurring patterns, and concomitant structures that constitute the social world. As a department within a liberal arts college, we endeavor to integrate students’ study of Sociology with Carroll’s broader and publicly articulated Mission. Specifically, as a department within a distinctly Catholic liberal arts college, we are committed to honoring students’ search for understanding as we focus on social justice throughout the program.

Goals

  1. Understanding the discipline of sociology and its role in the Carroll College Mission
  2. Application of the “sociological imagination”
  3. Application of theory and concepts in sociology to the social world
  4. Analyzing data sociologically
  5. Thinking critically and conducting research within a social justice framework

Student Learning Outcomes

Students will be able to:

  1. Apply the sociological imagination, sociological concepts, and theory to matters of social justice
  2. Articulate how culture and social structure vary across time and place and evaluate the effects of such variations
  3. Analyze how culture and social structure influence individual behavior and the development of self 
  4. Evaluate theoretical orientations in sociology
  5. Apply theory to original sociological research
  6. Accurately convey data findings in writing
  7. Analyze social science data using statistical software 
  8. Examine and assess the origins and effects of social inequality
  9. Conduct original social scientific research