Professor Julian Euell listens as students discuss a sociology assignment.
Sociologists are passionate in their work, and they are not satisfied with small answers or small questions. What causes crime? Who succeeds and why? Why do people engage in altruism or commit acts of violence against one another? At Ithaca College, your sociology professors will ask you to consider issues such as these. This mission is an ambitious one, and Ithaca's dynamic program in sociology will give you the analytical tools to examine the social codes and structural arrangements that give shape to the patterns of social relations.
Through classroom work and real-world experiences you'll develop writing, research, and critical thinking skills. Our program offers ample opportunities to take to the streets, schools, courts, or other areas to perform research or service learning. You might study abroad in the Dominican Republic, collaborate in faculty-guided research projects during summer internships, or find an internship in the local community. Students have helped to provide cutting-edge treatment responses for addiction at the Ithaca Community Treatment Court and have planned after-school activities for elementary students at the Greater Ithaca Activities Center. The department also offers a social work minor, which prepares students for positions in human services and the pursuit of a master's degree in social work.
You can choose to specialize in one of six areas: criminal and juvenile justice studies, clinical sociology, gender studies, race and ethnic relations, sociology of family and relationships, and social institutions and organizations. Our graduates make successful transitions into graduate programs and into the labor force, and they have found positions as agency caseworkers, public school teachers, college professors, researchers, college admissions counselors, and advisers to nonprofit organizations.