Sociology invites us to examine aspects of the social environment that we often ignore, neglect or take for granted. This examination enables us to achieve a better grasp of how society is organized, where power lies, what beliefs channel our behavior, and how societies have evolved over time. The sociological imagination equips us with a special form of consciousness that gives us a better understanding of the social and cultural forces we confront, especially those that constrain us and free us, and how they relate to large scale social structures.
By looking at social and cultural arrangements in imaginative and fresh ways, we gain a new vision of the social experience. We find that the society into which we are born and the culture transmitted to us shape our identities, personalities, emotions, thought processes and fortunes in countless ways.
As majors in sociology at Rockford University, students may pursue a Bachelor of Arts or a
Bachelor of Science degree with a concentration in criminal justice or general sociology. In each concentration, the all-university and collegial requirements ensure a strong liberal arts foundation for a more specialized program of study. Students who pursue the criminal justice concentration have a wide range of academic internship opportunities to work for a semester in an agency or organization in the community, and earn credits toward graduation.
Career opportunities
Sociology is a popular major or minor for students planning futures in such professions as law, politics, law enforcement, social work, public health, urban planning, community relations and public administration.
Employers frequently look for potential employees with specific skills that are acquired in sociology courses dealing with survey and research methods, statistics, criminal justice, marketing, and population research.
With a number of these courses to their credit, students may well find themselves at a competitive advantage with other liberal arts graduates. The breadth of learning from a liberal arts education gives opportunities to develop interpersonal, analytical, problem-solving, and communication skills essential for success in today’s competitive job market. According to the Wall Street Journal, big employers are wooing social science and liberal arts graduates with growing fervor after years of favoring job applicants with technical degrees. Employers find that graduates of schools like Rockford University can take a variety of problems and apply creative analysis to them.
Sociology minors often major in
· Criminal Justice
· Education
· Microeconomics
· Political Science
· Psychology
· Social Sciences
One of the following two courses:
| SOCI 160 | The Sociology of Deviant Behavior | 3 |
| SOCI 250 | Introduction to Criminal Justice | 3 |
Required Courses (24 credits)
| SOCI 150 | Introduction to Sociology | 3 |
| SOCI 260 | Qualitative Social Science Methods | 3 |
| SOCI 295 | Writing in Sociology, Criminal Justice, | 3 |
·
At least four
300- or 400-level Sociology courses (12 credit hours)