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DEPARTMENT OFFICE
King Hall C3093
Phone: (323) 343-2200 FAX (323) 343-5155
E-mail: sociol@calstatela.edu
Website:www.calstatela.edu/academic/soc

Mission Statement: The primary mission of the Sociology Department is to provide students with sociological perspectives and sociological techniques of inquiry designed to enhance their intellectual, personal, and occupational lives. Part of this mission is to offer academic programs appropriate for students with a wide variety of backgrounds in order to address the diverse needs for higher education in our community, and to provide courses that are designed to enhance individual student understanding of interactive, institutional, and macro-level aspects of our diverse world. A further aspect of the mission is to provide opportunities for students to connect sociological understandings to community experience, and to enhance such understandings through service to the community. The Department mission includes the encouragement of faculty engagement in instruction, curricular development, professional activity, and governance in order to promote a strong teaching and learning environment.

Sociology is the scientific study of social behavior, social interaction, social institutions, and social structure. It involves the study of people and groups in all social contexts. This includes the scientific study of changing groups and institutions shaping human experience throughout people’s lives. The focus ranges from momentary contact with strangers, through regular interactions in familiar settings, to global processes. 
Sociology majors study various subjects, including: race/ethnic relations, gender issues, interpersonal relationships, religion, law, health care, child development, aging, urban populations, social inequalities, crime, occupations, popular culture, social deviance, politics, social psychology, sociological theories, and sociological methods. The primary purpose of the academic program in sociology is to enhance students’ analytical abilities, understanding of social phenomena, and research skills. 

This provides a strong background for students interested in advanced professional study in sociology, social work, and law, as well as positions in public and private social service agencies. Sociology will also appeal to students whose intellectual and career interests include working with people in business and other organizations. 

Students pursuing legal, educational, and governmental careers may benefit from sociological perspectives on human relations. Students who intend to follow careers in management, marketing, human resources, public relations, advertising, journalism, criminal justice, nursing, and comparable areas may find particular value in combining the study of sociology with their professional preparation.

Four Bachelor of Arts degree options in Sociology (General, Inequality and Diversity, Law and Society, and Social Gerontology); three minor programs (Sociology, Law and Society, and Social Gerontology); and the Master of Arts degree program are described below.

The Faculty

Professors: Cristina Bodinger-deUriarte, Wai Kit Choi, Elaine Draper, Gabriela Fried Amilivia, Roseann Giarrusso (Chair), Hyojoung Kim.
Associate Professors: Bradley Campbell, Louis Esparza, Molly Talcott.
Assistant Professors: Shweta Adur, Luoman Bao, Floridalma Boj Lopez, Katie Dingeman, Kristen Hourigan, Libby Lewis, Luis Nuno, Tanya Sanabria, William Rosales, Robert Weide. 
Emeriti: Bernard Berk, William D. Darrough, Steven L. Gordon, Lawrence K. Hong, Delos H. Kelly, Janet Lever, Eleni N. Pitsiou-Darrough, Fred J. Ronald T. Tsukashima, Eui-Young Yu.

Programs for this Department:

Undergraduate Major

• Sociology, B.A. 
Undergraduate Minor

• Minor in Law and Society 
• Minor in Social Gerontology 
• Minor in Sociology 
Graduate Major

• Sociology, M.A. 
 

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