Department of Sociology
We're the oldest sociology department in the United States - we study social life, social change and the social causes and consequences of human behavior.
Why Sociology?
- It opens plenty of career opportunities at the local, state, and federal levels
- It has relevance across a variety of fields
- You'll learn how to understand the world around you
- It prepares you for the pursuit of professional and graduate degrees
- It's a fascinating and multifaceted discipline
Blackmar Lecture Series
The Sociology Graduate Student Association invites you to the 2025 Blackmar Lecture featuring Dr. Tom Davidson
May 1, 3:00 p.m., in the Jayhawk Room of the Kansas Union
KU Sociology in the News
Congratulations Tracey LaPierre! Dr. LaPierre was awarded the 2025 Barbara Schowen Undergraduate Mentor Award from the Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships and Academic Affairs.
"Tracey has worked with so many students over the years with great success. Thank you, Tracey, for your dedication to Sociology students and to the first gen Health & Society students we will be meeting soon. Lovely trophy!" (Interim Chair Joane Nagel)...
Congratulations to Jennifer Babitzke!
Graduate student Jennifer Babitzke has been awarded the Graduate Student Grant-Writing Incentive Fund of the FY25-26 Research Excellence Initiative (REI) award from the College Dean's Office. She will use this fund to facilitate her dissertation research. ...
ChangHwan Kim and Yurong Zhang co-author article for Social Science Research.
"Amid union decline: State-level unionization and overwork of American workers." ...
ChangHwan Kim contributed an article to the American Sociological Review.
"Culture and Immigrant Selectivity in Shaping Asian American Education: Evidence from Historical Census Data." ...
Undergraduate Program
There are different paths for students interested in Sociology. Discover which is right for you and explore our majors and minors.
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Graduate Program
Our graduate program allows you to learn alongside nationally recognized scholars and explore topics through faculty-student collaboration.
Explore our program