Our department is home to outstanding faculty and academic programs and serves as a center for innovative research. The department's signature strengths are in sociological theory and social science methodology, as well as in the sociological study of aging, crime, gender, health, race/ethnicity, religion, and social inequality. Faculty publish empirical studies as well as theoretically oriented studies that address fundamental debates within the field of sociology.

Our mission as a department is to produce research that advances the field of sociology and contributes to public understanding of complex social issues. We train undergraduate and graduate students in the latest sociological theories, methods, and research in preparation for careers in higher education, marketing, social services, government, data science, health care, and many other fields.