Three Stages of Study
Stage 1
The Disciplinary Core introduces students to the basic concepts, methods and theories of sociological analysis. It consists of three courses: "Introduction to Sociology" which is usually taken in the first or second year; "Sociological Theory" and "Research Methods in Sociology" which are taken in sequence the first and second semesters of the junior year.
Because much of what we know about social worlds is found in social indicators and other statistical information, the department strongly recommends that students take the "Introduction to Statistics" course offered by the mathematics department. This course not only fulfills the college's general education requirement for "mathematics and logical reasoning" but also can count toward the major in sociology.
Stage 2
The Elective Concentration ensures that a student's elective choices cover the wide-ranging subject matter of the field. These include four courses: a course in the anthropology program and one in each of the three major substantive areas of sociology offered at Wheaton. These include elective courses arranged in the catalogue under the headings Deviance and Social Control, Inequality and Social Change, and Institutions and Social Organization.
Stage 3
Autonomous Work. Here is where the student select courses, topics, and or learning experiences that enable them to pursue their own interests in depth. These include at least two electives in sociology. These electives can include self-designed independent study courses. In addition, a student may petition the department to grant credit to an appropriate course in another department.
The capstone experience of the sociology major is the senior research seminar. Here a student works on a substantial research project of their own design under the direct supervision of a faculty advisor. The research is conducted throughout the first semester of the senior year, is refined over the January Break and is presented at a formal senior research symposium that lasts for several days. Students are assigned to topically related panels during this public forum where they present and discuss their findings with the audience. Each year more than 500 people -- from on and off campus -- attend the symposium.
To our knowledge, no other sociology department in the country provides its student with a capstone experience that so effectively combines an intensely individual intellectual effort and achievement with the cohesiveness of a shared experience. Most students report that it is the most rewarding aspect of their college experience. A number of students have gone on to advanced graduate study and pursued research interests first explored in the senior seminar. Most other students have told us that the skills they honed in the senior seminar and the symposium have been invaluable in later life.