Program Overview

PhD Degree Program

The PhD degree program requires 54 credit hours of coursework, including hours for empirical research paper or thesis research and dissertation research hours. In practice, students will accumulate 56 credit hours, two over the 54 hours formally required.

Course Requirements

The program includes the following required courses:

• SOCL 7121: Classical Sociological Theory (3 credit hours)
• SOCL 7131: Contemporary Sociological Theory (3 credit hours)
• SOCL 7201: Fundamental Statistics in Sociology ("Statistics 1") (3 credit hours)
• SOCL 7203: Advanced Research Methods in Social Science ("Statistics 2") (3 credit hours)
• SOCL 7211: Methods of Social Investigation (3 credit hours)
• SOCL 7213: Specialized Topics in Social Science Methods (6 credit hours)
• SOCL 7903: Proseminar in Professional Socialization (3 credit hours)
• SOCL 9000: Dissertation Research (9 credit hours)

Elective Requirements

The program also includes elective requirements, which can be met by completing:

• Sociology Graduate Seminars (12 credit hours minimum)
• Other approved electives
• Additional 7000-level SOCL courses (various topics, methods, and/or theory)
• Independent reading and research courses (SOCL 7901, SOCL 7902, SOCL 8900)
• Graduate seminars in other departments (2 courses maximum)
• 4000-level SOCL courses (2 courses maximum, only when taught by graduate faculty)

Credit Hour Requirements

Students must complete 12 credit hours from 7000-level sociology topical seminars (i.e., SOCL 7351, 7391, 7491, 7591, 7691, and 7791). After satisfying this requirement, students may meet the additional elective requirements by completing the above-mentioned courses.

Proseminar in Professional Socialization

Effective in a certain period, students who completed the second hour of Proseminar in Sociology (7903) by Spring 2020 will NOT be required to enroll in SOCL 7904. These students will need one additional elective course (24 hours) to meet the 54 credit minimum.