The Department offers two concentrations as options for sociology majors: “Crime, Law and Power” and “Global Economy, Organizations and Work.” Although a concentration is not required, students with an interest in one of these areas may find it valuable. A concentration enables students to pursue a coherent course of study focused on a particular theme and guides them in selecting the courses that allow for an in-depth exploration of that topic. Moreover, because concentrations are noted on students’ transcripts, they signal a specific course of study to graduate programs and employers.
Crime, Law and Power
The Crime, Law and Power concentration may be of interest to students planning careers in law, criminal justice, politics, government, and related non-profit agencies. It provides students with a rigorous study of social theory and research to aid them in developing an understanding of crime and violence, law and the legal system, and legal and non-legal modes of exercising power in society.
Relevant Sociology Courses for Crime, Law and Power
SOC 2210 Drugs & Society
SOC 2055 Law and Society
SOC 2220 Social Problems
SOC 2230 Criminology
SOC 2380 Violence & Gender
SOC 4230 Deviance & Social Control
SOC 4260 Race Crime & Punishment
SOC 4660 Sociology of Power & Authority
SOC 4055 Sociology of Law
Other relevant A&S courses (students may count only one of these towards the concentration).
MDST 3406 The Wire: Understanding Urban America
PSYC 2410 Abnormal Psychology
WGS 2898 Preventing Sexual Assault on Campus
WGS 2897 Gender Violence and Social Justice
WGS 4800 Gender-Based Violence
AAS 3810 Race, Culture and Inequality
PHIL 2060 Philosophical Problems in Law
PHIL 2690 Justice, Law, and Morality
PHIL 3670 Law and Society
Global Economy, Organizations and Work
The Global Economy, Organizations, and Work concentration may be of interest to students planning careers in business, government, law, human resources, and market research. It provides students with the opportunity to study the economic sphere of social life from within the liberal arts and sciences, utilizing a social-science point of view.
Relevant Sociology Courses for Global Economy, Organizations and Work
SOC 2900 Economy and Society
SOC 3559 Sociology of Innovation
SOC 3440 Chinese Society
SOC 3470 Sociology of Development
SOC 3480 Sociology of Globalization
SOC 3710 Organizations, Institutions, Markets
SOC 4140 Sociology of Consumption
SOC 4190 Gender and Work
SOC 4290 Sociology of Money
SOC 4480 Sociology of Professions
SOC 4510 Special Topics in Work: The Ethics of Insecurity
Other relevant A&S courses (students may count only one of these towards the concentration):
ANTH 3220 - Economic Anthropology
HIUS 2061 - American Economic History (cross-listed as Econ 2060)
HIUS 3471 - History of American Labor
HIEU 2051 - Economic History of Europe
HIEA 3211 - Japan's Economic Miracle
ECON 4150 - Economics of Labor
ECON 4190 - Industrial Organization
ECON 4195 - Empirical Industrial Organization
Health and Medicine
The Health and Medicine concentration may be of interest to students interested in working in the health-related fields such as nursing, medicine, or public health. Most especially, this concentration would be of benefit to students who intend to pursue a graduate degree in public health, health policy, and global health, and students on the pre-med track.
Relevant Sociology Courses for Health and Medicine
SOC 2280 Medical Sociology
SOC 2520 The Medicalization of Death in American Society (Topics in Death and Dying)
SOC 3310 Sociology of Self
SOC 3559 Sociology of the Body
SOC 3700 Health and Society
SOC 4280 Sociology of Mental Health and Illness
SOC 4530 Universal Health Care: Could It Work Here? (Special Topics in Health)
SOC 4530 Race, Medicine, and Health (Special Topics in Health)
SOC 4530 The Social Determinants of Health (Special Topics in Health)
SOC 4550 Sociology of Reproduction (Topics in Ethics and Society)
SOC 4560 Race and Racism in Science (Topics in Sociology of Science and Knowledge)
Other relevant A&S courses (students may count only one of these towards the concentration):
ANTH 2340 Anthropology of Birth and Death
ANTH 2345 Anthropology of Reproduction: Fertility and the Future
ANTH 2270 Race, Gender, and Medical Science
ANTH 3290 Biopolitics
ANTH 3130 Disease, Epidemics, and Society
ANTH 3370 Power and the Body
PHS 2291 Global Culture and Public Health
PHS 3050 Fundamentals of Public Health
PHS 3090 Health Care Economics
PHS 3095 Health Policy in the United States – An Economic Perspective
PHS 3104 Introduction to Epidemiology
PHS 3186 Comparative Health Systems
PHS 3620 Built Environment and Health Impact
PHS 3825 Global Public Health: Challenges and Innovations
PHS 4050 Public Health Policy
Requirements
Each concentration requires the completion of three courses (9 credits) focused on relevant topics. Certain courses have been pre-approved as counting toward each of these concentrations. A student may also petition the Director of Undergraduate Programs to count a course that has not been pre-approved. No more than one course (3 credits) taken outside the Department may be counted toward the concentration.
Procedure for Declaring a Concentration
Students may declare a concentration once they have completed all three courses with grades of C or above. To declare a concentration, follow these steps:
Step 1. Download the relevant Concentration Form (a PDF file) from the Sociology Department website: (https://sociology.as.virginia.edu/program-forms-and-links).
Step 2. Schedule a meeting with your advisor (in person or via Zoom). Bring the Concentration Form to the meeting with your advisor. You and your advisor should discuss your interest in the concentration and agree on a plan of study.
Step 3. Complete the Concentration Form and submit it to the Department’s Academic Assistant, either in paper or electronic form.