About the Graduate Program

The Department of Sociology at the University of Memphis offers graduate studies leading to the Master of Arts in Sociology. Training in theory, research methods, and statistics is required of all students. In addition, the program offers a wide selection of courses in many substantive areas such as race, class and gender studies; globalization and development; social change; demography; family; deviance; and medical sociology.

The Master's program provides opportunities to develop skills and interests in specific specialty areas while obtaining a solid grounding in sociological theory and social research methods. The program offers a high level of student-faculty interaction and the opportunity to participate in supervised research. The exposure to a full range of sociological specialties allows our M.A. graduates to apply to and be accepted by a wide range of Ph.D. programs. It is also appropriate for students who want to work in areas of applied research.

Two degree options are available to students pursuing the M.A. in Sociology - a thesis program (24 hours of graduate coursework plus 6 hours of credit for writing a thesis) and a non-thesis program (33 hours of graduate coursework with both written and oral comprehensive examinations that cover sociological theory, research methods and statistics, and a substantive area selected by the student).

For additional information contact:

Gretchen Peterson
Director of Graduate Studies
Department of Sociology
University of Memphis
Clement Hall, Room 223
Memphis TN 38152
Phone: (901) 678-2611
gpterson@memphis.edu