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Sociology-M.A. and Ph.D.

COLLEGE: College of Arts and Sciences
DEPARTMENT: Department of Sociology
215 Merrill Hall
Tel: 330-672-2562
E-mail: rserpe@kent.edu
Web: www.kent.edu/cas/sociology
 
DESCRIPTION: The Master of Arts in Sociology consists of two concentrations: Sociology and Gerontology.

Sociology offers specializations in crime, deviance, and criminal justice, health and health care (including mental health), social inequalities (race, class, gender), and social psychology, and provides a foundation for a variety of career lines for further graduate study.

Sociology–Gerontology provides a foundation for a variety of career lines for further graduate study. Students concentrate in the substantive and interdisciplinary area of gerontology. ADMISSION TO THE CONCENTRATION SUSPENDED THROUGH 2013

The Ph.D. in Sociology prepares students for research and teaching careers in higher education and for research-based careers in both the public and private sectors. The program offers four specialties: criminology and deviance, health and health care (including mental health), social inequalities (race, class, gender), and social psychology,
ADMISSION
REQUIREMENTS:
 M.A.: official transcript(s); 3.2 GPA; GRE, three letters for recommendations from professors; and 1-2 page statement of career interests and goals.

Ph.D.: Official transcript(s), GRE, three letters of recommendation from current/former professors who can adequately evaluate the applicant’s graduate work and potential; 1-2 page goal statement; completed master’s degree or equivalent, or at least one year of full-time coursework or equivalent (18 hours) in an M.A. in Sociology program. The coursework must include the M.A. core sequence. This type of admission is limited to students whose records clearly indicate both scholarly and research potential to do doctoral-level work. If the M.A. is not complete upon admission, students must complete it before the start of the second semester after they begin the Ph.D. program.
GRADUATION
REQUIREMENTS:
 M.A.: Requirements for the degree are 34 total credit hours. This includes 10 hours of required courses, 6 hours for the project and 18 hours of electives.

Ph.D.: Requirements for the degree are 64 total credit hours. This includes 34 semester hours of coursework, 30 credits hours of Dissertation I (SOC 82199) and passing the passing the doctoral comprehensive examination. This examination will include an evaluation of theory, methodology, analysis, and other topics relevant to the student’s specialty areas.
THESIS/
DISSERTATION:
 		Complete a dissertation and successfully defend it in an oral examination.
RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES: Graduate assistantships, Group Processes Research Laboratory, Survey Research Laboratory
PROGRAM FEE: None
STUDENT
ORGANIZATIONS:
 Alpha Kappa Delta, Graduate Student Senate, Pi Gamma Mu, Sociologists for Women in Society