Fraser Hall
1415 Jayhawk Boulevard, Room 716
Lawrence, KS 66045-7556
Phone: (785) 864-9412
Admission Criteria and Application Materials
The Department
Program Overview and Course Descriptions
Financial Support
Doctoral Placement
Prerequisites for regular admission to the graduate program in sociology are:
Students who have not met one or more of the requirements above may be admitted provisionally or on probation for a limited time.
Applications for admission must include:
Please send your application form, the non-refundable application fee, and one original transcript to the Department of Sociology, The University of Kansas, 1415 Jayhawk Blvd., 716 Fraser Hall, Lawrence, KS 66045. The application instructions above can also be found in Application Deadlines and Instructions (PDF).
International Applicants
The application procedure for international students is the same as above, except for the following:
Deadlines
(Please note that all deadlines specified are tentative and subject to change without prior notice.)
The deadline for Fall graduate applications is December 15 of the preceding year. Completed application files received by this date will be considered for all forms of financial assistance including nomination by the Department for University awards and Graduate Teaching Assistantships for the coming academic year. (For more information, see the GTA Information/Documents section on the Provost's webpage.) Applications completed after this date will be reviewed for admission but may be too late to be considered for financial assistance.
While we generally recommend that students begin their graduate work with the Professional Seminar which is taught only in the Fall term, applications for Spring are accepted. To be considered for Spring admission, graduate program application files must be complete by October 15 of the preceding year.
If you would prefer to receive a paper application, please send your request to the Director of Graduate Studies, Department of Sociology, University of Kansas, Fraser Hall, 1415 Jayhawk Boulevard, Room 716, Lawrence, KS 66045-7556, (785) 864-4111, socdept@ku.edu.
As stated above, completed application files received by the appropriate deadline date will be considered for all forms of financial assistance including nomination by the Department for Graduate School awards (see Graduate School funding) and Graduate Teaching Assistantships (GTA) for the coming academic year.
The Applied English Center assists departments in screening the oral language proficiency of non-native speakers of English who are applying for teaching positions. GTA applicants whose native language is not English are required by Board of Regents Policy to submit either a Speaking Proficiency English Assessment Kit Test score of 50 or higher or the internet-based TOEFL exam (iBT) with a score of 26 or higher.
In most years, at least one student is supported by a fellowship from the Graduate School; 15 to 18 students are supported by graduate teaching assistantships; six or seven students hold research assistantships for individual faculty members or the Gerontology Center; and three or four students teach at other institutions. Support provided by university positions (half-time service) and fellowships averages about $12,000 per year for nine months.
For information about grants, loans, and other need-based financial aid, contact KU's Office of Student Financial Aid, Strong Hall, 1450 Jayhawk Boulevard, Room 50, Lawrence, KS 66045-7535, (785)864-4700.
Please visit the Office of Student Financial Aid to obtain cost of attendance information.
The University of Kansas is committed to providing programs and activities to all persons, regardless of race, religion, color, sex, disability, national origin, ancestry, sexual orientation, marital status, parental status, age, or veteran status.
Alpha Kappa Delta Beta Chapter of Kansas
International Sociology Honor Society
In 1920, University of Southern California sociologist, Dr. Emory S. Bogardus, founded Alpha Kappa Delta for the purposes of stimulating scholarship and promoting the scientific study of society. Bogardus’ impetus in establishing this organization was to provide a forum for student and faculty interchange. His endeavor paved the way for what has become an international organization dedicated to promoting, facilitating, and recognizing academic scholarship. As we enter the 21st century, Alpha Kappa Delta is an integral part of many Sociology programs and is proud to acknowledge that in the past eight decades, over 80,000 scholars have been initiated into the Society. More than 490 chapters have been chartered in the United States, Canada, China, Finland, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Singapore.
Graduates:
For students officially admitted to graduate study in sociology at KU, the following specific requirements must have been met prior to the time of initiation:
- completion of one half year of graduate study in sociology
(i.e., one semester or two quarters or the equivalent academic unit)- with a graduate G.P.A. of 3.5 or better,
- and continued matriculation in a program of study leading toward a graduate degree in sociology at KU.
Please see the AKD website for more information.
.......The Sociology Department is a vibrant community of about 50 graduate students and 20 faculty members. From our pool of applicants, we welcome 7-10 new students into the graduate program each year. Our Department is small enough to allow students to develop mentor-relationships with the faculty members while engaging in a rigorous program of study that focuses heavily on sociological theory, equips students in research skills, and allows them pursue their interests in a variety of substantive fields.
.......Graduate students also play an active role in Departmental affairs; they serve on most Departmental committees, participate in the Graduate Association of Sociology Students (GASS), and edit a research journal, Social Thought and Research (STAR). Fifteen to 18 graduate students are funded as graduate teaching assistants, and receive continuous training and support in a teaching seminar. A few student advanced graduate students have taught in other departments and at nearby colleges and universities. Professional socialization is an important component of our program: Our students are encouraged to participate at professional meetings (e.g., Midwest Sociological Society, American Sociological Association) and to submit their work (especially their Master's Degree research papers) for publication.
Comparative and Historical |
Cross-national variation and the temporal dimensions of social life; comparative aspects of law, culture, institution, social control, and political economy; capitalism in non-western societies; analyses of industrialized societies and of developing societies. |
Cultural Sociology |
The material products, ideas, and symbolic means and their relation to social behavior; the persistence of cultural forms, as well as the production, distribution, consumption, and effects of culture; popular culture and the media; the social construction of knowledge in public discourse. |
Medical Sociology |
The social contexts of health, illness, and health care; health care policies and the political economy of health care organizations and provision; inequalities in access to medical care; media and cultural ideas of health; family care work; the ill experience; political and economic circumstances that threaten health; aging; global disease and comparative medical systems. |
Political and Economic Sociology |
The rise of the modern state; nationalism; political culture and ideology; the transition from state socialism; welfare policies and regimes, social and cultural bases of power and authority; processes and structures associated with globalization, economic organizations, production and consumption, labor markets, social networks, elites and classes. |
Race and Ethnicity |
The social construction and structural dynamics of race and ethnicity; race and ethnic inequalities; cultural production or cultural representations, history of racial and ethnic groups; study of comparative process of racialization; the formation of diasporas and/or transnational communities; intersections of race, ethnicity, nationalism and forms of class, gender, and sexuality. |
Sex and Gender |
The social construction of gender and sexualities; intersection of gender with race/ethnicity and class; gender and work, health, politics, social control, family, international development, nationalism, and knowledge; gender and sexuality in national and global contexts. |
Social Movements |
Comparative perspectives on political, class, racial/ethnic, gender, and environmental movements; social change and social conflict; revolutions; and collective behavior. |
Social Theory |
Classical, modern, and contemporary theory; critical theory; feminist theories; multicultural critiques of theory; applications of theory, international and comparative social theory. |
Sociology MA Program. The Sociology MA program has three options: Thesis,
requiring a minimum of 30 hours of graduate work, including six thesis hours; Research Paper,
requiring a minimum of 33 hours of graduate work; and Terminal, requiring a minimum of 36 hours of graduate work.
The Research Paper option does not require a thesis but does include a project written in the style of a journal article. Both the Thesis and Research Paper must be orally defended before the student's Master’s Committee. Students who have opted for the terminal MA cannot be admitted to the PhD program unless they complete a thesis or research paper in a probationary period specified by the Graduate Studies Committee. For the Terminal option, students will be orally examined by his/her Committee over the subject matter dealt with in the courses the student has taken.
The following courses are required regardless of which option is selected:
Thesis or Research Paper Committee. Students in the Sociology MA program must arrange for a Thesis or Research Paper Committee comprised of three members, including at least two faculty of the Department of Sociology. The chairperson of this Committee will be the student's major advisor. This Committee is vested with considerable authority in guiding the student's program of study.
Sociology PhD Program. Requirements for students pursuing a doctoral degree normally include:
The current data from the National Research Council's assessment of the PhD program's Time-To-Degree can be found here.
PhD Committee. Students in the Sociology PhD program must arrange for a Dissertation Committee comprised of five members, including at least three faculty of the Department of Sociology and one outside member. The chairperson of this Committee will be the student's major advisor. This Committee is vested with considerable authority in guiding the student's program of study.
Plan of Study. With the advice of their committee, all students shall complete an annual Plan of Study early in the first semester of each year. The Graduate Studies Committee will file this form for use in regular reviews and evaluation for financial aid and awards. The plan of study outlines the timing, means of preparation, and mode of meeting departmental requirements and other goals of the student. The purpose of requiring a plan of study is to ensure prompt consideration of the student's goals in graduate study, frequent consultation with the advisor and committee, effective use of the student's time in the program, and sound professional training.
Approved Graduate Courses. The following courses are approved by the faculty for all Sociology Department graduate programs.
History and Theory of Sociology
Methods of Sociological Research
Sociology Graduate Course Descriptions
For a detailed account of advising procedures, degree requirements, and program options, please see the Manual of Graduate Study (PDF).
The Sociology Department has a strong record of placing students
who graduate from our doctoral program. Since 1995, twenty-nine
students have earned PhDs from our program, and they are now employed
all over the country, mostly in academic positions. For example,
21 of those who graduated are in positions that require teaching,
research, and service, 3 are in post-doctoral fellowships, and 3
hold researcher/administrator positions. A listing of recent placements
can be found here. The current data from the National Research Council's assessment of the PhD program's Time-To-Degree can be found here. Following are
a few comments from some of our previous students:
“In pursuing my PhD I found my dissertation advisor and my dissertation committee excellent guides. Their recommendations and feedback led me to work out the questions which I confronted. As a result of my studies at the University of Kansas I am prepared to teach and further my research in the field.”
Robert Futrell Associate Professor of Sociology at University of Nevada-Las Vegas
Dissertation title: Struggling for Democracy: Environmental
Politics of Chemical Weapons Disposal
Chair/Adviser: Jack Weller
“I began the graduate program in KU Sociology as an MA student with the goal of earning a PhD and becoming a professor. But frankly, I had little idea of exactly how to do it or what it would take. From the first semester on I was thoroughly socialized both academically and professionally. The program provided a deep grounding in social theory while strongly emphasizing its use for empirical research. Faculty were generous with their time for students while providing us a great deal of autonomy and support to carve out our own path of study and research. We were encouraged to be active in the discipline and given the insights needed to “play the game,” so to speak. I now find myself trying to do all of the same for my own graduate students.”
Mary E. Kelly Associate Professor of Sociology at Central Missouri State University
Dissertation title: Born Again Lithuanians
Chair/Adviser: Joane Nagel
“My graduate experience at KU was, on the whole, a positive one. I found the faculty, especially at the dissertation stage, to be committed to my becoming a professional sociologist. Sometimes this meant telling me things I didn't want to hear- but I was the better for it. The graduate student relationships were in some ways equally important. Getting together socially and complaining about teaching, faculty, and dissertating helped us all. My experience on MARS (now Social Thought and Research) and Research on Aging was also an important introduction to the publication process.”
Dan Krier
Assistant Professor of Sociology at Iowa State University
Dissertation title: Speculative Management: Corporate Restructuring
and the American Stock Market, 1984 - 1997
Chair/Adviser: Jack Weller
“Kansas Sociology has a distinctive identity in the world of academic sociology. The program tends to attract students who care about real-world social problems and the faculty demonstrate by example how to use social theory, history and methodological creativity to dive down deep into our society in the search for solutions to them. At KU, students will find faculty who sincerely care about their development and who exert remarkable energy to make courses not just rigorous but meaningful. Other departments might provide efficient, tightly-contained degree programs, but few offer students a better opportunity to develop into self-directed, socially-engaged scholars.”
William J. Swart
Associate Professor of Sociology at Augustana College, Sioux Falls,
South Dakota
Dissertation title: A Terrible Beauty is Born: The Framing of
Nationalism in Irish Politics, 1790-1994
Chair/Adviser: Joane Nagel
“One of the many benefits of the graduate Sociology program at KU is its’ unique focus on individual intellectual development. Rather than being stifled by pre-approved reading lists and preliminary examinations, I was given the freedom to organize a literature and explore questions that interested me the most. The graduate faculty served as partners in this process; their mentoring encouraged me to take ownership of the discipline as an individual scholar rather than force-fit my interests to a standardized programmatic agenda. I have fond memories of my graduate experience in sociology at KU – it was excellent preparation for my career in academic sociology.”
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Fraser Hall 1415 Jayhawk Blvd. Room 716 Lawrence, KS 66045-7556 Phone: (785) 864-4111 or (785) 864-9400 Fax: (785) 864-5280 socdept@ku.edu |
© 2002 The University of Kansas Department of Sociology. Photos © The University of Kansas Office of University Relations. This file was modified 04/11/08 12:43:27 PM |
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