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Sociology at WSU

Instructor working with students.

Thank you for your interest in the Department of Sociology at WSU. We are a dynamic department with accomplished faculty and graduate students.

Our goal is to train graduate students to become professional sociologists. Many of our graduates attain employment in academia, but others have chosen careers in government agencies, private firms, and non-profit organizations.

Our program has produced many excellent researchers and teachers, including some of the pre-eminent sociologists working today. Students are encouraged to conduct research they are passionate about and learn the necessary skills to carry it out by studying with experts in their field, taking foundational courses, attending department colloquia, and taking advantage of the many other resources at WSU.

Here are some things that make our program distinctive:

Strong methodological and analytic training: skills that cross-cut substantive interests and various career paths.

We offer graduate seminars in a range of data collection methods and analytic techniques, including: survey research methods, qualitative methods, experimental methods and advanced regression analysis, spatial analysis, network analysis, and longitudinal techniques.

Support for graduate research and teaching: continuous funding, research and travel grants, and teaching resources

The Department typically supports all of its graduate students for the duration of their careers, so long as they make good progress in the program. Every year, we offer over $30,000 in grants for research, teaching, and travel to our current graduate students. Post-Master’s graduate students may teach their own courses, after receiving top-notch teacher training. Graduate students maintain a collection of teaching resources.

Collaborative, active scholarly community: Mentoring, co-authoring, and grad student culture

Individual mentoring by experts in the field means students and faculty regularly co-author papers. Graduate students organize an annual conference, reading groups, and frequent colloquia. Peer and faculty mentors help integrate new graduate students into the scholarly community. Graduate student culture is collaborative, not competitive.

Goal of diversifying sociology: Reputation and research assistantships for training diverse scholars

WSU-Sociology has a national reputation for training some of the best Black sociologists in the US, as recognized by the American Sociological Association’s Cox-Johnson-Frazier Award (2004) and expressed through the Wilson Julius Wilson Award for the Advancement of Social Justice.

The department, college, and university provide additional support to McNair scholars and through research assistantships for diverse scholars.

Quality of Life: Cost of living, outdoor opportunities, the town

Pullman, Washington is a great place to live, with a low cost of living, abundant outdoor opportunities, fun community events, and a free bus system that gets you to and from campus and around town.

We are proud of our graduate students and invite you to learn more about our program. Please read the program description and description of our research strengths. To submit your application for graduate studies in sociology at WSU, please visit our “Applying for Admission” webpage and the WSU Graduate School.

Graduate Student Handbook

For additional information on Sociology at WSU, consult the Graduate Student Handbook.