A Community of Scholars
Sociology is the study of social life, social change, and the social causes and consequences of human behavior. Sociologists investigate the structure of groups, organizations, and societies and how people interact within these contexts. Since all human behavior is social, the subject matter of sociology ranges from the intimate family to global communities; from deviance to organized crime; from religious traditions to state institutions; and from the divisions of race, gender and social class to the shared beliefs of a common culture. (American Sociological Association https://www.asanet.org/about/what-is-sociology/ )
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Department Statement on Black Lives Matter
Sociology is the study of relationships between the individual and broader social and historical forces. The Sociology Department stands with everyone in the nation fighting the racism that was built into the ideology and social structures of our country, and persists to this day. While there are of course myriad sources of inequality and injustice to fight in our world, at this moment we, as a nation, are poised to make a difference on the intersecting fronts of racism, law enforcement and the prison system.
As we work together to create a more equal and just world, many of our faculty members will continue to focus on crucial issues of racism, law enforcement, authority and social control, and mass incarceration.
Racism is so woven into the fabric of our culture that being “not racist” is not really possible, for any of us. It is the air we have breathed for all of our lives. Further, we recognize that “not racist” is different from “antiracist,” and we strive for the latter. Outside of class, we encourage you to pursue additional information and further education about the issues, to support Black-owned businesses, and to learn about local and national organizations working toward racial justice. The list below is by no means exhaustive, but it is a beginning.
Mission Statement
The Sociology program at Buffalo State seeks to cultivate in our students a critical understanding of the social world through a focus on the relationship between the individual and society. Through this development of “the sociological imagination” (Mills 1959), we aim to illuminate interdependence among social structures, cultural objects and social processes. Across our curriculum, we strive to cultivate an understanding of dynamics of social diversity and inequality. Our courses develop students’ critical reasoning skills by emphasizing the importance of imagination and creative thinking, logical analysis, and rational skepticism in evaluating beliefs and claims about the social world. Through the development and honing of these skills, we aim to prepare our students for productive intellectual, social and ethical citizenship.
Thinking Sociologically
The individual can understand her own experience and gauge her own fate only by locating herself within her period, that she can know her own chances in life only by becoming aware of those of all individuals in her circumstances. - C. Wright Mills
We do not condemn it because it is a crime, but it is a crime because we condemn it. - Emile Durkheim
Either the United States will destroy ignorance or ignorance will destroy the United States. - W.E.B. Du Bois
The function of sociology, as of every science, is to reveal that which is hidden. - Pierre Bourdieu
55.7%
Sociology attracts students from a variety of backgrounds. Nationwide, more than half of sociology majors are people of color.
5%
The Bureau of Labor predicts 5% job growth (faster than average) from 2022-32.
75
Our undergraduate majors are a community of scholars.
28,000
Sociology graduates nationwide each year.
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Nobel Prize winners: Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Jane Addams
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Influential Sociology Majors: Robin Williams, Dr. Ruth Westheimer, Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Ronald Reagan, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Michell Obama