Requirements for the Major
The major prepares students for graduate work in sociology as well as in other disciplines; for professional schools (law, business, social work, journalism, urban planning); and for all occupations requiring general knowledge of society and social interaction as well as basic skills of social research. Combined and double majors may be arranged.
A minimum of 10 courses is required for the major, including:
SOCI BC 1003 or V 1000 Introductory Sociology or The Social World
SOCI BC 3000 or W 3000 Social Theory
SOCI W 3010 Methods for Social Research (no later than the junior year)
SOCI BC 3087–3088 Individual Projects for Seniors
and at least 5 other electives selected in consultation with the major advisor. These courses may be taken at Barnard or Columbia. A minimum of three of the elective courses must be at the 3000 or 4000 level, including one seminar at the 3900 level. To graduate, a student must complete, to the satisfaction of her instructor in SOCI BC 3087-3088, a thesis involving some form of original sociological research and analysis.
The department strongly recommends that Sociology majors take SOCI W 3020 (Social Statistics) or SOCI BC BC3211 (Quantitative Methods) to fulfill their GER in Quantitative & Deductive Reasoning.
Use this link to identify the major requirements that you have completed.
5 courses are required for the minor in Sociology, including SOCI BC 1003 orSOCI V 1000 and four courses to be selected in consultation with the Sociology adviser.
There are no special admissions requirements or procedures for students interested in becoming a sociology major. Students (majors and non-majors) are encouraged to consult with members of the department regarding their choice and sequence of courses.
Selected Senior Thesis Titles
2011
Marking Progress, Persistent Inequalities: An Exploration of the Family and Career Lives of Physicians and Dual Physician Couples by Gender
Watch How Di Gyal Dem Bruk Out: How Sexual Freedom and Self-Expression Are Asserted in the Dancehall Space
Pathways to Autism Diagnosis: The Effects and Implications of Doctor Blocking
Homemaker of the 1950 vs. Modern Supermom Gender Representation in Television Sitcoms Pas and Present
Organizational Isomorphism in New York City Public Schools
In Sickness and In Health: Women, Hysteria, and Disordered Eating
Immigrants' Struggles to Obtain Healthcare in the United States
The Silent Disease: Experiences of Autism for an Oral Society and the Oganizations that Serve It
The Presentation of Self on Facebook: Understanding Gender Differences in SNS Usage
The Meaning of Women's Life Course Sequencing: The Role of Social Class
"Trusting the Force": Strategies for Creative Group Work
From Mainstream to Deviant Status: Exploring the Recruitment Tactics and Authority Structure Across Three High Commitment Organizations
Race and Social Interactions in New York City Hair Salons: A Sociological Masterpiece
Model Minority? The Impact of the Gendered Pay Gap on Male and Femail Experiences in the Modeling Industry
2010
Tangled In A Green Web: Youth, the Environment, and Online Networks
Trying New Foods--A Mark of Refinement or a Mark of a Working Class Upbringing? A Study of Food, Taste, and Class
The Role of Mosques in the Anti-Islamaphobia Movement: A Comparison of Arab and South Asian Mobilization
Understanding the Difference between Dominican Men and Women and their Racial Identity
Creating "Mexicaness": Family, Immigrant Transnationalism, and the Homogenization of Media for Mexican Immigrants in New York City
Language Codes and Social Capital in our 6th Grade Classrooms
Health Beliefs, Health Behaviors, and Cultural Identity: A Sociological Study of University Students' cultural identity, health beliefs and behaviors in the New York City
Female Head Covering in Judaism: A Sociological Masterpiece
Learning Service and Service-Learning: Organizational Innovation in Higher Education
The Role of Leadership and Structure in Creating Change: A Comparison Across Take Back the Night Organizations
Voices from the Amazon: Living and Learning Development
American Citizenship: An Exploration of Youth Political Preferences
2009
Diagnosis, Eating Disorders and the DSM: Conflicting Principles and Contingencies of Practice
Nosotros los cubanos: The Effects of Labor Market Integration in Miami on the Identities of Cuban Refugee Professionals
Black in White: Black Identities at Columbia University
Technology Enabling Opportunities for New Authorities to Emerge
Brave Boys and Girly Girls: Gender and Race in Popular Children's Literature
Pursuit: Exploring Institutional Stigma Management
The Armenian-American Identity: Collectivity Against All Odds
Wake Up, or the Parade Will Pass You By: A Study of Changing Organizing Practices in a National Labor Union
Cultivating Kinky Identity: Sex, Class, and Community on a College Campus
Midwives and the Ideology of Empowerment: The Relationship Between Ideology, Practice, and Knowledge Construction
A Post-structuralist Critique on How the Body is Socialized in Seventeen Magazine
"So You're Graduating…": Option-Set Formation in High-Stakes, Goal Ambiguous Decisions
Assimilation as Social Interaction: How Second Generation, Chinese American College Students Exercise Agency Over Their Methods of Incorporation
"Is There ANYTHING That Doesn't Make Me Look Fat?:" An Exploration of College Aged Women's Experiences of Body Dissatisfaction and Self-Surveillance
Application of Neoinstitutional Theory to Public Education: Teachers' Pedagogical Practices in Response to Formal School-Wide Polices, Programs, and Regulations
Get Up, Stand Up: Examining the Role of Protest Music in Social Movements
The Construction of Lesbianism and the Heterosexual Regime
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I…
Declare a major or minor?
The Major
You may declare a major during or after the second semester of your sophomore year. Obtain a "Major Declaration Form" from the Registrar's Office and meet with the department representative. The department normally assigns students to advisors based on availability but you may also ask a faculty member directly. File one copy of the form with Susan Campbell, the Department Assistant in 332G Milbank Hall and the original with the Registrar.
The Minor
You declare a minor in sociology once you have completed five courses, including SOCI BC 1003 or SOCI V 1202, within the major. Obtain a "Minor Declaration Form" from the Registrar's Office and have this signed by the department representative. File one copy of the form with Susan Campbell, the Department Assistant in 332G Milbank Hall and the original with the Registrar.
Declare a Double, Combined or Special Major?
The Double Major
A double major means that you intend to complete the major requirements in two departments with no overlapping courses. However, there are two options for completing the thesis requirement for the double major.
Double major with one thesis
In this option you will write one essay that satisfies the requirements for both majors. You must have an essay sponsor for both departments and both departments must agree on your essay grade, including possible Distinction. For this option, you must fill out the "Double Major-One Integrating Senior Project" form available from the Registrar’s Office.
Double major with two theses
You can choose to write two distinct senior essays, one for each of the two major departments. You use the traditional “Major” form to declare the double major.
You declare a double major any time during or after the second semester of the sophomore year. The forms are available at the Registrar's Office in Milbank Hall: please make sure you pick up the correct form (see above).
Combined Major
For most combined majors you create your own major based on course offerings from two or more departments. A combined major integrates in-depth coursework - at least 7 courses—from each department or program. During the senior year, you will write an integrating senior essay that will have a sponsor from each department. Unless a particular course combination is listed in the Barnard Catalogue (e.g. a combined major with Human Rights, Jewish Studies or Women's Studies), you must petition the Committee on Programs and Academic Standing (CPAS) and receive the approval of the Chairs of the sponsoring departments.
Obtain forms and instructions from your Class Dean in the Dean of Studies Office. The departments must agree on your senior essay grade, including possible Distinction.
Special Major
A special major is a major designed by a student because Barnard does not officially offer it. As with the combined major, you must submit a petition to the Committee on Programs and Academic Standing (CPAS). The form asks for a written rationale or proposal explaining the special major and a list of courses that satisfy the special major. If at a later date, you need to substitute or drop one of these courses you MUST submit a petition in advance to CPAS giving your rationale for the drop or substitution. All involved departments (see below) must approve these changes.
A special major does not necessarily involve more than one department. If it does, both departments must agree on your senior essay grade, including possible Distinction, and on your potential Departmental Honors nomination. Obtain forms and instructions from your Class Dean in the Dean of Studies Office. ^back to top
Receive Course Approval for Summer School?
Meet with the Department Representative to discuss the course and, if possible, provide a course description and reading list. When the course is completed fill out the course approval request form, and provide a copy of the syllabus and other course requirements to your advisor. It is only after this has been submitted that course approval will be assessed. Approval is at the discretion of the department. Courses that do not meet Barnard standards for workload or intellectual rigor will not be granted major or minor credit.
Except in exceptional circumstances, you can receive departmental credit for a maximum of two courses taken at another college or university (including study abroad), out of the total of ten courses required for the major, or one course taken elsewhere out of five courses required for the minor. ^back to top
Receive Study Abroad Approval?
The office of Dean for Study Abroad has materials and information needed to make the decision on where to study abroad.
Once you have decided on a study abroad program, you should make an appointment with the Department Representative to go over your projected program. The Department Representative will need to know the following: course descriptions, the number of course hours per week, course requirements. After consulting with the director, you must fill out the Dean of Studies' Study Leave Course Approval Form, listing the courses you plan to take. The Department Representative will then pre-approve your courses through e-bear. While abroad, please keep all supporting documents (a course description, syllabus, transcript, and, when possible, course work such as papers or exams) to bring back to Barnard; this is particularly crucial if you decide to drop or add a new course.
Pre-approval does not guarantee you course credit from the department toward the major or minor. At the discretion of the department, courses that do not meet Barnard standards for workload or intellectual rigor will not be granted major or minor credit. (If in doubt, while you are abroad, you can fax or e-mail reading lists at the beginning of the term to the departmental representative.
Except in exceptional circumstances, you can receive departmental credit for a maximum of two courses taken, out of the total of ten courses required for the major, or one course out of five courses required for the minor at another college or university (including study abroad.) ^back to top
Receive Credit for an Internship?
Barnard does not award academic credit for internships per se. However, you may use an internship experience in an independent study project sponsored by the department and receive credit for the academic work involved in the project. Online instructions about the independent study are available. ^back to top
Do An Independent Study?
Students who wish to do an independent study project should speak to a full-time Barnard Sociology faculty member willing to serve as sponsor, then fill out a "Request for Approval of Credit for Independent Study" (see link below) and obtain signatures from the sponsor and chair of the department. File the form with the Committee on Programs and Academic Standing, which must approve all requests. (Note that no credit is given for an internship or job experience per se, but credit is given for an academic research paper written in conjunction with an internship, subject to procedures outlined above.) Students must consult with the sponsor in advance of filing as to workload and points of credit.
A project approved for three or four points counts as a course for the purpose of the ten-course major or five-course minor requirement. No more than one such three or four-point projects may be used for the major, and no more than one for the minor. An independent study project may not be used to satisfy either the colloquium or senior seminar requirements, except with the permission of your advisor and the Department Chair.
Each instructor is limited to sponsoring one independent study project per semester.
The Registrar will assign a section and call number unique to the faculty sponsor. The Request for Approval of Credit for Independent Study is available (in PDF) from the Registrar's web site. ^back to top
Receive Funds for Senior Thesis Research?
Tow Foundation Travel Fellowship
Barnard rising seniors seeking funding for travel expenses related to research for their senior essay should contact Dean James Runsdorf (also at 212-854-2024) in the fall of junior year about the Tow Travel Fellowship. Candidates must apply to the Committee on Honors (CoH) before March 1st of the junior year to request support for travel that will take place during the summer between the junior and senior years. Starting in 2002 the Tow Foundation has donated $25,000 each year to support senior research-related travel. Individual awards have ranged between $1,000 and $3,500.
Lucyle Hook Travel Grants
The Lucyle Hook Travel Grants are awarded by the Committee on Honors to promising Barnard rising or current seniors with enriching, eclectic senior projects who demonstrate originality and self-direction. Students seeking funding for travel and other research expenses related to their senior essay project can apply to the CoH for this grant. Expenses may be incurred during the summer prior to the senior year as well as during the senior year, i.e. the rising or current senior may apply in November for either the previous or the following summer. The applicant should submit a full description of her essay with a detailed estimate of expenses, along with a letter of recommendation from her (prospective) senior essay advisor, to the attention of Dean Karen Blank. The nomination deadline usually is around November 10. About $1,500 is available each year, with most grants in the $100-$300 range. ^back to top
Gain human subjects permission?
Students wishing to conduct any sort of research involving individuals must fill out an on-line human subject test. This is available through the Columbia University IRB via the RASCAL electronic grants management system at https://www.rascal.columbia.edu/
Once at the RASCAL web site go to the log in section. Where it says "Select Module" click on the drop down menu and select "Training Center" then enter your uni and password and log on. Once you have logged on click on the "Course Listings" and then click on "TC0015 Morningside Human Subjects Training Course". Instructions on the menu bar at the left tell you how to take the course (after reviewing the Course Overview, click on "Take Course"). Once you take the course, click on "Take Test." ^back to top
