Graduate School

Sociology (ph.d.) program details, degree requirements.

    ❱   Required coursework     ❱   Qualifying or comprehensive examination     ❱   Graduate School writing proficiency requirement     ❱   Graduate School Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) requirement     ❱   Dissertation      ❱   Final oral examination/Dissertation defense

Research Specializations

    ❱   Social Inequality     ❱   Medical Sociology

Research Areas & Interests 

Faculty research interests.

A sampling of research interests

  • Effect of racial bias and interracial anxiety on medical judgment
  • Investigations of how social, commercial, and political institutions interface with new technology and shape properties of technological affordance  
  • The historical relationship between forms of penal confinement and the accumulation of profits under economic systems
  • Africana/black feminist theory and intersectionality
  • Implications of violence (structural, spatial, and interpersonal) on reproductive and sexual health injustice for Black women
  • Social impacts of severe weather and protective action and evacuation responses of disaster victims
  • Public outreach in archaeology
  • Lived experiences of children of incarcerated parents
  • Coloniality and resistance concerning counter-memory and decolonial knowledge

Research Subfields

Social inequality.

This concentration focuses on the forces that produce and reproduce the various aspects of social inequality in the U.S. and global society. It analyses historical systems and structures of global capitalism and economic exploitation, political oppression, and domination, including white supremacy and patriarchy, and ideological and cultural hegemony and their contemporary expressions in the 21st-century globalized electronic-based society. It also examines agencies of transformation and social movements, the theory-practice nexus, and public sociology that seek to change policy and/or eliminate the systemic roots of social inequality. Students apply theoretical, methodological, and pedagogical skills to study various issues and problems related to social inequality and social change.

Medical Sociology

Medical Sociology focuses on the social contexts of physical and mental health. It examines the subjective aspects of illness, the interplay of social inequality and health and health behaviors, and physician-patient relationships, focusing on gender and race. In addition, it presents a discussion on the organization and structure of the healthcare system and the social forces that influence that system. Core courses also stress the dynamics of health populations, the etiology of diseases, the distribution of health conditions resulting from socio-demographic and related disorders, and health services research. Students apply their theoretical and analytical skills to investigate topics relevant to health, illness, and healthcare.

Program of Study* 

Core courses.

SOCI 300    Sociological Theory I

SOCI 301    Sociological Theory II

SOCI 310    Sociological Research I

SOCI 311    Sociological Research II

SOCI 219   Advanced Statistics I

SOCI 319    Advanced Statistics II

Any two of SOCI 250, 302, and 303: Race, Inequality, and the Black Experience

**Students admitted into the program who have not completed undergraduate coursework in Sociological Theory, Sociological Research Methods, or Statistics must complete departmental prerequisite course requirements (SOCI 200, 210 and/or 211).

All students must earn a grade of B or better in each course designated as a core requirement.

ELECTIVE COURSES

All students must also take six (6) credit hours in electives in methodology and nine (9) credit hours in a cognate minor outside of Sociology

A sampling of elective courses

SOCI 430   Demographic Method I

SOCI 431   Demographic Method II

SOCI 510   Experimental Research

SOCI 511   Survey Research I

SOCI 513   Qualitative Research

SOCI 514   Evaluation Research

SOCI 520   Research Methods in Social Psychology

SOCI 610   Seminar: Interdisciplinary Research

SOCI 622   Attitude Scale Construction 

SOCI 740   Seminar: Methodological Issues in Urban Research

SOCI 910   Readings in Research Methodology I

SOCI 670   Seminar: Research in Crime and Deviance

SOCI 681   Seminar: Research on the Black Family

SOCI 201   History of Social Thought

SOCI 204   Language and Society

SOCI 471   Race, Ethnicity, and Crime

DISSERTATION

*Courses included in the sample program of study are subject to change. Students should consult with their programs regarding their required program of study. 

Admission to Candidacy 

Students are admitted to formal candidacy by the Graduate School when they have completed the required coursework, passed the qualifying or comprehensive examination, submitted an approved topic for research, and been recommended by the Department. Candidates must also have satisfied the Graduate School writing proficiency requirement and Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) requirement.

Graduate Funding 

Admitted students may be eligible to compete for  Graduate School competitive awards ,  which provide tuition remission and a stipend during the academic year. Additionally, graduate research or teaching assistantships may be available at the department level. Research assistants and teaching assistants work no more than 20 hours a week under the program's direction, usually in support of faculty research (research assistants) or in support of assigned courses (teaching assistants). Please see the  Funding website  for more detailed information.

Department of Sociology and Criminology

Sociology program, spring 2022 senior comprehensive exam.

Senior comprehensive exams are scheduled for  Saturday, March 26th, 2022 . Students can register for the comprehensive exam by signing up online. Though sign-up technically begins on February 1, students can do it sooner if they wish.

Sociology Senior Comprehensive Exam Sign-up :  https://forms.gle/hqRcFdpT5cXXKEo26  

Please note, the deadline date for registering for the Senior Comprehensive Exam is  Friday, March 11, 2022.  Students who fail to register by this date will **not** be allowed to take the comprehensive exam this Spring semester.  

student working on desktop computer

Sociology is the study of social life and the social causes and consequences of human behavior. It investigates the structure of groups, organizations and societies, their informal development and interaction.

Since all human behavior is social, the subject matter of sociology ranges from the intimate family to the hostile mob; from crime to religion; from divisions of race, gender and social class to a shared belief of a common culture.

Courses such as research methods, statistics, sociological theory, computer-based social science research and social organization and demographic analysis, equip student for employment in a wide range of occupations in the public, non-profit, and private sector.

Our Objectives

  • To introduce students to a broad spectrum of sociological knowledge, including its perspective, its history and its uses.
  • To present sociology in a systematic and scholarly manner, while offering the maximum social insight and self-understanding.
  • To emphasize the applicability of sociological knowledge to everyday life.
  • To provide students with the analytical and conceptual skills needed to understand the complex social problems of today's world and to propose logical solutions.
  • To prepare students for graduate and professional school through their theory and research experience.

Sociology Careers

Opportunities include fields such as social research, the health professions, business, social service, and data processing.

Sociology is also a popular undergraduate major for students planning to further studies in such professions as law, business, education, social work and public administration.

Professional recruiters are interested in well-rounded students with good analytical and communication skills.

Sociology Graduate Program Contact

Dr. Christopher Gunderson Graduate Sociology Program Email: [email protected]

Course Descriptions

Soci-001 introduction to sociology. 3 credits..

Basic concepts in sociology; the nature and functioning of groups, the individual and the group; social processes; social change.

SOCI-020 INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 3 credits.

The development of human nature and personality as products of social interaction and culture.

Howard University catalog

Sociology (PhD)

General sociology & theory credits required.

SOCI-300 Sociology Theory I 3

SOCI-301 Sociology Theory II 3

Methods & Statistics Credits Required

SOCI-310 Sociological Research I 3

SOCI-311 Sociological Research II 3

SOCI-219 Advanced Statistics I 3

SOCI-319 Advanced Statistics I 3

Electives in Research and Methodology Credits Required

SOCI-891 Independent Research 3

SOCI-988 Independent Research 3

Social Inequality - Required Area of Specialization Credits Required

SOCI-250 Social Stratification 3

SOCI-251 Sociology of Poverty 3

SOCI-460 Analysis of Race Relations I 3

SOCI-461 Analysis of Race Relations II 3

Optional Area of Specialization: Medical Sociology:

SOCI-283 Intro. to Medical Sociology 3

SOCI-484 Health Services Research 3

SOCI-386 Social Epidemiology 3

Sociology Elective Options (1)

SOCI-312 Global Health 3

SOCI-485 Health Services Research II 3

SOCI-199 Environmental Inequity 3

SOCI-284 Mental Health 3

SOCI-286 Death and Dying 3

SOCI-982 Readings in Medical Sociology I 3

SOCI-983 Readings in Medical Sociology II 3

Optional Area of Specialization: Criminology:

SOCI-370 Criminological Theory 3

SOCI-471 Race, Ethnicity, and Crime 3

Sociology Elective Options (2)

SOCI-276 Victimology 3

SOCI-670 Seminar: Research in Crime and Deviance 3

SOCI-970 Readings in Social Control and Deviance 3

Outside/Cognate Minor Credits Required

Options: Courses at level 200 and above with advisor/faculty approval. 

PhD Dissertation Research (Optional)

*** Howard University graduate students are required to be continuously registered in the doctoral program until they have advanced to candidacy at which time they become eligible to enroll in PhD Dissertation courses. PhD Dissertation Research courses are not required, they are independent study courses for students to develop their dissertation proposal and dissertation manuscript under the direction of their dissertation advisor if, and only if, they have completed the required hours for the PhD Dissertation. A maximum of 3 dissertation research credits may be taken per semester. In addition, a maximum of 6 dissertation research credits may be counted towards the credits required for program completion. 

SOCI-753 PhD Dissertation Research 1

SOCI-984 PhD Dissertation Research 1

SOCI-985 PhD Dissertation Research 3

SOCI-989 PhD Dissertation Research 3

PhD Dissertation Credits Required

***** A maximum of 3 dissertation credits may be taken per semester. In addition, a maximum of 6 dissertation credits may be counted towards the credits required for program completion. 

SOCI-998 PhD Dissertation 3

SOCI-999 PhD Dissertation 3

Options: Courses under subject code SOCI at level 200 and above with advisor/ faculty approval)

***Only one (1) reading course and one (1) independent course (i.e., PhD Dissertation Research) may be used as electives in Sociology.

IMAGES

  1. Truth and Service: The Hundred-Year Legacy of Sociology at Howard

    phd sociology howard university

  2. Ph.D. Course Info

    phd sociology howard university

  3. Graduate Program

    phd sociology howard university

  4. Truth and Service: The Hundred-Year Legacy of Sociology at Howard

    phd sociology howard university

  5. Department of Sociology and Criminology

    phd sociology howard university

  6. ACADEMICS

    phd sociology howard university

VIDEO

  1. Dr. Omkar Joshi

  2. Meet the Faculty: Marjorie Graham-Howard, PhD