Department of Sociology — The Joint Major in Psychology and Sociology

The Psychology and Sociology Departments offer a joint major emphasizing the theories, methods, and applications of social psychology, and the nature of social psychology as a subfield of both departments and a bridge between them. Students who elect this joint major complete a complementary sequence of psychology and sociology courses, and also have access to advising and counseling from both departments.

The course sequence for the joint major in psychology and sociology includes a minimum of 12 courses as follows:

PSYCH 100 or 101 (Introductory Psychology)
SOCIOL 101 (Introduction to Sociology)
PSYCH 230 (Social Psychology) or SOCIOL 281 (Society and the Individual)
SOCIOL 341 (Sociological Theory)
SOCIOL 351 (Research Methods)
PSYCH 102 or PSYCH 270 or SOCIOL 350 (Statistics)

One course from the following list:

PSYCH 250 (Learning and Memory)
PSYCH 255 (Perception)
PSYCH 260 (Behavioral Neuroscience)

One course from the following list:

PSYCH 200 (Personality)
PSYCH 215 (Abnormal Psychology)
PSYCH 241 (Infancy and Child Development)

Two from the directed list of psychology courses:

PSYCH 315 (Psychological Trauma)
PSYCH 333 (Group Dynamics)
PSYCH 334 (Social Perception)
PSYCH 335 (Social Attitudes and Public Opinion)
PSYCH 336 (Culture, Values, Religiosity and Chronic Mental Illness)
PSYCH 337 (Communication and Society)
PSYCH 338 (Community Psychology)
PSYCH 339 (The Psychology of Law)
PSYCH 341 (Family and Child Development)
PSYCH 430 (Internship in Psychology)
PSYCH 439 (Experimental Methods: Social)

Two from the directed list of sociology courses:

SOCIOL 300 (Communication and Opinion)
SOCIOL 310 (Socialization)
SOCIOL 316 (Family Violence in America)
SOCIOL 342 (Aging and Society)
SOCIOL 362 (Juvenile Delinquency)
SOCIOL 382 (Sociology of Gender)
SOCIOL 384 (Medical Sociology)
SOCIOL 386 (Sociology of Mental Health and Illness)
SOCIOL 460 (Internship in Urban Social Service)

One capstone course in either Sociology or Psychology. See Department Handbook for details.

Note: Either PSYCH 430 or SOCIOL 460, but not both, may be applied to the joint major.

Students are required to declare the joint major in psychology and sociology no later than the start of their junior year. Waiving or modifying any joint major requirement must be approved by both departments. Joint majors are assigned a faculty advisor from each department, and they are urged to make contact with their advisors as soon as possible. They must see an advisor in either department in order to register for courses.

Students in the joint major may pursue an honors major and are eligible for Alpha Kappa Delta, the national sociology honor society. See the “Honors” section below.