Indiana University Department of Sociology

Career Planning

Throughout your undergraduate career it is a good idea to talk with your professors about your career plans and interests. The faculty in sociology enjoy talking with students about their career plans and are happy to give advice about job options or graduate schools. They can give you advice on additional courses to take in sociology or other departments and information about possible careers. Later when you are applying for jobs, it almost always is necessary to have references from your professors, and it is easier for professors to write a detailed and thoughtful letter about a student if they have talked with the student outside the classroom.

In your senior year you also should talk with the undergraduate advisor in sociology and set up a placement file with the Career Placement Office (855-0576). Job placement strategy courses are offered through the Placement Office.

Curriculum Planning

Below we show which sociology courses are particularly relevant to specific careers. Depending on your particular career interests, you may select specific courses under each heading and combine them with the courses required of sociology majors or minors.

Business (see Business Minor)

S101 Social Problems and Policies (Past topics include: Work and Inequality; Sociology of Money)
S302 Bureaucracies
S315 Sociology of Work
S317 Social Stratification
S410 Topics in Social Organization (Past topics include: Discrimination and the Labor Market; Economic Sociology)
S411 Society, Politics, and Markets
S450 Survey Research

Education

S101 Social Problems and Policies (Past topics include: Childhood Socialization; Science, Technology, and Human Values)
S302 Bureaucracies
S312 Sociology of Education
S314 Sociology of Science
S316 Sociology of Family
S338 Sociology of Gender Roles
S409 Social Context of Schooling
S438 Childhood Socialization
S439 Social Interaction
S494 Field Experience in Sociology

Medicine and Other Health Areas

S101 Social Problems and Policies (Past topics include: Health and Welfare Service in the U.S.; Science, Technology and Human Values; Sociology of Suicide; Work of Allied Health Occupations)
S302 Bureaucracies
S305 Population and Human Ecology
S319 Sociology of Science
S315 Sociology of Work
S316 Sociology of the Family
S324 Sociological Aspects of Mental Illness
S427 Social Conflict
S494 Field Experience in Sociology

Journalism/Publishing

Sociology is a common major or minor for students planning a career in journalism. The specific sociology courses that would be useful in such a career depend on the particular area of journalism that the student plans to pursue. For example, courses in political sociology (see below) would provide a good background for a career as a political analyst. Similarly, sociology courses in social work would be useful for a job reporting on community problems.

Social Psychology/Social Work/Counseling

S101 Social Problems and Policies (Past topics include: Juvenile Delinquency; Deviance and Society; Sociology of Wealth and Poverty; Mental Illness; Sociology of Suicide)
S230 Society and the Individual
S309 The Community
S316 Sociology of the Family
S317 Social Stratification
S320 Deviant Behavior and Social Control
S321 Sexual Patterns and Variations I
S324 Sociological Aspects of Mental Illness
S325 Criminology
S329 Women and Deviance
S335 Race and Ethnic Relations
S338 Sociology of Gender Roles
S360 Topics in Social Policy (check specific topics offered each semester; past topics have included Language)
S413 Gender and Society
S422 Sexual Patterns and Variations II
S427 Social Conflict
S435 Social Psychology of the Self
S438 Childhood Socialization
S439 Social Interaction
S494 Field Experience in Sociology

Gender/Women's Studies

S101 Social Problems and Policies (Past topics include: Sex Inequality; Class, Status and Power)
S315 Sociology of Work
S316 Sociology of the Family
S317 Social Stratification
S321 Sexual Patterns and Variations
S329 Women and Deviance
S338 Sociology of Gender Roles
S409 Social Context of Schooling
S413 Gender and Society
S422 Sexual Patterns and Variations II
S438 Childhood Socialization
S494 Field Experience in Sociology

Criminal Justice/Deviance

S101 Social Problems and Policies (Past topics include: Social Aspects of Murder; Juvenile Delinquency; Sociology of Suicide)
S320 Deviant Behavior and Social Control
S321 Sexual Patterns and Variations I
S324 Sociological Aspects of Mental Illness
S325 Criminology
S326 Sociology of Law
S329 Women and Deviance
S420 Topics in Deviance (Past topics include: Morality and Society; Women and Deviance)
S422 Sexual Patterns and Variations II
S427 Social Conflict
S494 Field Experience in Sociology

Politics/Government/Law

S101 Social Problems and Policies (Past topics include: Social Class and Political Inequality; Wealth and Poverty; War as a Social Problem)
S215 Social Change
S302 Bureaucracies
S308 Introduction to Comparative Sociology
S309 The Community
S311 Political Sociology
S326 Sociology of Law
S335 Race and Ethnic Relations
S360 Topics in Social Policy (Past topics include: Language)
S361 Urban Sociology
S412 Sociology of American Political Behavior
S419 Social Movements and Collective Action
S427 Social Conflict
S494 Field Experience in Sociology

Alumni Voices


"Coming to big university, I wondered whether I would get lost in the crowd. Thankfully, the people of the sociology department take an interest in my individual concerns. Professors whose classes I've taken a few years ago will ask me how I'm doing and if I'm enjoying my work." Kyle Longest	"The professors use examples from the world around us, relating them to what we're studying. This is easy to do because so much of what we study can be observed in real life. I found that my learning didn't end when the bell rang, but continued in my observations of the people and events around me." Jocelyn Chia	"Sociology is not a subject you'll be bored in. You will enjoy it from beginning to end." Melissa Medina