• Program Details - Graduate Details
• Sociology & Anthropology Department
• Graduate Faculty
• Admission Requirements Checklist
• Online Application

The M.A. program at MTSU offers an applied track in sociology with special emphases in the fields of gerontology, health, work and organizations, social diversity, and crime/deviance. Graduates now working in applied settings direct multimillion dollar federal programs; serve as federal investigators, researchers, and consultants; and coordinate a variety of social programs. The M.A. program also offers a traditional track that provides solid preparation for the Ph.D. and has graduated students to various Ph.D. programs around the nation.

The program offers education in the core areas of sociology--theory, methods (qualitative and quantitative), and data analysis (including computer-assisted programs)--that prepares students for a multitude of career opportunities including skills necessary to enter a Ph.D. program. The program also offers a scholarly and available graduate faculty applying sociological expertise to a variety of settings and publishing in a variety of sociological journals.

A student will have an opportunity to work with the faculty examining:

• employer responses to union organizing;
• union coalitions with immigrant community associations;
• the impact of business associations on employment and labor relations;
• public attitudes toward the environment and natural resources;
• land use practices of landowners;
• involvement in the environmental and related social movements;
• substance abuse services;
• issues of health delivery and nursing home care;
• end of life issues;
• policy issues related to poverty and community revitalization;
• labor force activity of immigrant women;
• women's and minority health;
• maternal and child health in the U.S. and abroad;
• educational attainment of immigrant children;
• local and national issues of deviance, crime, and the criminal justice system;
• gender and social diversity issues;
• the sociology of emotions;
• aging and gender issues in prisons;
• social capital formation among marginalized populations;
• youth participation and civic engagement;
• relationships between social networks and educational outcomes/achievement gap issues;
• identity maintenance; and
• the emergent properties of social networks.

Special emphases are offered in the application or practice of sociology: needs assessments, program evaluation, focus groups, surveys and polls organizational audits, policy design. Training in program management and evaluation are also offered.

The Sociology program has an active Graduate Student Sociology Association that facilitates funding for professional conferences and guest lecturers.

A minor in sociology at the graduate level is also offered.