Students on the Market

New Graduate Certificate
The INSIDE-OUT Program

The Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program is an educational program tailored to effectively facilitate dialogue across difference. It originated as a means of bringing together campus-based college students with incarcerated students for a semester-long course held in a prison, jail or other correctional setting. OU Sociology is proud to continue the tradition of offering students the chance to participate in the "Inside-Out" program.
2023 Sociology Newsletter
Upcoming Event


PRO-GRAD Workshop:
OU Scoiology's Professionalization and Graduate School Workshiops
Friday September 29th, 11:00am-1:00pm
Kaufman Hall, 221B (with Zoom Option)
Papers and Pampers: Navigating Grad School as a Parent
Ami Frost, PhD Student
Elizabeth McElroy, PhD Candidate
(Equal Contributions)
SOCIOLOGY
Welcome to the Department of Sociology at the University of Oklahoma. We are a vibrant department with 19 full-time faculty members, approximately 40 full-time graduate students, and over 400 undergraduate majors.
The Department of Sociology has two interrelated missions: to provide the highest quality education at the baccalaureate, master’s, and doctoral levels and to foster state-of-the-art research among faculty and graduate students.


Congratulations to OU Sociology Associate Professor Erin Maher who received the William Foote Whyte Career Award from the Sociological Practice and Public Sociology section of the American Sociological Association (ASA). The William Foote Whyte Award is given annually to individuals who have made “… notable contributions to sociological practice and public sociology … [including] outstanding clinical, applied, or public sociological work, exceptional service to the section, publications that advance both the theory and methods of sociological practice or public sociology, or mentoring and training of students for careers in sociological practice or public sociology”. William Foote White’s research focused on social reform and social change and he championed using sociological research for "empowering the disenfranchised and narrowing the gap between rich and poor." Dr. Maher’s work with the Oklahoma Parent-Child Assistance Program (PCAP) (www.ou.edu/pcap) echoes Professor White’s call by actively working to empower mothers in vulnerable circumstances while conducting state of the art evaluation-based research.
Our undergraduate program contains two degree tracks, one in general sociology and one in criminology.
At the departmental level, we have strengths in research and teaching in the following areas:
- Inequality and Social Differentiation
- Criminology and Deviance
- Global and Environmental Sociology
- Family and Religion
For more information on our speciality areas: CLICK HERE
We emphasize contemporary issues within these areas, and also explore their historical, comparative, and global dimensions. Through our research, we seek to update and refine knowledge in each area to assist in formulating and evaluating social policy.
Our undergraduate students pursue careers in diverse fields, ranging from social service and research jobs to corporate sales. Many of our undergraduates also go on to graduate school or law school.
Our graduate students regularly publish research in academic journals and present papers at professional meetings. Most graduate students go on to establish academic careers in universities and colleges or work as researchers for government or nonprofit agencies.
The members of our faculty maintain active research agendas and regularly publish articles and books. Many also occupy leadership roles in the profession of sociology, both within the university and in the community.
We take great pride in having rigorous academic programs while simultaneously maintaining a friendly, supportive environment for our students.
