Sociology B.A.

Challenges facing our world today are increasing domestically and globally. Discover valuable lessons about human and social behavior and the consequences of that behavior. Examine how social influences affect the way we think, feel, and act. Learn to understand, consider, and appreciate perspectives held by others. Navigate complex situations, work in teams, and make professional contributions that make a positive difference.

“I want to be able to use what I learned [at CSU] to break the cycle of injustice in the education field and help those who need help in high school and in college. Using my Spanish skills, I would love to help Hispanic families understand the college process and be able to feel like they are also a part of their children’s experiences.”

—Carina Roman-Solis, Sociology and Spanish Majors

Earn your sociology degree and be able to:

• Critique explanations of social phenomena by locating them within broader societal patterns.
• Apply sociological concepts and theories to better understand, evaluate, and foster social change in real-world settings.
• Formulate research questions and select the appropriate sociological research methodologies to answer them.
• Analyze the links between individuals, societies, and systems with a focus on describing the ways gender, race, class, and other intersecting powers produce social inequalities.
• Examine the effects of social inequalities. Evaluate actions, policies, and programs that can prevent or ameliorate them.
• Express sociological ideas clearly and effectively in written and oral contexts to a variety of audiences.
• Think critically by engaging in teamwork. Negotiate different perspectives demonstrating an understanding of the complexity of the social world.
• Critically examine the social world and your life in a way that is relevant to your own career and personal pathway.

Flexible online learning

Learn anywhere, anytime with the flexibility and collaboration of online learning. Earn your bachelor's degree from CSU — a regionally accredited research university — no matter where you are located. Maintain balance between your job responsibilities, personal obligations, and studies as you develop professional credentials to pursue a new career or advancement opportunity.

Earning your degree online doesn't mean studying alone. You’ll have many opportunities to interact with instructors and peers throughout the program. Class interactions involve discussion forums, live chat, video conferencing, and email conversations. Study online, on your time.

Develop knowledge and skills to work in a broad range of careers including:

• Social services
• Corrections
• Education
• City commerce
• Non-profits

Job titles held by current CSU Alumni with Sociology degrees include:

• Research Assistant, Institute for Women’s Policy Research
• Correctional Services Specialist, Larimer County Community Corrections
• Emergency Dispatch Operator, Tyco
• Member Engagement Coordinator, Fort Collins Area Chamber of Commerce
• Data Analyst, Colorado Department of Human Services
• Guardian ad Litem, State of Colorado
• Youth Case Worker, City of Denver
• Detective in Domestic Violence Unit, City of Longmont
• Facility Manager, U.S. Department of Agriculture
• Senior Financial Analyst, Prologis
• Urban Planner, Pierce County, Washington
• Cryptologic Technician, United States Navy

Kellie Alexander

Kellie Alexander is currently a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Sociology at Colorado State University. Kellie graduated from the University of Georgia in 2014 with her B.A. and received her M.A. from Colorado State University's Department of Sociology in 2018. Her research interests broadly span crime, deviance, law, and green criminology. Her M.A. thesis explored college students' understandings and perceptions of hazing using qualitative research methods. Kellie also researches in the field of green criminology, specifically looking at the production of harm associated with fracking in Colorado. Kellie's dissertation project currently uses a mixed-methods study to examine administrative responses to university hazing in the U.S. Learn more about Kellie and her publications.

Jason Downing

Jason Downing has had a life-long passion for improving race relations and increasing social equality and justice. Issues of food security and food justice have become increasingly important to him the past several years as he and his family have transitioned into owning and operating an organically diverse farm. He is also passionate about environmental issues and how they impact our food systems and health. Jason earned his M.S. from MS Minnesota State University. He has played music professionally since he was 14, and he collects vintage toys.

Lahoma Howard

Lahoma Howard has been teaching sociology courses for CSU since 2012, originally on campus, now online. She currently lives in Georgia, with her husband and two dogs. She has a passion for social justice work, particularly disability justice issues. As a person with a disability herself, she understands many of the struggles that students with disabilities have to overcome to succeed in University and has committed herself to ensuring that every student gets the help they need in her classes. Lahoma also works as a hospital chaplain at Augusta University Medical Center in the Central Savannah River Area and is a member of the United Church of Christ Disability Ministries Board of Directors. Lahoma received her B.A. and M.A. degrees in sociology from Colorado State University, is currently "All But Dissertation" for her Ph.D. in sociology at Colorado State University, and has a Master's of Divinity from Pacific School of Religion, at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley California.

Joanne Littlefield

Dr. Joanne Littlefield received her Ph.D. from Colorado State University in Public Communication and Technology in 2016. She has been an active member of the International Visual Sociology Association for the past 15 years, including board member roles, and was the IVSA 2017 Prosser Award Winner for Emerging Scholars. Her dissertation, The Visual Rhetoric of U.S. Agricultural Films: Autuers, Actors and Assimilation, provides an examination of societal principles and the role of films and visual communication. She has worked in Land Grant University Extension outreach and communication, in Colorado and Arizona, and is currently writing a book about her research through Colorado, The Social History of Colorado Farmers and Ranchers.

Kelsea MacIlroy

Introduced to Sociology by an inspirational professor in college, Dr. Kelsea MacIlroy is committed to engaging her students through bringing in current and relevant issues and asking students to apply the sociological concepts they are learning to help them understand the larger systems and institutions influencing these issues. Her hope is that students leave her classroom with more insight into the social world and themselves enabling them to be thoughtful and active citizens. In her own work, Dr. MacIlroy focuses on Environmental Justice, Natural Resource & Environmental Sociology, and Rural Sociology. For the past several years she has worked as a Research Assistant with the Colorado Water Institute on issues surrounding agricultural water conservation in the Colorado River Basin.

Chris Moloney

Dr. Chris Moloney serves as the senior director of Higher Education Consulting at The Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges (AGB). In that role, he leads the development of external engagement and business development strategies, manages a national portfolio of higher education clients, and is a key voice and creator of AGB Consulting’s digital initiatives, including conference presentations, webinars, and Ask the Expert sessions. Moloney maintains an active presence in higher education, serving as an instructor for multiple institutions, including Colorado State University, where he earned his Ph.D. in sociology, and the University of Hawaii at Hilo. His research sits at the intersection of organizational transformation, innovative leadership, and technology. His current work focuses on the digital transformation of public safety agencies and the digital literacy skills and capabilities of public safety industry professionals. Moloney served for five years as the manager of the Sociological Quarterly, a peer-reviewed academic journal with 1,200 institutional subscribers, and as the study abroad program director for Norwich University in the Far East. His research and publication background includes developing and implementing quantitative and qualitative studies in partnership with government agencies and NGOs, and publishing articles and books on a variety of topics within the sociological, criminological, and criminal justice fields. Moloney holds a B.A. from the University of Miami, an M.A. from the George Washington University. He has co-authored three books and many other publications.

Claudia Rosty

Dr. Claudia Rosty received her Ph.D. from CSU and is a native from Brazil. She has been teaching in the Sociology Department since 2017 and her research interests are in social inequality, development studies, rural sociology and gender studies. Dr. Rosty’s dissertation research analyzed the impact of the Fair Trade USA certification in bolstering rural workers' empowerment and promoting gender equity in Brazil and Nicaragua. She is also a Student Affairs practitioner at CSU.

Staci Shaffer

Staci Shaffer has worked in law enforcement since 1995 and is currently a Lieutenant with the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office in Fort Collins, Colorado. She holds a Master of Criminal Justice Degree from the University of Colorado at Denver School of Public Affairs (‘07). In 2011, she was awarded the national designation of Certified Jail Manager by the Jail Management Certification Commission through the authority of the American Jail Association. At the time of the certification, she was one of only 357 professionals awarded this designation nationwide. She has been an adjunct instructor in the Sociology Department at Colorado State University since 2012. In September 2022, she received the Judge Conrad L. Ball award for significant contributions in improving the quality of justice in Larimer County, Colorado presented by the Larimer County Community Corrections Board. She welcomes thoughtful student contributions and encourages self-paced course activity.

Mark Shuey

Mark Shuey received his M.A. degree with a concentration in Sociology from the University of Colorado in Greeley in May of 2013. He also received the reward for best Master Thesis at UNC in 2013. He has been an adjunct instructor since, recently earning the rank of Senior Instructor. While Mark has instructed a range of classes at CSU, his expertise is in Social Problems, Race and Racism, Deviance, and Sociological Theory.

Noel Strapko

Noel Strapko’s research and scholarship utilize both qualitative and quantitative methodologies, and her academic focus centers on intersectional social stratification, social boundary construction, and nationalism. Noel regularly teaches courses on sociological theory, methods, social problems, intersectionality, gender, and society.

Requirements to Graduate

A minimum of 120 credits are required to complete this degree.

The number of courses needed for completion of the program depends on:

• The number of transfer credits awarded
• Fulfillment of All-University Core Curriculum
• Degree coursework requirements

Curriculum

Social and Behavioral Sciences Electives - 21 credits (6 credits of which can be additional SOC courses)

GENERAL CONCENTRATION (33-34 CREDITS):

Required courses. Must earn a “C” or better.

• SOC 100 – Introduction to Sociology (3 cr.)
  OR
  SOC 105 – Social Problems (3 cr.)
• SOC 210 – The Power of Numbers--Statistics in Sociology (3 cr.)
  OR
  STAT 201 – General Statistics (GT-MA1) (3 cr.) or above
  (Prerequisite: 1 cr. Math from the list of courses in the AUCC)
• SOC 301 – Development of Sociological Thought (3 cr.)
  (Prerequisite: SOC100 or 105; sophomore)
• SOC 311 – Sociological Research (3 cr.)
  (Prerequisite: SOC100 or 105; sophomore)
• SOC 314 – Applications of Quantitative Data (3 cr.)
  OR
  SOC 315* – Applications of Qualitative Data (3 cr.)
  (Prerequisite: SOC 311 or concurrent enrollment; SOC 314 also requires SOC 210 or STAT 201 or above.)
• SOC 403* – Capstone Seminar
  (Prerequisites of: SOC301 or SOC302, SOC210 or STAT201 or above, SOC311, and SOC314 or 315)

GENERAL SOCIOLOGY ELECTIVES (15 CREDITS)

9 Credits any level SOC courses
6 Credits upper-division SOC courses (300-400 level)

• SOC 105 – Social Problems (3 cr.)
  OR
  SOC 100 – Introduction to Sociology (3 cr.)
  (whichever was not taken as required course above)
• SOC 205 – Sociology of Race and Racism (3 cr.)
• SOC 220 – Environment, Food, and Social Justice (3 cr.)
• SOC 314 – Applications of Quantitative Data (3 cr.)
  OR
  SOC315 – Applications of Qualitative Data
  (whichever was not taken as required course above)
  (Prerequisite: SOC 311 or concurrent enrollment; SOC314 also requires SOC 210 or STAT 201 or above.)
• SOC 320 – Population-Natural Resources and Environment (3 cr.)
• SOC 330 – Social Inequality (3 cr.)
• SOC 333 – Gender and Society (3 cr.)
• SOC 352 – Criminology (3 cr.)
• SOC 372 – Sociology of Deviance (3 cr.)
• SOC 373 – Visual Sociology (3 cr.)
• SOC 463 – Sociology of Disaster (3 cr.)

Application Deadlines

Planning to transfer credits from another college or university? Please review our FAQ page, then complete a Tentative Transfer Evaluation Form to see how your prior credits may transfer.

Questions? Call (970) 491-8930 or email kc.yates@colostate.edu.