Drawing on the expertise and commitment of our research-active faculty, we provide excellent educational experiences to undergraduate majors, minors and MSU as a whole. The unifying theme of the department is the study of societies – past and present – embedded in the tradition of the liberal arts.

We offer two degree programs: A B.S. in Sociology and a B.S. in Anthropology. Anthropology often draws students who are interested in cross-cultural study or in historical studies of human societies (e.g., archaeology, human evolution). Anthropology students have many opportunities to participate in research via class projects and collaboration with faculty. 

Sociology often draws students who are interested in human interaction, social inequality, social institutions and social change. Student majors can select the general sociology option or the Criminology option.

The general Sociology option allows students to explore social structures through the lens of race and ethnicity, gender, education, and stratification to understand how these differences continue to shape personal behaviors and social institutitions.

The Criminology option gives students who are interested in law enforcment, crime, victimization and the criminal justice system the oppotunity to take sociology courses that focus on the current knowledge in these areas as part of the Sociology major.

Sociology students also have multiple opportunities to participate in independent research.

Program Goals and Assessment