Undergraduate Degrees

Graduate Degrees

Courses of Instruction

Kaprielian Hall 352
(213) 740-3533
FAX: (213) 740-3535
E-mail: uscsoci@usc.edu

Chair: Barry Glassner, Ph.D.

Faculty

AARP-University Chair in Gerontology: Vern L. Bengtson, Ph.D.* (Gerontology)

Professors: Constance R. Ahrons, Ph.D.; Sandra Ball-Rokeach, Ph.D. (Annenberg School for Communication); Carlfred B. Broderick, Ph.D.; Marcus Felson, Ph.D.; Barry Glassner, Ph.D.; David M. Heer, Ph.D.; Malcolm W. Klein, Ph.D.*; Jon P. Miller, Ph.D.*; H. Edward Ransford, Ph.D.*

Associate Professors: Eileen Crimmins, Ph.D. (Gerontology); Eun Mee Kim, Ph.D.; Michael Messner, Ph.D.; Robert Stallings, Ph.D. (Public Administration)

Assistant Professors: Timothy Biblarz, Ph.D.; Lisa Greenwell, Ph.D. (Gerontology); Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo, Ph.D.; Darnell Hunt, Ph.D.; Angela James, Ph.D.; Elaine Bell Kaplan, Ph.D.; Prema Kurien, Ph.D.; Edward Park, Ph.D.; Merril Silverstein, Ph.D. (Gerontology)

Research Associate Professor: Cheryl L. Maxson, Ph.D.

Emeritus Distinguished Professor: Kingsley Davis, Ph.D.

Emeritus Professors: Lamar T. Empey, Ph.D.; Daniel Glaser, Ph.D.; Thomas E. Lasswell, Ph.D.*; Harvey J. Locke, Ph.D.; Maurice D. Van Arsdol, Jr., Ph.D.

*Recipient of university-wide or college teaching award.

Undergraduate Programs

The Department of Sociology offers both a departmental major and a double major in linguistics and sociology. The greater Los Angeles area provides a natural laboratory for studying such sociological themes as race relations, work and the workplace, the family in a changing society, population trends and crime. Some of the undergraduate courses involve field research in the urban environment. The department also offers a minor to students majoring in other disciplines.

Graduate Programs

The Department of Sociology offers the Master of Arts and Master of Science in Sociology, the Master of Marital and Family Therapy and the Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology.

Undergraduate Degrees

Department Major Requirements for the Bachelor of Arts

Nine sociology courses to include: SOCI 313, 314, 370, and may include one lower division course (either 200 or 250 or 268). The elective upper division sociology courses are grouped into six theme areas: Theme Area I, Deviance: SOCI 350, 351, 353; Theme Area II, Social Inequality: SOCI 342, 355, 356, 360, 366, 376, 435, 437, SWMS 364, 385 and 455; Theme Area III, Urban Demographic and Ecological Processes: SOCI 331, 333, 335, 344, 385, 460; Theme Area IV, Social Organization: SOCI 315, 340, 345, 375, 430, 440, 445, 462, 470, 475; Theme Area V, Social Psychology: SOCI 320, 422, 425; Theme Area VI, Family and the Life Cycle: SOCI 303, 305, 369. Students must choose their sociology electives from a minimum of three theme areas.

Department Minor Requirements

The department offers four minors in sociology: a general minor, a pre-health minor, a pre-law minor, and an industrial relations and human resources minor. In each case, students must take four upper division courses. See the undergraduate advisor for further details on theme area requirements for the minor.

Interdisciplinary Law and Society Minor

See Political Science.

Requirements for the Bachelor of Arts with a Combined Major in Linguistics and Sociology

For the lower division: LING 210 is required. For the upper division, the following courses are required: LING 401a and 402a; SOCI 313 or 314; SOCI 320, 345 or 370; three courses selected from LING 315, 375, 401b, 402b, 412, 480, 485; two additional courses selected from SOCI 303, 320, 340, 342, 345, 360, 422, 425, 435, 475, 492.

Graduate Degrees

The Department of Sociology offers programs of study leading to the Master of Arts, Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy degrees. The master's programs are designed to develop technical skills in social science research and provide some theoretical training in sociology. The Ph.D. is directed toward the training of theoretically and methodologically sophisticated sociologists who have an enduring commitment to the practice and teaching of scientific sociology.

Admission Requirements

Applicants requesting financial aid should complete their applications by January 15. All others should complete their applications no later than May 1.

Prerequisites

All applicants must have a bachelor's degree, a GPA of at least 3.0, and one or more courses in either undergraduate statistics or college algebra.

Criteria

Selection for graduate study is based on Graduate Record Examinations scores in verbal, quantitative, and analytic tests, the undergraduate record, three letters of reference, and a statement of purpose for graduate study.

Procedure

(1) A completed USC Application for Admission form sent to the Office of Admission of the university. (2) One official transcript of all undergraduate and graduate work taken to date sent to the Admission Office with copies (not necessarily official) sent to the Director of Graduate Studies in Sociology. (3) The results of the General Test of the Graduate Record Examinations sent to the Admission Office with copies to the Director of Graduate Studies in Sociology, or notification when it will be taken and that request has been made to send the results to USC. (4) A completed departmental Graduate Application Form sent to the Director of Graduate Studies in Sociology. (5) Three letters of recommendation from persons directly familiar with the student's academic work sent to the Director of Graduate Studies in Sociology.

Degree Requirements

These degrees are under the jurisdiction of the Graduate School. Refer to Requirements for Graduation and the Graduate School for general regulations. All courses applied toward the degrees must be courses accepted by the Graduate School.

Residence

All graduate students must be in residence and must take at least eight units of graduate work each semester (except during Advanced and Qualifying Examinations), prior to work on the dissertation.

Master of Arts in Sociology

A general master's program in sociology provides four options, the last of which is available to students in the Ph.D. program who have not previously earned a Master of Arts in Sociology: Option 1 (32 units): SOCI 510, 521, 522, 523, 547; two approved electives; and four units of 594ab Thesis. Option 2 (32 units): SOCI 510, 521, 522, 547, 621; two approved electives; and four units of 594ab Thesis. Option 3 (32 units): SOCI 510, 521, 522, 547; three approved electives; and four units of 594ab Thesis. Option 4, (32 units, non-thesis): Students who have completed all of the course work for the Ph.D. except the dissertation and who have passed the Ph.D. qualifying examination can apply 32 units of their approved Ph.D. course work toward the Master of Arts in Sociology; for this option, no thesis is required. The student's selection from among these four options is done in consultation with the department's Director of Graduate Studies.

Master of Science in Sociology

The department also offers two programs leading to the M.S. degree, one in Criminology and the other in Applied Demography. The requirements for the Master of Science with an emphasis in Criminology are: a total of 32 units, including SOCI 521, 522, 562 and 563; three courses chosen from the following: SOCI 523, 524, 547, 565, 566, 621 and/or 650; and four units of 594ab Thesis.

The Master of Science with an emphasis in Applied Demography requires a total of 32 units, including four units of 594ab Thesis. SOCI 521, 522, 540 and 547 are required courses. Three electives are to be chosen as follows: at least two courses must be chosen from SOCI 542, 544, 545, 548 and 549; the third elective may be chosen either from SOCI 523, 524 and 621, or from the following list of courses in other departments: COMM 546, COMM 582, ECON 573, PLUS 534, PLUS 632.

Master of Marital and Family Therapy

Director: Carlfred B. Broderick, Ph.D.

The Ph.D. candidate and postdoctoral student enrolled in the Marriage and Family Therapy Program in the Department of Sociology may qualify to receive this degree by completing the required course work and clinical practica and passing the departmental qualifying examination, one of the two areas of which must be devoted to clinical marriage and family therapy, and applying for the degree. This is not a terminal master's degree.

Requirements for the Master of Marital and Family Therapy

A minimum of 47 units of graduate courses is required including SOCI 522, 568, 571, 576, 577, 578, 579, 670, 671, 674, 675, 676, 677, 678 and 679. A comprehensive exam will replace a master's thesis.

Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology

Course Requirements

A minimum of 60 graduate units is necessary for the Ph.D., among which are the following required courses: SOCI 510, 521, 522, 523 or 524, 610, and 621. In addition, each student must specialize in two subareas of sociology and must take at least eight units in each area such as: urban sociology, complex organizations, criminology, stratification, ethnic relations, sociology of aging, medical sociology, marriage and family therapy, sociology of law, sociology of gender, demography, etc.

Special Area of Emphasis: Marriage and Family Therapy

The Doctor of Philosophy degree in sociology with a special emphasis in marriage and family therapy is available for students who complete the general course requirements for the Ph.D. in sociology and satisfy the training requirements for the AAMFT-accredited marriage and family therapy doctoral-level program. These students must select marriage and family therapy as one of their two areas of specialization for the qualifying examination, and write their dissertation on a topic directly related to the marriage and family therapy specialization.

Screening Procedure

Normally, students must complete the screening procedure during the third semester of enrollment. Students will have completed two full semesters of work by this point and, hence, will have taken no fewer than 16 and no more than 24 units, including at least three of the following: SOCI 510, 521, 522, 523 or 524, 610, and 621. Students are evaluated on subject matter competence and satisfactory progress. When the screening procedure is successfully completed, the student has one semester in which to form a guidance committee.

Empirical Paper

Each student is required to complete an independent empirical research project which is approved by two members of his or her guidance committee. In some instances, this requirement may be met by acceptance of a satisfactory master's thesis from some other university.

Foreign Language Requirement

The department does not generally require proficiency in a foreign language; however, as with other courses outside the department, a student's guidance committee may in some cases require proficiency in a foreign language.

Qualifying Examination

A written qualifying examination is given after the completion of the student's empirical paper and all, or nearly all, of his or her course work. It is designed to cover the student's specialization in two of the subareas described above. Questions are prepared and evaluated by specialists in the respective subareas.

The oral portion of the examination is administered by the guidance committee after the written part has been evaluated. When the written and oral sections are passed, the student must submit the dissertation topic for approval. After approval, a dissertation committee of three persons is appointed. A detailed dissertation prospectus must be presented to the committee not more than six months after admission to candidacy.

Once the student has been admitted to candidacy (after passing both the oral and written portions of the qualifying examination), an application for the Master of Arts degree and the Master of Marital and Family Therapy may be filed with the Graduate School. Students who complete the course work required for the M.M.F.T., a minimum of 71 units, and all course requirements for the Ph.D., and also pass the Ph.D. qualifying examination may receive both the M.M.F.T. and the M.A. degrees.

Dissertation

After the dissertation is completed, the student and the dissertation committee, in conjunction with the department chair, may elect either a defense oral or a final oral examination in defense of the dissertation. The defense oral is normally chosen in sociology.

A publication, Graduate Program in Sociology, offers a more detailed statement of the history, policies and facilities of the department. It may be obtained by writing to Graduate Studies, Department of Sociology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089-2539.

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