The Graduate Field in Sociology enrolls about 6-7 doctoral students each year, with about 40 graduate students in the program at any given time. Graduate Students in Sociology are advised by the Sociology Graduate Field Faculty more than 30 eminent sociologists from across the Cornell campus. Most, but not all, of these sociologists have their primary appointments within the Department of Sociology. Graduate students in Sociology can be advised by any member of the Sociology Graduate Field Faculty. Applicants are encouraged to review the list of Sociology Graduate Field Faculty and their areas of ongoing research and to reach out to faculty whose research interests are relevant. (However, applicants should note that students are admitted in a general pool, not to work with specific faculty or in particular labs.) Doctoral students in Sociology register in general sociology initially, and during the first year of study, they take a sequence of core courses in theory and methods. Then, students select two areas of concentration within which they develop a strong foundational knowledge of theory and research. These areas are chosen from the list below, students may focus on two major areas or one major area and one minor area.
After completing the required course sequence in the first year, students take two concentration examinations (one for each area of concentration) and then develop a Qualifying Paper. The Qualifying Paper should be a solo-authored research paper that could be revised and submitted to a journal for publication. After the paper is drafted, students are prepared to apply for Admission to Doctoral Candidacy. Students in full-time residence are normally expected to take the examination for Admission to Candidacy in the summer prior to the third year or in the fall of their third year. This examination is followed by the dissertation prospectus, the dissertation, and the oral defense of the dissertation.
Like families, organizations are important social institutions. This area is designed to increase students knowledge and mastery of a range of organizations, including business firms, non-profit organizations, and government bodies. Going along with that, students are expected to understand the nature of experiences with these institutions (e.g., among workers or employees within firms) and how organizations interface with other social institutions (e.g., the family). Students learn theories (e.g., about the role that social networks play and guiding people into occupations, or how organizations form ties with each other) and become familiar with the methods that are required to study these processes (e.g., social network analysis).
