Sociology

Sociology is an exciting discipline with opportunities for a wide range of career paths!  PennWest’s Sociology program is structured to give students a background in Sociological analysis and the applied skills necessary to pursue a variety of professional positions and positively contribute to societal change. There are employment opportunities for Sociology graduates in every industry of the modern workplace. Our alumni have found success in education, research and data analysis, public health, human and social services, social media, labor organizations, nonprofits, government, law, military, criminal justice, community and media relations, business and environmental sciences. 

Faculty engage in one-on-one mentorship to design research opportunities and internship experiences derived from students’ academic interests and career goals. Sociology majors have engaged in a variety of research and practice-oriented internships at:

Required courses for the BA in Sociology and the concentrations in both Social Deviance and Human Services and Rehabilitation can be taken online or face to face on each PennWest Campus. The Social Deviance Concentration within the BA in Sociology is the only one of its kind nationwide. This concentration integrates concepts from various academic disciplines to examine and tackle the real-world issues of deviance. Students will examine intersections among the aberrant, the diverse, the different and the ever-evolving values and norms of our society and broader culture. A Sociology degree, accompanied by the deviance concentration, provides an excellent foundation for graduate study in PennWest's master's degree in conflict resolution. A Sociology degree with a concentration in Human Services can help to prepare students for graduate study in one of the counseling programs at PennWest.