A minor in Sociology is a good way to apply the sociological imagination to a specific segment of social life. The department offers three concentrations that can serve as a guide to students.

• Our Health and Community Concentration allows students to focus their coursework on the substantive areas of healthcare institutions, medical sociology, and the social sources of health-related inequalities across communities, including attention to race, ethnicity, gender, social class and neighborhoods. This concentration is a great way to complement careers and graduate work in medicine, healthcare administration and policy, and work with populations facing health-based risks in the U.S. or overseas.
• Our Social Justice Concentration allows students to focus their coursework on the substantive topics of social inequality, social change, and social justice, in keeping with Loyola's mission. This concentration can help students prepare for careers in law, legal aid and advocacy, public policy and administration, social work and human services, and many other areas.
• Our Research Methods Concentration emphasizes both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies, equipping students with the skills to design, conduct, and analyze studies in the social sciences. This concentration is well-suited for students thinking about careers in social science, market research, policy analysis, and related fields. 

Students can also create their own elective path through the minor. Those doing so may wish to consult the Department Chairperson or the Department's Undergraduate Program Director in deciding which electives to take.

Related Programs

Curriculum

In choosing elective courses in their undergraduate program, students may wish to take a minor sequence in Sociology. They may do this by completing five courses in Sociology in addition to SOCL 101 Society in a Global Age (or its equivalent).

Students who minor in Sociology are advised to choose electives with some focus in mind (e.g., health in society, social justice in society, urban problems and policies) and to consult the Department Chairperson or the Department's Undergraduate Program Director in deciding which electives to take. Only one semester of SOCL 380 and one 100-level course in addition to SOCL 101 Society in a Global Age (or its equivalent) can count for the minor. Any courses taken for a minor in Sociology may be applied to the Department's major requirements, if the student should decide to take sociology as a major. In completing minor requirements, only three courses (nine semester credit hours) will be accepted in transfer from other colleges and universities.

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
Required Courses
SOCL 101	Society in a Global Age (or other 100-level class)	3
Elective Courses 1, 2
SOCL Elective		3
SOCL Elective		3
SOCL Elective		3
SOCL Elective		3
SOCL Elective		3
Total Hours		18

¹

May count only one semester of SOCL 380 Internship and one 100-level course. Only two courses (six semester hours) will be accepted in transfer credit toward the minor.

²

See Sociology Courses for a complete list.

Learning Outcomes

• Critical Thinking - demonstrate the ability to analyze and evaluate multiple and competing social, political, and/or cultural arguments.
• Sociological Imagination - the ability to articulate and evaluate how individual biographies are shaped by social structures, social institutions, cultural routines, and multiple of elements of social difference and/or inequality.
• Communication - the ability to formulate effective and convincing written and verbal arguments.
• Diversity – an awareness of how people of different cultural, religious, and political belief systems interpret the world around them through those beliefs.
• Sociological Theory - the ability to use and evaluate both classical and contemporary perspectives in sociological theory.
• Methodology - the ability to interpret and evaluate several of the major social science research methodologies, as well as the relationship between research questions and appropriate methods.
• Substantive Areas - the ability to demonstrate knowledge of multiple key substantive areas within the field of sociology and evaluate competing perspectives.
• Social Justice in the Jesuit Tradition - the ability to articulate and evaluate how sociological insights should inform a commitment to social justice.