Sociology Research
Our faculty study a broad range of topics using qualitative, quantitative and mixed-method approaches. Faculty research areas are organized across seven research clusters.
Families and Relationships
These faculty explore how family and kinship relations shape individual experiences. Scholarship in this cluster covers a range of topics such as romantic relationships, intergenerational cultural reproduction, creation of chosen families, mixed-status families, stressors and relationships in families, adolescents and emerging adults, as well as childrearing practices.
Health and Social Welfare
Faculty in this cluster study the structural, institutional, environmental and demographic forces that shape physical, social, and psychological well-being. They examine topics such as grief and loss, mental health and illness, body image, health disparities, the impact of income equality on health and happiness and strategies that empower people to improve their socio-economic wellbeing.
Culture, Religion and Ideologies
Faculty in this cluster study cultural theories which help them to examine popular culture, mass media, religion, production and reception of cultural phenomena, globalization and markets, cultural psychology, and social movements as a cultural phenomenon.
Governance, Power and Social Transformation
These faculty study theories of development, social movements, social class, law and deviance, and global and international conflict. They examine the structures and processes and social networks that shape collective and political action and social change.
Gender, Sexuality and the Body
Faculty in this cluster study gender and sexuality as distinct yet overlapping social locations on major axes of stratification and inequality. They study the determinants and consequences of prejudice and discrimination towards LGBTQ+ communities, the body as a site of social inequality, feminist theory and methodologies and the gendered dynamics of home, work and leisure.
Race, Ethnicity and Migration
This research cluster focuses on ethnic and racial stratification in the U.S. and abroad as well as the global experiences of international migration and immigrant incorporation. Faculty examine the structural, institutional and demographic forces that shape communities of color in the U.S., the development of nationalism and ethnoracial conflict in Europe and developing nations, the impact of immigration policy on families and the experiences, and communities of Africa and African descent globally.
Work, Occupations and Organizations
Faculty in this cluster study working conditions, the relationship between occupational roles and status, labor processes, organizational theory and the gendered dynamics of work. They investigate organizational behaviors/innovations, the relationship of educational and career success to status attainment, earnings justice and attitudes towards inequality, elite influences on the state, policy and organizations, how working conditions shape mental health and how aesthetic labor reproduces inequality in the fashion industry.
Globalization and Transnationalism
Faculty in this research cluster investigate the integration and interdependence of nations and the movement of ideas, money, technology, culture and people across borders. They examine the dynamics that drive social, political and economic change in national, transnational and global contexts.