Sociology Major Requirements

UMaine Alert

Posted: April 19, 2024 - 1:32 PM

At approximately 9:24 a.m. on Friday, April 19, a University of Maine graduate student was struck by a university vehicle on Long Road at the University of Maine campus in Orono. The student reports that they are at a local hospital with minor injuries.

Emergency services, including the Orono Fire Department, University Volunteer Ambulance Corps, University of Maine Police Department, Orono Police Department and Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene.

The university vehicle involved in the incident was a Chevrolet Express van. It was being operated by a university employee.

Counseling services and support are available for students, faculty or staff who may have been affected. The Counseling Center can be reached at 207-581-1392 and the Dean of Students Office can be reached at 207-581-1406.

The scene has been cleared and Long Road is now accessible. An investigation is being conducted by the University of Maine Police Department with assistance from the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office Crash Reconstruction Unit. Any witnesses to the incident are encouraged to contact Lt. Noel Santiago at noel.santiago@maine.edu.

UMaine Catalog Degree/Graduation Requirements

Sociology Degree Requirements:

General Education Requirements information

2.0 cumulative GPA, or better, for the 27 credits of Sociology courses (12 Core credits & 15 Elective credits) required for the major.

Core Requirements: 12 Credits (All core requirements except for SOC 101 must be passed with a “C” or better.)
SOC 101 – Introduction to Sociology
SOC 290 – Research Methods in Sociology (Previously SOC 390)
SOC 360 – Major Ideas in Sociology (Previously SOC 460)
SOC 499 – Senior Seminar

Sociology Electives: 15 credits (At least 6 of the 15 credits must be 300- or 400- level courses.)
SOC majors are allowed to count up to 6 credits of CRJ courses towards the elective requirement for the SOC major. Students who are pursuing a CRJ minor may also count these credits towards the minor requirements.

Advanced Methods Course: 3 credits (One of the following courses must be passed with a grade of “C-” or better)

SOC 219 – Quantitative Reasoning in Sociology
SOC 291 – Qualitative Reasoning in Sociology
ANT 448 – Ethnography Through Film
CMJ 402 – Communication Research
PHI 103 – Methods of Reasoning
PSY 241 – Statistics in Psychology I
STS 132 – Principles of Statistical Inference
STS 215 – Introduction to Statistics for Business & Economics
STS 235 – Introduction to Statistical Methods

STS 434 – Probability Therory
SWK 491 – Methods of Social Work Research
WGS 205 – Introduction to Feminist and Critical Data Analysis

Allowable Advanced Methods Courses on Other UMS Campuses:

USM’s SOC 301 – Qualitative Research Methods
UMM’s ENV 226/326 – Undergraduate Research in Environmental Studies
UMPI’s SWK 410 – Social Work Research
UMF’s EPP 304 – Environmental GIS

English Proficiency: 3 credits (Not required of Honors Students who complete the Honors Program’s four-semester Civilizations sequence.)
All Sociology majors must complete the English Proficiency requirement by the time they graduate. ENG 201 – Strategies for Writing Across Context, or ENG 315 – Research Writing in the Disciplines, or ENG 317 – Business and Technical Writing, will fulfill this requirement (with a grade of “C” or better).

Transfer students declaring Sociology must take 15 credits of UM courses (excluding SOC 101) to acquire the BA in Sociology.

Senior Thesis: The completion of a senior thesis on a topic of the student’s choice under the supervision of a sociology faculty member. While senior students will typically complete SOC 499 as their capstone experience, in rare circumstances students may conduct a significant piece of sociological research with a faculty mentor. Students who take this course may choose to substitute it for SOC 499 Senior Capstone to satisfy both the Sociology and General Education capstone requirements.