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Sociology
What is It? Sociology is the scientific study of human groups and group life. Sociologists search for answers to many provoking questions.
- Why do couples quarrel?
- What are the conditions for a stable family?
- How are the elderly treated?
- Who rules what and why?
- Why is there so much poverty?
- What role does the military play?
- Do all peoples have the same access to the means of production?
- What effect do levels of inequality have on children?
Sociologists understand that lives do not happen in a vacuum but that influences exist and have impact. As such, students of sociology are encouraged to ‘think outside the box’, identifying and appreciating these influences.
C. Wright Mills, an American sociologist, coined the term “the sociological imagination.” He wrote that,
“Neither the life of an individual nor the history of a society can be understood without understanding both … It is not only information that they need - in this Age of Fact, information often dominates their attention and overwhelms their capacities to assimilate it. It is not only the skills of reason that they need - although their struggles to acquire these often exhaust their limited moral energy … What they need, and what they feel they need, is a quality of mind that will help them to use information and to develop reason in order to achieve lucid summations of what is going on in the world and of what may be happening within themselves. It is this quality, I am going to contend, that journalists and scholars, artists and publics, scientists and editors are coming to expect of what may be called the sociological imagination. It is now the social scientist's foremost political and intellectual task - for here the two coincide - to make clear the elements of contemporary uneasiness and indifference. It is the central demand made upon her by other cultural workers - by physical scientists and artists, by the intellectual community in general. It is because of this task and these demands, I believe, that the social sciences are becoming the common denominator of our cultural period, and the sociological imagination our most needed quality of mind.” C. Wright Mills, The Sociological Imagination, 1959.
What can I do with it?
Careers for students of sociology are plentiful. Darton College’s Sociology program readies students for employment in many areas and especially prepares students for transfer to a four-year, baccalaureate institution.
- Work with non-governmental organizations (NGOs): NGOs include organizations like the World Health Organization, Habitat for Humanity, or the Peace Corps.
- Work within governmental agencies: at the local, state and national levels; within educational institutions, the criminal justice system, the health care system, social services…the list goes on and on.
- Transfer to University or four year institution: Darton graduates have transferred to such institutions as Albany State University, Georgia Institute of Technology, Georgia State University, Troy University, Tuskegee University, the University of Georgia, Valdosta State University and the like. Most baccalaureate institutions offer a degree in Sociology and many offer programs in sub-fields like Cultural Studies, Family Studies, Gender Studies, Medical Sociology, Minority Relations, Social Movements, and Social Psychology.
- Careers in Sociology:
- EARN YOUR DEGREE ONLINE: Students can earn the Associates of Science degree in Sociology completely online. The flexibility of the online program allows students to enroll in courses that fit their schedule and the quality is that one would find in the classroom. Students can also register for general education courses, apply for financial aid, pay fees and buy books completely online.
What courses do I take?
- Sociology Classes (0037)
- Please refer to the Darton Catalog for more information on individual classes
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