About the Program
The graduate program provides rigorous training in theory and methods as well as in the substantive areas of criminology, social psychology (ranked #3 in U.S. News and World Report), stratification, organizations, political sociology, gender, and the family. The doctoral program has a research emphasis and primarily prepares sociologists for positions at colleges and universities or research positions in academic, private, and government institutions. Our graduate students work closely with faculty on research projects. In addition to valuable research experiences, our students also obtain substantial training and experience in teaching. Our training program includes an orientation workshop for new Teaching Assistants, a credited teaching seminar (034:382) for advanced graduate students, and an opportunity for these graduate students to design and teach their own courses under the mentorship of the faculty.
Three affiliated research centers offer graduate students valuable research opportunities: The Center for the Study of Group Processes, the Center for Criminology and Socio-Legal Studies, and the Institute for Inequality Studies.
The Department of Sociology also maintains The University of Iowa's membership in the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR), which is operated by the University of Michigan. This membership enables members of the University community to obtain a vast array of data for secondary data analysis regarding economic, education, health, international, legal, legislative, political, and other areas of social research. In addition, we hold the status of State Data Center for the US Census.
The department operates a number of computing facilities, including a personal computer adjacent to graduate student offices, providing all of the popular word-processing, statistical, mathematical, graphics, and Web development software. In addition, the Sociology department regularly acquires PC and Apple computers through the University of Iowa Graduate Student Senate. We have a staff member who is available for hardware and software trouble-shooting, as well as assistance with statistical packages.
