Undergraduate Programs
5 Reasons To Get a Sociology Degree from UNLV
- Expand your knowledge and develop dynamic skills to break into careers in community service organizations, health agencies, government service, business, marketing, data analysis, and human resources.
- Participate in high‐impact research that blends both qualitative and quantitative research methods.
- Learn from award-winning teachers and researchers across our department.
- Highly-efficient curriculum that enables students to complete their degree on time.
- Be prepared for graduate work in sociology, social psychology, law, social welfare, urban planning, education and public health.
About Sociology
Sociology gives us immensely valuable understandings of human behavior, which helps us make sense of the diverse perspectives, beliefs, and values that coexist in our society. It equips us with the knowledge to navigate through complex social issues, such as:
- The dynamics and implications of social inequalities
- The intersection of race, gender, and social class, and how it contribute to inequalities within and across our societies
- The actors that create gender wage-gaps and how racial bias contributes to disproportionate policing against minority groups.
Through the guidance and expertise of our faculty, our students learn about urban communities, community adaptation to change, and diverse urban problems, including but not limited to:
- Poverty and stratification
- Aging and health disparities
- Race and ethnicity
- Politics and social movements
- Gender and sexuality
- Crime and deviance
- Environment and sustainability
Undergraduate Programs
Bachelor of Arts in Sociology
Our sociology B.A. offers a rigorous program of study and meaningful sociological experiences that prepare students to successfully pursue graduate or professional studies and careers in wide-ranging areas such as law, business, health care, criminal justice, education, social services, policy, and the nonprofit sector. Our theory and methods courses build core competencies, while advanced classes help students develop expertise in major fields of contemporary sociology, including race and ethnic relations, work and leisure, aging studies, gender research, crime and juvenile delinquency, urban ethnography, sociology of medicine, health, and mental illness. We also provide opportunities to practice sociology through community engagement and internships.
Minor in Sociology
The UNLV Sociology minor offers a flexible program that helps students enhance their skills for success in a wide range of fields such as education, social services, law, politics, urban planning, business management, marketing, and social research analysis. We provide students with individual and group experiences working with our faculty to examine important social issues and to develop a useful analytic skill set.
“Everyone in the sociology department is super friendly and the staff genuinely care for the success of students. To this day, I’m still close friends with many of my sociology major friends, and I have been able to establish friendly and professional relationships with my professors post-graduate. I also enjoyed the diversity of classes that were available to students.”Alan Morales, Sociology, Class of 2023
Grow Beyond the Classroom
We strongly encourage all sociology students to seek ways to take their knowledge out of the classroom and apply it in real world settings, in conversation with other students and researchers, and through our discipline’s international honors society.
Internships prepare students for future employment by placing them in real work settings, developing valuable contacts, building grounded resumes, and exploring career goals. The skills acquired or extended through the internship experience are precisely those that many employers value in our graduates: analytical and synthesizing abilities, empathetic understanding of others, independence, risk-taking ability, and interpersonal collaborative skills.
Connecting with other student and faculty sociologists through our Sociology Society student group also provides numerous opportunities to get involved with others like you to create spaces for sociological thought and discussions and develop campus and community projects.
Our disciplinary honors society Alpha Kappa Delta brings together students and faculty to “acknowledge and promote excellence in the scholarship in the study of sociology, the research of social problems, and such other social and intellectual activities that lead to improvement in the human condition.”
Department of Sociology events include research talks, dissertation defenses, our annual Open House, and other activities that bring together faculty, students, and community members.
View Sociology Events