Nov 21, 2024

2024-2025 Undergraduate Catalog

Sociology, Work and Family Studies Concentration, B.S.

Sociology and Anthropology
615-904-8349
Angela Mertig, program coordinator
Angela.Mertig@mtsu.edu

Gretchen Webber, faculty advisor
Gretchen.Webber@mtsu.edu

Sociology is the study of social life, social change, and the social causes and consequences of human behavior. It is an expanding field that addresses challenging issues such as family dynamics, inequality, patterns of behavior, and forces for social change and resistance. Sociologists’ research can be applied to virtually any aspect of social life, from crime to corporate downsizing.

Students may pursue a B.S. in Sociology with a general focus or one of three concentrations: Criminology, Social Justice, or Work and Family Studies.

The Work and Family Studies concentration offers students a practical understanding of the two closely related fields of family sociology and the sociology of work. This innovative concentration cultivates in-depth knowledge of gender, work, and family patterns at various levels of society and offers preparation for careers or graduate study in a variety of fields such as human resources, social work, education, public policy, law, mental health counseling, social welfare, and justice. Comprehensive and thorough knowledge of various work and family patterns is valuable to any major.

Students must receive at least a C in each required course. Ideally students should take SOC 2980 , SOC 3040 , SOC 3050 , and SOC 3060 early in the academic program, but no later than the junior year and prior to enrolling in the senior seminar (SOC 4980 ) which should be completed during the senior year.

Students must complete 21 credit hours of courses related to the sociology of work and family including three required courses (SOC 3400 , SOC 4050 , and SOC 4100 ) and the remaining hours as guided electives.

A single minor is required for the Work and Family Studies concentration.

Academic Map

Sociology, Work and Family Concentration, B.S., Academic Map

Degree Requirements

True Blue Core (TBC)	41 hours
Major Requirements	47 hours*
Major Core	26 hours
Work and Family Studies Concentration	21 hours
Minor	15-18 hours
Electives	14-20 hours
TOTAL	120 hours

*This program requires courses that can also fulfill requirements of the True Blue Core curriculum. If program requirements are also used to fulfill True Blue Core requirements, the number of elective hours will increase.

True Blue Core (41 hours)

True Blue Core (TBC) requirements (shown in curricular listings below) include courses in the Foundational Skills areas of Written Communication (WC), Information Literacy (Info Lit), Non-Written Communication (NWC), and Quantitative Literacy (Quant Lit). Knowledge Domains include Human Society and Social Relationships (HSSR), Scientific Literacy (Sci Lit), Creativity and Cultural Expression (CCE), and History and Civic Learning (HCL), which include Discovery and Explorations categories. Students must choose at least one course from each Discovery category.

The following course required by the program meets True Blue Core requirements:

SOC 1010 (HSSR)
MATH 1530 (Quant Lit) (recommended)

Major Requirements (47 hours)

Sociology Core (26 hours)

SOC 1010 - Introductory Sociology 3 credit hours
SOC 2980 - Sociology as a Profession 1 credit hour
SOC 3040 - Research Methods 3 credit hours
SOC 3050 - Data Analysis 4 credit hours
SOC 3060 - Sociological Theory 3 credit hours
SOC 4980 - Senior Seminar in Sociology 3 credit hours

Major Guided Electives

Select 9 credit hours from the following:

SOC 4011 - Social Inequality 3 credit hours
SOC 4020 - Sociology of Aging 3 credit hours
SOC 4240 - Race and Ethnic Relations 3 credit hours
SOC 4360 - Medical Sociology 3 credit hours
SOC 4500 - Social Interaction and Identities 3 credit hours
SOC 4511 - Social Movements and Social Change 3 credit hours
SOC 4520 - Population and Society 3 credit hours
SOC 4550 - Sociology of Religion 3 credit hours
SOC 4650 - Sociology of Law 3 credit hours

Work and Family Studies Concentration (21 hours)

SOC 3400 - Gender and Society 3 credit hours
SOC 4050 - Sociology of Families 3 credit hours
SOC 4100 - Work in the 21st Century 3 credit hours

Concentration Guided Electives

Select 12 credit hours from the following:

SOC 2500 - Marriage and Family 3 credit hours
SOC 3300 - Diversity in the Workplace 3 credit hours
SOC 4140 - Violence in the Family 3 credit hours
SOC 4153 - Topics in Work and Family 3 credit hours
SOC 4450 - Sociology of Emotions 3 credit hours
SOC 4800 - Special Projects 1 to 6 credit hours (faculty advisor pre-approval required)
SOC 4900 - Sociology Internship 3 to 6 credit hours (faculty advisor pre-approval required)

Minor (15-18 hours)

Electives (14-20 hours)

Curriculum: Sociology, Work and Family Studies

Freshman Fall

SOC 1010 - Introductory Sociology 3 credit hours (HSSR)
Written Communication 3 credit hours
Creativity and Cultural Expression 3 credit hours
Scientific Literacy 4 credit hours

Subtotal: 13 Hours

Freshman Spring

Information Literacy 3 credit hours
Scientific Literacy 4 credit hours
Quantitative Literacy 3 credit hours (MATH 1530 recommended)
Creativity and Cultural Expression 3 credit hours
SOC 3400 - Gender and Society 3 credit hours

Subtotal: 16 Hours

Sophomore Fall

SOC 2980 - Sociology as a Profession 1 credit hour
Creativity and Cultural Expression Literature 3 credit hours
Non-Written Communication 3 credit hours
History and Civic Learning 3 credit hours
SOC 3040 - Research Methods 3 credit hours
SOC 4050 - Sociology of Families 3 credit hours

Subtotal: 16 Hours

Sophomore Spring

SOC 3050 - Data Analysis 4 credit hours
SOC 4100 - Work in the 21st Century 3 credit hours
History and Civic Learning 3 credit hours
SOC guided elective 3 credit hours
Human Society and Social Relationships 3 credit hours

Sociology, Work and Family Studies Concentration, B.S.

Academic Map

Degree Requirements

True Blue Core (41 hours)

Major Requirements (47 hours)

Sociology Core (26 hours)

Major Guided Electives

Work and Family Studies Concentration (21 hours)

Concentration Guided Electives

Minor (15-18 hours)

Electives (14-20 hours)

Curriculum: Sociology, Work and Family Studies

Freshman Fall

Subtotal: 13 Hours

Freshman Spring

Subtotal: 16 Hours

Sophomore Fall

Subtotal: 16 Hours

Sophomore Spring

Subtotal: 16 Hours

Junior Fall

Subtotal: 15 Hours

Junior Spring

Subtotal: 15 Hours

Senior Fall

Subtotal: 15 Hours

Senior Spring

Subtotal: 14 Hours