The Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice offers undergraduate degrees in Sociology and Criminal Justice, as well as minors in Sociology, Criminal Justice and Social Work.

The mission of the sociology program is to develop in our students the unique insight of the science of the sociological imagination. Majors and minors will have the opportunity to explore the ways social forces shape individual lives, social interactions, and opportunity. To this end, students will be actively engaged in the systematic study of social behavior and social interaction, social structures, and the changing nature of society.

For those who are driven by a curiosity to explain social phenomena, the Elmhurst Sociology curriculum offers students a variety of courses to develop their sociological imagination. Core courses will introduce students to the foundations of sociological theory and train them in the science of sociological analysis. Students will then have the option of exploring social institutions, social inequalities, and social structures. In collaboration with the liberal arts integrated curriculum, these courses empower students to study society in order to understand its basic structure and processes—basic sociology—or to provide practical solutions to the problems faced by societies, organizations, groups and individual— applied sociology.

Majors and minors in sociology develop a number of skills valuable to sociological analysis, which can be utilized in a variety of post-graduate interests. These include analytical and problem-solving skills, data analysis, and policy assessment. These skills have empowered our students to pursue their interests in social service, government, law, medicine, or for graduate study to become a professor, researcher, or applied sociologist.

Students may pursue a major in sociology or a minor in sociology or social work. Adult students may pursue a minor in sociology or a sociology concentration within a Bachelor of Liberal Studies degree. The sociology major and social work minor is recommended for sociology majors interested in careers in community organizing and social services, including social work. A minor in sociology is valuable for students majoring in a variety of fields, including business, criminal justice, education, intercultural studies, nursing, political science, psychology, religious studies and urban studies. A minor in social work is useful for students with an interest in the social work application of social science theories and for those intending to do graduate study in social work.

Chair: Carrie Coward Bucher, Chair and Associate Professor Sociology

Faculty: Tracy Crump, Associate Professor Criminal Justice; Andrea Krieg, Assistant Professor Criminal Justice; Emily Navarro, Assistant Professor Sociology