Sociology Minor

The UNLV Sociology minor draws upon our faculty’s innovative research, teaching and community service to explore questions of social change, diversity, social justice, and sustainability in urban environments. Our teaching emphasizes civic engagement and both qualitative and quantitative research methodologies to provide students with skills necessary for personal intellectual growth, active citizenship, and professional success. Sociology minors engage assumptions underlying the discipline, become familiar with scientific discoveries historically characterizing the discipline’s scholarly contributions, and develop the research skills necessary for analyzing complex social issues and critically evaluating new findings. We meet these objectives by offering a flexible program and by providing students with individual and group experiences working with our faculty to examine important social issues. A UNLV Sociology minor 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.

Please see the UNLV  College of Liberal Arts Department of Sociology web page at www.unlv.edu/sociology for information about department programs, faculty and facilities.  Degree worksheets are available at www.unlv.edu/degree/minor-sociology.

Learning Outcomes

Students will be able to:

• Interpret sociology’s key paradigms, concepts, and debates, including: culture, social change, socialization, stratification, social structure, institutions, and differentiations by race/ethnicity, gender, age, and class.
• Use sociological research methods, including a broad understanding of the history and philosophy of social science, and the role of empirical evidence, research design, data gathering, and data analysis.
• Develop a sociological imagination to apply sociological knowledge, concepts and critical thinking to students’ own projects, whether intellectual, personal, or political.
• Use skills in critical analytical thinking and confidence to express ideas orally and in writing.