Aug 17, 2025  
2025-2026 Undergraduate Catalog 
    
2025-2026 Undergraduate Catalog

Sociology and Anthropology Major


Sociology and anthropology are closely related disciplines that focus on our social and cultural worlds.  Both emphasize understanding systems of inequality and power, and the interrelationship between global and local processes. We offer an interdisciplinary major in Sociology and Anthropology.

Department link: Department of Sociology and Anthropology | College of Arts & Sciences | UMass Dartmouth

A major in this department provides a foundation for social action, a variety of professional careers such as community organizing, public health, public administration, diplomacy, cultural preservation, museum, and park services as well as for graduate work in a variety of disciplines including policy studies, sociology, anthropology, public health, social work, and women and gender studies.

UMass Dartmouth students seeking admission to the Sociology and Anthropology major Sociology and Anthropology may join in the freshman year. Transfer students seeking admission to Sociology and Anthropology must have at minimum a 2.00 GPA overall.  Students interested in selecting this major must see the department chair for permission to enter the program, to discuss the program requirements and to arrange for a permanent advisor.

Overall Departmental Requirements

To successfully complete the program for graduation, all students must:

  • Maintain a minimum of 2.0 GPA in the major.
  • Complete all courses counting for the major with a C- or higher.
  • Maintain a minimum of a 2.0 overall GPA
  • Meet the Sociology and Anthropology major requirements (15 credits of core required classes and 15 credits of electives in the major)
  • Complete 30 credits at the 300/400 level at UMD (this includes courses in the major, excluding Experiential Learning)
  • Complete a minimum of 120 credits, at least 45 of which must be earned at UMass Dartmouth
  • Complete the University Studies requirements. For more information: http://www.umassd.edu/generaleducation/universitystudies/universitystudiescurriculum/.
  • Complete the Distribution Requirements of the College of Arts and Sciences

 

Student Learning Outcomes for SOA:

  1. Identify and explain systems of inequality and the dynamics of local and global relations of power and resistance.
  2. Articulate the constructed nature of race, gender, ethnicity, and class and their reproduction across time and place.
  3. Demonstrate knowledge of major theoretical perspectives and their impact on empirical inquiry.
  4. Develop competence in the use of research methods and tools of knowledge production.
  5. Analyse and critically assess information about the social, cultural, and natural world to envision constructive social change.
  6. Apply discipline specific knowledge to students’ lived experiences online and in their local and global communities.

 

Requirements


Introduction


Three (3) credits required from this list.

Theory


To be taken sophomore year.

Research Methods


To be taken junior year.

Internship


Three (3) credits required from this list. To be taken in the senior year; can be taken in the junior year with permission of the instructor and your advisor.

Senior Seminar


Three (3) credits required.

Sociology and Anthropology Electives


Fifteen (15) credits required, broken down as follows:

  • 200-level SOA elective: 3 credits
  • 300-400 level SOA electives: 12 credits

Total Credits: 30


University Studies Requirements


In addition to the requirements in the major, students will be required to complete the University Studies requirements. For more information: http://www.umassd.edu/generaleducation/universitystudies/universitystudiescurriculum/.