Program Overview
The Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology & Anthropology provides students with a rigorous educational experience which helps students to understand how human beings create, experience, and interpret their worlds and how our socially constructed cultures and structures influence human thoughts, feelings, and actions at the individual, group, organizational, and societal level. Through broad-based and interdisciplinary coursework, research, and internship experiences our students develop an analytical framework for critically assessing beliefs, policies, practices, and cultural products in a variety of settings and contexts. Students also learn how to apply theory and conduct research as a means to develop knowledge, provide evidence for decision making, and support courses of action to facilitate positive social change.
A Broad-Based and Interdisciplinary Curriculum
The Sociology & Anthropology major offers several advantages. Foremost, it provides a global perspective and rich picture of how the social world really works and an understanding of why things happen as they do. Sociology and Anthropology equips students with the analytical and professional skills to engage a broad range of problems–social, cultural, economic, political, technical–that are necessary in increasingly globalized workplaces, from marketing and business, to public policy and development, to engineering and design.
In combination with other majors or minors like management, marketing, communications, criminal justice, psychology, human relations, environmental studies, and women and gender studies, the sociology and anthropology major can greatly enhance one’s career prospects. By gaining familiarity with diversity issues, and social inequalities, our students are provided with a solid foundation in how to consider a variety of different viewpoints, while also recognizing and solving problems, all of which are essential to promoting social justice, becoming effective leaders, and responsible global citizens.
Courses within the Sociology and Anthropology major include:
• Globalization and Poverty
• Biological Anthropology
• Women, Gender, and Culture
• Black American Voices: Stories & Sounds
• Health, Illness, and Medicine
• The Social Construction of Deviance
• Ritual, Myth, and Meaning: The Anthropology of Religion
• Sociology of Work and Family
• Environment and Society
• Class, Consumption and the American Dream
• Research Methods in Sociology
• Ethnographic Research
• Classical and Contemporary Sociological Theory
What Are Our Graduates Doing?
Combined with careful planning and practical experiences, the bachelor’s degree in Sociology and Anthropology opens up a world of possibilities to graduates entering the workforce in an ever-changing world. The major is also useful for those considering graduate school in sociology, anthropology, law, education, social work, business or divinity school. Recent graduates have or are currently pursuing graduate degrees at the following schools:
• Southern Methodist University Divinity School
• Yale University School of Drama
• Columbia University Teachers College
• University of North Carolina, Charlotte School of Social Work
• Elon University Law School
• Campbell University Law School
Recent graduates have also secured jobs with the following organizations:
• Financial Crimes Investigator for Wells Fargo
• Research Assistant, University of Maryland
• Administrative Assistant, George Mason University
• Residential Counselor PRN, Florence Crittenton Services of NC
• Kindergarten Teacher, District of Columbia Public Schools
• Teacher Counselor, Youth Villages in Memphis, TN
• Nonprofit worker, Huanchaco, La Libertad, Peru
Internships and Experiential Learning
For Sociology and Anthropology majors, getting a job that allows you the opportunity to utilize the various skills and competencies acquired through four years of study requires careful planning and preparation. Internships are a great way to acquire experience and begin to apply the skills developed from coursework. It is suggested that majors meet with their faculty advisors early to discuss possible career paths. Students contemplating graduate school are strongly encouraged to write a senior thesis and take advantage of the opportunities to engage in research practicums or collaborative research experiences with faculty.
“I chose to major in sociology because I find it very interesting and believe that it will help me excel in my career as a lawyer. Sociology is a broad study and it encompasses many different interesting theories and ideas which I believe help build a well-rounded individual.”
Katie Butts, High Point University Graduate
The Department of Human Relations, Sociology, and Nonprofit Studies offers the B.A. degree in Sociology and Anthropology. To graduate from High Point University with this degree, students must complete the following:
B.A. in Sociology and Anthropology
| Major Requirements |
36 credits |
| University Core Requirements |
50 credits |
| Electives |
42 credits |
TOTAL
|
128 credits
|
Requirements for a B.A. in Sociology and Anthropology (36 credits):
SOA 1010. The Individual and Society (4)
SOA 1020. Cultural Anthropology (4)
SOA 3120. Ethnographic Studies (4) or SOA 3700. Research Methods in Sociology (4)
SOA 3800. History and Theory of Anthropology (4) or SOA 3900. Classical and Contemporary Sociological Theory (4)
One 4000-level SOA elective course. SOA 4020—Senior Thesis I (2) and SOA 4021—Senior Thesis II (2) may be substituted for a 4000-level course.
Sixteen hours of SOA electives selected from the following list:
- SOA 2020. Sociology of Mass Communication (4)
- SOA/WGS 2030. Sociology of the Family (4)
- SOA/WGS 2040. Race and Ethnicity (4)
- SOA 2070. Sociological Social Psychology (4)
- SOA 2270. Anthropology in Contemporary Society (4)
- SOA/WGS/COM 2274. Women, Gender, and Culture (4)
- SOA 2450. Introduction to Biological Anthropology (4)
- SOA/WGS 2850. Globalization and Poverty (4)
- SOA 2900. Ritual, Myth, & Meaning: The Anthropology of Religion (4)
- SOA 3020. Appalachian Society and Nonprofits (4)
- SOA 3030. Sociology of Health and Illness (4)
- SOA 3050. Sociology of Education (4)
- SOA 3070. The Social Construction of Deviance (4)
- SOA 3120. Ethnographic Studies (4)
- SOA/COM/WGS 3334. Media Representations: Race, Class and Gender (4)
- SOA/COM 3344. Black American Voices: Stories & Sounds (4)
- SOA/COM 3384. Hip-Hop Culture (4)
- SOA 3400. Economic Anthropology (4)
- SOA 3600. Language and Culture (4)
- SOA 3700. Research Methods in Sociology (4)
- SOA 3800. History and Theory of Anthropology (4)
- SOA 3900. Classical and Contemporary Sociological Theory (4)
- SOA/ENV 4000. Environment & Society (4)
- SOA 4010. Visual Sociology and Social Documentation (4)
- SOA/WGS 4015. Sociology of Work and Family (4)
- SOA 4018. Undergraduate Research (1-4)
- SOA 4020. Senior Thesis I (2)
- SOA 4021. Senior Thesis II (2)
- SOA 4040. Class, Consumption, and the American Dream (4)
- SOA/COM/WGS 4424. Gender Speak (4)
- SOA 4444. Independent Study (1-4)
- SOA 4810-4815. Student Internship (variable credit)
No more than 8 of the 16 elective hours can be fulfilled with the following cross-listed courses: SOA 2264, SOA 2274, SOA 3344, and SOA 3384.
No more than 4 hours of SOA 4810-4815 — Internship or SOA 4018 — Undergraduate Research can be counted toward fulfilling major requirements.
NOTE: Students majoring in Sociology and Anthropology may not minor in either Sociology or Anthropology.
