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Sociology Major, Bachelor of Arts (BA)

Within the Bachelor of Arts degree, the Department of Sociology and Justice Studies offers a program in sociology, blending career education and the liberal arts. The education goal is not to train students; neither is the goal to educate students solely in sociology. Rather, the goal is to use the discipline as a way to critically synthesize what is learned in a liberal arts program.

The program envisaged here provides a general background that will enable the student to move into a variety of career paths while retaining the opportunity for particular specializations within sociology and thematically related disciplines. Our EWU Sociology alumni have successful careers in a wide variety of fields such as business and human resources, journalism, K-12 education, higher education, institutional research, law, nonprofit, social services, criminal justice, and government. The Sociology B.A. degree also equips students with a strong academic foundation for a wide variety of academic and professional graduate programs.

The Department of Sociology and Justice Studies believes that a university must educate broadly to enrich both career and life.  Our sociology curriculum was designed to be flexible so that students can work closely with their major advisor to select courses and participate in applied learning opportunities that will accommodate their academic areas of interest and prepare them for the career paths they choose to pursue. Under the “Experiential Learning in Sociology“ requirements, students can take a course entitled “Doing Sociology” that helps them explore potential careers, and they can participate in an internship, work with a professor one-on-one through directed-study and/or engage in research that culminates in a senior thesis. 

World Language Requirement: Two years of a single high school world language or one year of a single college-level world language is required.

Sociology Core Courses
SOCI 101INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY5
SOCI/CRIM 356INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL STATISTICS5
SOCI 357METHOD FOR SOCIAL RESEARCH5
or CRIM 330 SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH METHOD
SOCI 465CONTEMPORARY SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY5
Required Subject Areas
Deviance and Social Control-choose one of the following5
SURVEY OF CRIMINOLOGY
SOCIOLOGY OF DEVIANCE
JUVENILE DELINQUENCY
CRIMINOLOGICAL THEORY
Race, Gender, and Class-choose two of the following10
SOCIAL PROBLEMS
RACE AND ETHNIC RELATIONS: GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES
SOCIAL STRATIFICATION
ASIAN AMERICAN CONTEMPORARY ISSUES
GLOBAL MIGRATION
Collective Behavior and Social Movements-choose one of the following5
SOCIOLOGY OF REVOLUTIONS
SOCIAL CHANGE
Social Institutions-choose one of the following5
SOCIOLOGY OF SPORT
MEDICAL SOCIOLOGY
SOCIOLOGY OF EDUCATION
Social Interaction and Identity-choose one of the following5
SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
IDENTITY AND POWER
Experiential Learning in Sociology-choose two of the following10
DOING SOCIOLOGY
SENIOR THESIS
INTERNSHIP
DIRECTED STUDY
Required Senior Capstone
SOCI 490SENIOR CAPSTONE: SOCIOLOGICAL PRACTICE5
Total Credits65

Plan of Study

The following plan of study is for a student with zero credits. Individual students may have different factors such as: credit through transfer work, Advanced Placement, Running Start, or any other type of college-level coursework that requires an individual plan.

Courses could be offered in different terms, checking the academic schedule is paramount in keeping an individual plan current. Students should connect with an advisor to ensure they are on track to graduate.

All Undergraduate students are required to meet the Undergraduate Degree Requirements.

This major requires the completion of the World Language requirement. Students pursuing a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree must complete two years of a single language in high school or one year of a single language in college.

First Year
Fall QuarterCreditsWinter QuarterCreditsSpring QuarterCredits
ENGL 1015ENGL 2015Sociology Subject Area Elective25
SOCI 101 (Social Science BACR 1)5MATH 1075Humanities & Arts BACR 215
Humanities & Arts BACR 115Social Science BACR 215Natural Science BACR 115
 15 15 15
Second Year
Fall QuarterCreditsWinter QuarterCreditsSpring QuarterCredits
SOCI 357 or CRIM 3305SOCI 356 or CRIM 3565Sociology Subject Area Elective25
Sociology Subject Area Elective (Diversity - graduation requirement)25Sociology Subject Area Elective25Elective - minor or general elective5
Natural Science BACR 215Elective - minor or general elective5Elective - minor or general elective5
 15 15 15
Third Year
Fall QuarterCreditsWinter QuarterCreditsSpring QuarterCredits
Sociology Subject Area Elective25Sociology Subject Area Elective25Sociology Subject Area Elective25
Elective - minor or general elective5Elective - minor or general elective5Elective - minor or general elective5
Elective - minor or general elective5Elective - minor or general elective5Elective - minor or general elective5
 15 15 15
Fourth Year
Fall QuarterCreditsWinter QuarterCreditsSpring QuarterCredits
SOCI 4655Elective - minor or general elective5SOCI 490 (Senior Capstone - graduation requirement)5
Sociology Subject Area Elective25Elective - minor or general elective5Elective - minor or general elective5
Elective - minor or general elective5Elective - minor or general elective5Elective - minor or general elective5
 15 15 15
Total Credits 180
1

University Graduation Requirements (UGR) and Breadth Area Course Requirements (BACR) courses may be less than 5 credits and additional credits may be required to reach the required 180 total credits needed to graduate.  Students should connect with an advisor to ensure they are on track to graduate.

2

Required Subject Areas–choose 40 credits in the following subject areas from the approved lists: Deviance and Social Control, 5 credits; Race, Gender, and Class, 10 credits; Collective Behavior and Social Movements, 5 credits;  Social Institutions, 5 credits; Social Interaction and Identity, 5 credits; Experiential Learning in Sociology, 10 credits.

University Competencies and Proficiencies

English 
Quantitative and Symbolic Reasoning
Placement and Clearance 
Prior Learning/Sources of Credit AP, CLEP, IB


General Education Requirements (GER)
  • Minimum Credits—180 cumulative credit hours 
    • 60 upper-division credits (300 level or above)
    • 45 credits in residence (attendance) at Eastern, with at least 15 upper-division credits in major in residence at Eastern
  • Minimum Cumulative GPA ≥2.0

Breadth Area Core Requirements (BACR)

Humanities and Arts 
Natural Sciences 
Social Sciences


University Graduation Requirements (UGR)

Diversity Course List
World Language (for Bachelor of Arts)
Global Studies Course List
Minor or Certificate
Senior Capstone Course List


Application for Graduation (use EagleNET) must be made at least two terms in advance of the term expected to graduate (undergraduate and post-baccalaureate).

Use the Catalog Archives to determine two important catalog years.

  1. The catalog in effect at the student's first term of current matriculation is used to determine BACR (Breadth Area Core Requirements) and UGR (Undergraduate Graduation Requirements).
  2. The catalog in effect at the time the student declares a major or minor is used to determine the program requirements.

Students who earn a BA in Sociology from EWU should be able to:​

  • demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between critical inquiry and social justice;
  • demonstrate an understanding of core concepts such as social structure, socialization, culture, identity, institutions power, inequality and social justice;
  • understand and apply various methodological and theoretical approaches for conducting research.