University of Central Florida Sociology Program: A Comprehensive Overview
The University of Central Florida (UCF) offers a robust sociology program designed to equip students with the skills and knowledge necessary for successful careers in academia, applied research, and various professional settings. The program emphasizes methodological skills, academic scholarship, and the application of sociological principles to real-world issues.
Degree Programs Offered
UCF's Sociology Department offers a range of degree programs, including:
Bachelor of Arts (B.A.)/Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Sociology: This undergraduate program focuses on promoting student excellence and advancing career success by providing tangible, career-oriented skills. The curriculum emphasizes critical examination of various components of society, including interpersonal interactions, groups, organizations, and societies. Students gain an understanding of theoretical approaches and the use of qualitative and quantitative methods. The curriculum increases students’ awareness of the social sciences and how they interpret society, societal institutions, social interaction and communication, social culture, as well as past and present human conditions. Courses are relevant to contemporary issues such as crime, domestic violence, global warming, substance abuse, popular culture, and changes in the family. The Sociology degree may be completed online, face-to-face, or as a mix of online and face-to-face courses. All students complete individual, original research projects.
Master of Arts (M.A.) in Sociology: The M.A. program emphasizes methodological skills and academic scholarship, creating a strong foundation for a professional career as a sociologist in university and applied settings. The program provides students with advanced education in Sociology and in the subfields of crime and deviance, domestic violence, social inequalities (i.e. Degree-seeking students in the Applied Sociology program complete a nonthesis course of study.
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Sociology: The Ph.D. program provides training in the skills necessary to secure research careers in both academic and non-academic professions and emphasizes applied research in community-based settings. The program is one of only a few Sociology programs in the United States focusing on applied research.
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5-Year Bachelor’s to Ph.D. Program: This accelerated program allows students to complete both their bachelor's and doctoral degrees in sociology in five years.
Ph.D. Program Structure and Specializations
The Sociology Ph.D. requires a minimum of 90 credit hours beyond the bachelor’s degree. The program is designed to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of sociological theory, research methods, and applied sociology. Students will develop a Primary Area of Specialization from the three primary areas in the department: Crime and Deviance; Medical Sociology; Social Inequalities. Students will also create a Secondary Area of Specialization. A Secondary Area of Specialization may be a substantive topic area (e.g., Medical Sociology), a research approach (e.g., Quantitative Methods), sociological theory, or an approach to knowledge dissemination (e.g., Public Sociology, Applied Sociology). Secondary Areas can be created from the list of primary areas (e.g., Crime and Deviance, Social Inequalities, etc.) or they can be assembled by the student to reflect their interests. The Secondary Area may include 1 or more courses from outside the department, but in most cases a student must include at least 2 courses from inside the department.
Students are trained in specific applied research skills such as data analysis, qualitative methods, quantitative methods, mixed methods, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and/or program evaluation. Combined with course work in one of the five primary areas of specialization and a secondary area of specialization, graduates will be trained for employment in the following settings: the academy, industry, business, government, and/or nonprofit agencies.
Applied Research Focus
A distinctive feature of the UCF Sociology program is its emphasis on applied research. Students are trained in specific applied research skills such as data analysis, qualitative methods, quantitative methods, mixed methods, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and program evaluation. This focus prepares graduates for employment in various settings, including academia, industry, business, government, and nonprofit agencies. Students are trained in specific applied research skills such as data analysis, qualitative methods, quantitative methods, mixed methods, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and/or program evaluation.
Faculty and Research
The UCF Sociology faculty comprises experienced scholars with national recognition in their respective fields. The faculty is composed of 15 tenure-track scholars with extensive experience and national recognition. They actively engage in research and collaborate with students on various projects. The department also houses the Institute for Social and Behavioral Science (ISBS), a community-based research institute that provides students with opportunities to conduct applied research in real-world settings.
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Message from the Director
The Director of the UCF Sociology program encourages prospective students to reach out and learn more about how their interests align with the department's strengths. The department aims to create a learning path to support students' career goals, education, and professional development. The program fosters a diverse, inclusive, and vibrant learning community with students, faculty, and staff from all across the globe.
Increasing Research Smarts
The program emphasizes the importance of "Increasing one’s Research Smarts," which provides students with the practical skills and critical thinking necessary to produce and consume findings, facts, and information with the assurance that it was arrived at systematically. These skills are not only useful in daily life, as we wade through the mass of news and information that comes our way, but also in private business, nonprofit organizations, government agencies, and other employment opportunities. Students seeking employment, those with jobs currently, or those working toward advancement can benefit from a critical examination of how knowledge is gained and which sources of information can be trusted.
Degree Requirements
Students who change degree programs and select this major must adopt the most current catalog. Departmental Residency Requirement: at least 24 semester hours of regularly scheduled 3000-4000 level courses must be taken from the UCF Sociology Department. Students must earn at least a "C" (2.0) or higher in each core course. Students must have at least a "C" (2.0) in each UCF course satisfying major requirements. Students must maintain a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.0 in all courses satisfying major requirements. Experiential Education credit cannot be used for credit in this major. Directed Independent studies, directed independent research, and internships must be approved by the Sociology department prior to enrollment. No more than 12 hours of directed independent study, directed independent research, and internship (course numbers 3905, 4906, 5907, 4912, 5917, 3940, & 4941) credit may be used for the major. All prerequisites of courses taught within the College of Sciences will be enforced. Students should consult annually with a faculty advisor. Courses designated in 1 (General Education Program) and 2 (Common Program Prerequisites) are usually completed in the first 60 hours.
Online Sociology, BA/BS
Sociology (B.A./B.S.) may be completed fully online, although not all elective options or program prerequisites may be offered online.
Challenges and Academic Freedom
It is important to note the current climate surrounding sociology education in Florida. Beginning this summer, professors at Florida’s 28 public colleges must use a state curriculum framework to teach their introduction to sociology courses. This has raised concerns about academic freedom and the potential for political influence in the curriculum.
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The seven-page written framework applies only to general education sociology courses taught at state colleges-not electives. The end of the document includes a “recommended course design,” written like a syllabus, that lays out seven units, suggested reading assignments and lecture topics. The guide to teaching “sociological phenomena” includes several contested theories about race and gender. For example, the framework states that while biological sex chromosomes determine different sex characteristics in men and women, they also determine “how females and males behave. This behavior is also influenced by the social relevance of these traits,” the framework says. “So, in teaching this, one might point out that women and men with the same credentials enter different jobs such that certain jobs are occupied primarily by women (i.e., female-dominant) some are occupied primarily by men (i.e., male-dominant) and some have roughly the same number of workers who are female and male (i.e., non-gendersegregated),” the framework says.
The document also discusses limitations to personal freedoms as a historical phenomenon, not a present one. “Students will study scientific facts, including the demographic characteristics of individuals who lived during previous generations when specific freedoms were restricted” and “how things changed as those restrictions were removed over time,” the framework says.
Many top education decision-makers in Florida come from right-wing think tanks and colleges, including Hillsdale College, where Arevalo earned his Ph.D.; the Claremont Institute; and the Heritage Foundation.
Sociology faculty at FIU are working through faculty senates and unions-and, if necessary, pursuing legal action-to require that any state‑mandated curricular changes or textbook requirements be accompanied by clear, written directives citing the law.
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