Sociology at the University of Pennsylvania

Sociology at the University of Pennsylvania

A special message for Penn Preview visitors: Welcome to Penn! If you'd like to visit our department to learn more about our faculty, major, and courses, contact Jason Schnittker, our undergraduate chair. He'd be happy to show you around.

 W.E.B Du Bois appointed Honorary Emeritus Professor of Sociology and Africana Studies 

The Board of Trustees at the University of Pennsylvania appointed Dr. William Edward Burghardt Du Bois Honorary Emeritus Professor of Sociology and Africana Studies on February 17th 2012. The day included three intellectual panels, art installation, musical tribute, and a poetic tribute. This short video captures the day's activities.

 We are pleased to welcome Amada Armenta and Onoso Imoagene to our faculty next year.

    Amada received her PhD fom the University of California - Los Angeles. Her areas of concentration include international migration, urban sociology, law, and race/ethnicity. In her dissertation she examined the politics and implementation of immigration enforcement in Nashville, TN.

   Onoso received her PhD from Harvard University. Her research focuses on race/ethnic relations, international migration, and immigrant adaptation. In her dissertation she compared the experience of the second generation of Nigerian descent in the U.S. and the U.K.

Introduction

    W.E.B. Du Bois, Erving Goffman, Dorothy Swaine Thomas, and E. Digby Baltzell, all broke new sociological ground while working at the University of Pennsylvania. As one of the oldest departments of sociology in the country, Penn continues its tradition of excellence with twenty-plus award-winning, distinguished faculty recognized for their scholarly achievements and leadership in the field. With University support, our top-ranked Department has been able to recruit some of the best graduate students in the country, and to do our part in maintaining the University of Pennsylvania's highly-regarded undergraduate program.

     Today, the Department preserves its tradition of research and training by a very active interaction between faculty, students, and visitors. The Sociology Department's weekly colloquium brings in leading scholars from other universities, as well as from Penn, to present their current research and engage in discussion with faculty and graduate students. In addition, seven ongoing interdisciplinary workshops bring together faculty, students, and outside visitors into supportive intellectual environments that promote innovative sociological research.  The workshops are open to graduate students and faculty from other Universities including those in the larger surrounding area enhancing diversity and collaboration in the research process. The Culture & Interaction workshop discusses the many ways that culture is instantiated and reproduced through face-to-face interaction. The Family & Gender workshop continues the focus on the most important institutions through which social processes get played out. The Education & Inequality workshop focuses on issues of inequalities in educational opportunities that have been central to sociology. The Population Studies workshop provides a direct link between the department and the Population Studies Center investigating contemporary demographic processes. The Race, Ethnicity & Immigration workshop builds on the long-standing tradition of racial stratification research in our department, investigating new perspectives and developments. The Economic Sociology workshop brings faculty, students, and outside speakers together to discuss issues sourrounding the sociological study of economic activity. Finally, the Urban Ethnography workshop provides an informal setting to discuss work-in-progress using participant-observation and other ethnographic methods. 

      We look forward to continuing to engage your sociological imagination and practice. For more information about our department, faculty and students please take a moment to review our website.