Graduate Program
The University of Houston is a state university with a student body of over 39,000. There are 200 graduate programs in 62 fields through 12 colleges. The University offers Master’s degrees in 133 different fields. Sociology is one of 15 Master’s level programs within the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences – CLASS. The University has over 6,000 graduate students, 1200 of which are in CLASS. Ranked as the fourth largest city in the nation, Houston provides a natural laboratory for social research. The University of Houston reflects a racially/ethnically diverse city which is thriving. Twelve full-time sociology faculty are engaged in a variety of community-based research projects, concerning such policy-relevant topics as public education, immigration, religion, popular culture, and sports. In the past, much of this research has been supported by the Ford Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Bureau of the Census, the Pew Charitable Trusts, the National Institutes on Health, Drug Abuse and Justice, the Texas Commission on the Arts, and local foundations and agencies. These projects have provided research experience and financial support for students, as well as employment opportunities for graduates. Approximately 32 students are actively enrolled in the Sociology Graduate Studies Program. The low faculty-student ratio facilitates personal attention to student needs. To accommodate work schedules of students who are on graduate assistantships and who are working off-campus, graduate seminars are offered in the evenings during the regular school year.
Masters Degree in Sociology at the University of Houston
The Department of Sociology at the University of Houston offers graduate training directed towards professional career success in both academic and non-academic applied fields. Our department has successfully placed graduates in top-ranked Ph.D. programs as well as in non-academic positions in public institutions and private organizations. The Sociology department offers both a thesis track and applied internship track for the Master’s degree. Regardless of the track taken, the graduate program broadens the students' sociological background as well as the students’ conceptual, communications, and research skills which are necessary for successful careers in an information-oriented and global society. Our graduates are uniquely able to develop research projects, to conduct research using a range of methodologies such as the creation of survey instruments and the conducting of interviews, and to do program evaluations and assessments.
Once accepted into the program, all students pursuing a Master’s degree (in either the thesis or internship track) are required to take four graduate core seminars: Sociological Theory, Qualitative Research Methods, Quantitative Research Methods, and Social Statistics. Students take an additional six substantive courses to complete their degree, plus six hours of thesis or internship. The MA degree requires a total of 36 graduate hours. Students may choose to take the last 6 hours of graduate work in either the thesis track or the internship track. The internship places students in an agency or organization where they learn to apply sociological knowledge and research skills to program evaluation, organizational development, the daily operations of organizations. An internship committee is formed at the beginning of the internship hours and a final written internship report is presented and defended at the end. Theses reflect original research projects. A thesis committee is formed in the beginning of thesis hours and the thesis is defended at the end.
Advising
For information on the Sociology Graduate Program contact:
Stella Grigorian, Ph.D.
Graduate Advisor
473 Philip G. Hoffman Hall
Phone: 713-743-3960
Email: sgrigorian@uh.edu