PhD in Sociology

Research Facilities

Other Resources

Life in Atlanta

Admission

Financial Support

Contact Information

PhD in Sociology

The Department of Sociology at Emory University is a vigorous intellectual community that offers a doctoral program designed to prepare students for academic and research careers. The graduate program provides rigorous training in theory, research design, and statistics, along with extensive preparation in the following major substantive areas

• Comparative Political Economy and Global Analysis: political sociology; political economy; global development and change; social movements; revolutions; world-systems; welfare states.
  
  
• Culture: mass media; religion; social change; world culture; music, literature, and the arts; popular culture; identity construction.
  
  
• Social Psychology: interpersonal and group processes; social structure and personality; status and power; justice; racial attitudes; legitimacy; identity formation and negotiation; emotions: criminology; health and well being.
  
  
• Social Inequality: inequality; sociology of education; work and industry;medical sociology; gender, race, class, and ethnicity; criminology; organizations.

Departmental research focuses on common themes of power and inequality, especially their consequences for micro-level social interaction and macro-level social change and cultural phenomena. Currently, graduate students are participating in ongoing research projects that include comparative revolutions, status and justice processes in interaction, welfare policies, schooling and the state, the construction of industries, the relationship between gender, race, and poverty, international non-governmental organizations, and the causes of juvenile delinquency. A low student-faculty ratio guarantees high levels of personal interaction. Faculty and graduate students take part in the Department's colloquia series involving speakers from other universities and in the Departmental Brown Bag, which is an internal forum for the presentation of ongoing research. Travel funds are available for graduate students to present their work at professional meetings. Students pursue original research projects and many publish in scholarly journals, such as American Sociological Review, Social Forces, Criminology, Gender and Society, Social Psychology Quarterly, Sociology of Education, and Poetics.

In addition, graduate students have opportunities to teach sociology at Emory, where undergraduates possess exceptionally high academic aptitude. Extensive teacher training programs prepare advanced graduate students to design and teach both common and special topic courses. With emphasis on quality teaching, students are responsible for only one course during a semester. The best teachers compete for sixth year fellowship, the Dean's Teaching Fellowship.

The Ph.D. program requires 72 hours of course work. The first 24 hours include core courses in research design, statistics, and the theory, and a MA paper. The remaining hours of course work include advanced courses in statistics and theory, other substantive courses, a preliminary examination (consisting of a major and a minor in general fields of sociology), and a dissertation. Ph.D. candidates must also present a paper at professional meetings. The program is designed for completion in five to six years.

Research Facilities

Emory has developed an ample and invigorating research environment. Graduate students have easy access to University computers. In addition, the Sociology Department houses a computer laboratory consisting of high-capacity PCs and Macs that operate a wide array of statistical and graphics software. The Social and Behavior Sciences Research Center provides specialized training and support for faculty and student research. The extensive University library system consists of the Robert W. Woodruff General Library as well as a number of specialized facilities, all linked through a computerized circulation system.

The Carter Center of Emory University may be of special interest for students of social stratification and political economy. Established by former President Jimmy Carter, the Carter Center includes a Presidential Library and a policy center that involves various scholarly activities pertaining to issues of interest to sociologists such as development in the Third World, conflict resolution, and global health problems.

The Sociology Department also maintains strong connections to adjunct sociologists in the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Candler School of Theology. These connections enrich the study of medical sociology and the sociology of religion at Emory. The CDC maintains large data sets on topics such as personal lifestyle, physical exercise, AIDS, family violence, alcohol consumption, and other health-related issues. And, the study of the sociology of religion involves associated sociologists who hold appointments in the Candler School of Theology.

Other Resources

As the capital of Georgia, Atlanta is a major government and business center. Twenty-two colleges and universities are located in the surrounding area. Atlanta is also the U.S. government's southeast regional headquarters for the Departments of Labor, Interior, and Health and Human services, and the Environmental Protection Agency.

Atlanta is also the home for a number of important civil rights organizations. Sociologists in the areas of race relations and social change may pursue interests in the activities of the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change, the national office of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and the regional headquarters of the NAACP.

Life in Atlanta

With a metropolitan-area population of more than three million, Atlanta is the unrivaled cultural and economic capital of the Southeast. Yet what visitors often remember most are the trees. Atlanta is located in a hardwood forest and has more trees than any other metropolitan area. The city has consistently been ranked one of the best places to live in the nation.

Living in Atlanta offers the diversity of social, ethnic, and religious communities necessary for a culturally rich lifestyle. Distinctive neighborhoods surround the University. Emory is located in the heavily-wooded and well-preserved Lullwater neighborhood, six miles east of downtown Atlanta. The graduate student housing complex lies between Emory's own Lullwater park and the town of Decatur. In contrast to the small-town atmosphere of Decatur, the nearby Virginia-Highland area is known for its trendy shops, restaurants, and nightclubs, and the Little Five Points neighborhood boasts a bohemian atmosphere.

Admission

Financial Support

Almost all students in the doctoral program receive full funding for five years through the Laney Graduate School.  This funding typically includes a tuition scholarship and combined assistantship and fellowship funding of at least $17,500 for each of the five years. Assistantship requirements are relatively low compared to other schools, permitting students to concentrate on their studies and finish their degrees in a reasonable amount of time.  In addition, research, specialized training, and professional development funds are available to students through the Laney Graduate School.

Both admission and financial support are awarded competitively, depending on academic merit. Students are encouraged to apply regardless of their personal financial limitations. The Sociology Department actively seeks a diverse group of students. The Laney Graduate School also offers three highly competitive fellowships for especially qualified students, the Woodruff Graduate Fellowships, the Arts and Sciences Fellowships, and the Emory Graduate Diversity Fellowships.

See also the following websites at Emory:

• Information for Prospective Students

• Application Information for the Emory Laney Graduate School

• Emory Laney Graduate School

Contact Information

Richard Rubinson
Director of Graduate Recruitment

Email: rrubin@emory.edu
Phone: 404-727-7531

Maggie Stephens
Graduate Program Coordinator

Email: socinfo@emory.edu
Phone: 404-727-7512

 updated 9/13/10