Are you looking for a supportive and challenging environment to pursue graduate training for a Masters and/or Ph.D.? The Sociology Department at the University of Florida strives to offer students such an opportunity. A key department strength is our depth in four primary substantive areas: (a) Aging, the Life Course, and Health; (b) Environmental Sociology; (c) Families, Gender, and Sexualities, and (b) Race and Ethnic Studies. Faculty expertise can also be found in: demography, deviance, media studies, methodology, political sociology, social psychology, social inequality, theory, and urban sociology. Students may seek interdisciplinary training and complete certificate programs in various centers: African Studies, Gerontological Studies, Women’s Studies and Gender Research, European Studies, Latin American Studies, and Tropical Conservation and Development. In addition, students can organize their program of study to earn a Social Science Methodology Graduate Certificate. The sociology faculty has diverse theoretical interests and a balanced respect for qualitative and quantitative methods. A relatively low student to faculty ratio means students receive personalized attention.

Students are eligible for fellowships as well as teaching and research assistantships. Department and College travel funds help students participate in professional meetings and students are eligible for annual university, college, and department teaching and research awards. The Department offers several yearly competitions with a financial bonus: Conner award for best dissertation proposal, Gordon and Ruth Streib Award for the Best Paper, Gorman Award for Best Quantitative paper, and the Vandiver Teaching Award. Students are exposed to national and international scholars through both the Department’s annual lecture series and its brown bag seminar. In October 2005, the Department is sponsoring the inaugural Social Science Conference organized by sociology graduate students. A spacious graduate computer lab (see photo above) housing 11 networked computers with access to various software packages—including the latest statistical packages, provides students a convenient place to work while networking with other students.

Graduate Coordinator
Dr. Monika Ardelt (grad.coord@soc.ufl.edu)
3350 Turlington Hall
(352) 392-0251 ext. 247