Sociology and Criminology & Law

• • The sociology major requires a minimum of 32 semester hours of coursework in sociology and 3 credits of statistics, as described below. All courses applied toward the 32 credits must be from courses completed under the SY prefix. This applies to “cross-listed” courses as well.

• • A grade of “C” or better is required for sociology and statistics courses to be credited toward the major (a grade of “C-” will not fulfill sociology requirements).

• • Courses taken S/U (pass/fail) will not be counted towards the major.

• • Every sociology major must satisfy the critical tracking criteria in their UF Undergraduate Catalog. To be “on-track” in Sociology, students must earn a Sociology GPA of 2.75 and have completed the following courses by the end of their 5th semester:
    • SYG2000
    • One Sociology elective at the 2000 level or above
    • One Sociology elective at the 3000 level or above
    • STA2023

• Students should use a Sociology Major Worksheet to evaluate their progress toward completion of these requirements.

Credit Hour Requirements

• • Required courses, 11 credit hours: Majors must complete the following three required courses with a grade of “C” or better, for a total of 11 credits:
    • SYG2000 Principles of Sociology (3 credits)
    • SYA4300 Methods of Social Research (4 credits) This course should be taken in your junior year (i.e., after you reach 60 hours), usually around 75 hours, and after you have completed the required statistics courses. SYA4300 Methods is usually taken before SYA4110 Theory.
    • SYA4110 Development of Sociological Thought (4 credits) This course should be taken in your senior year (after you reach 90 hours) and after you have completed SYA4300.
      • Students who are planning to graduate during a summer semester must plan to take SYA4300 and SYA4110 prior to that summer semester. These courses are normally never offered during summer term. These requirements will NOT be waived for summer graduates who have been unable to meet them. Please plan accordingly!

• • Statistics, 3 credit hours:
    • In addition to these 11 required credit hours, students are required to earn a “C” or better in  STA2023 by the end of tracking term 5.
    • A grade of “C-” will not fulfill the statistics requirements.

• • Sociology Electives, minimum of 21 credit hours:
    • At least 21 additional elective credits in sociology courses must be completed with a grade of “C” or better beyond the required courses listed above. A grade of “C-” will not fulfill requirements.
    • Of these 21 hours, 6 credit hours may be at the 2000 level (that is, 6 credits in addition to SYG2000).
    • The remaining 15 hours must be at the 3000 or 4000 level.
    • A complete listing of departmental courses can be found in your Undergraduate Catalog, but check the Schedule of Courses for the current/upcoming semester’s course offerings.

• Other important points to keep in mind:
  • Students have an obligation to register for required courses in a timely manner. Sociology requirements will not be waived.
  • All other requirements applicable to students enrolled in CLAS (including the foreign language requirement, Gordon Rule, and science requirements) also apply to sociology majors. For these college requirements, see the University Undergraduate Catalog, or consult with an advisor at the AAC.
  • Courses taken at a Florida community college or other Florida State University System will usually count toward sociology requirements if they share a course prefix (for example “SYG”) and the last three digits of the course number. The UGC must approve acceptance of these credits – please have a course catalog description or syllabus available for review.
  • No more than 15 credits from institutions other than UF will be counted toward the major.
  • If you plan to be a “transient” student for a summer term (or part of any other term), any sociology courses taken elsewhere should be approved BEFORE you take them to assure that they are acceptable for credit. This applies to credits taken during overseas/international studies as well.

Changing Majors

• First year students and some early second year students may change majors to Sociology by visiting the Academic Advising Center (AAC) and requesting a change of major.
• Generally, students wishing to change majors in their second year must complete a change of major form. This form is available at the AAC and must be submitted to the department for approval by the Sociology Undergraduate Coordinator (UGC).
• The UGC will help the student develop a plan of study, but cannot review requests for major changes unless they are submitted using the correct paperwork.
• We recommend that students visit the CLAS advising web site to “try on” various majors before making their final decisions.

Academic Learning Compact

• Each academic program at UF has established an Academic Learning Compact: a statement of the skills each of its majors is expected to acquire before graduating. These skill sets are referred to as “student learning outcomes,” or SLOs.
• The following comprise the SLOs in Sociology. Before graduating, sociology majors are expected to…
  • Identify, explain and apply basic concepts in sociology.
  • Analyze, critique and interpret the sociological literature.
  • Define, classify and compare sociological perspectives on social structure, processes and institutions.
  • Define, classify and compare sociological perspectives on the relationship between individuals and society.
  • Effectively communicate in speech and in writing sociological concepts and research.
• Please see the complete Sociology Academic Learning Compact
• Every sociology major is expected to complete the Sociology Exit Exam before graduating. Majors will receive an email via their gatorlink email account around mid-October of their graduating semester with instructions for completing the exam.

Course Designations

For general descriptions of all Sociology courses, please see the Undergraduate Course Catalog. Remember to consult the current semester Schedule of Courses to determine which of these courses are being offered in the current/upcoming semester.

• Course Prefixes: Five prefixes designate courses in Sociology:
  • SYA: Sociological Analysis : These courses focus on theoretical and methodological issues in Sociology.
  • SYD: Demography and Area Studies: These courses relate to population, demography, human ecology, urban sociology, racial and ethnic studies, and gender studies.
  • SYG: General Sociology: These are introductory or general courses in Sociology.
  • SYP: Social Processes : These courses deal with the various aspects of social psychology, social change, social disorganization, social control, deviance, criminology, and juvenile delinquency.
  • SYO: Social Organization: These courses focus on social institutions (such as the family), social organization, social stratification, and social structure.
• SYG2000 Principles of Sociology provides an overview of important issues in sociology as well as an understanding of how sociologists go about their work. It is a required course for majors and is a prerequisite for many upper-level sociology courses.
• Students who major in sociology may count a maximum of six credits of 2000 level coursework, in addition to SYG2000, toward their major. SYG2430 and SYG2010 are two lower division sociology courses that are offered regularly and provide general knowledge relevant to many upper division sociology courses.
  • SYG2430 Marriage and Family focuses on various types of family structures and how intimate relationships are formed, maintained, and change over time.
  • SYG2010 Social Problems focuses on contemporary social issues.
• Several lower and upper division sociology courses meet General Education Social Science (S), Diversity (D) and International (N) requirements. Please check ONE.UF for applicable courses. Other upper-division courses (3000 or 4000 level) offer students a chance to study specific topics in greater detail. The Undergraduate Catalog contains a short description of all courses.
• In addition to regularly offered courses, the Department sometimes offers one or more special topics courses (SYA2930 and SYA4930). The content of these courses changes regularly. Students may enroll in multiple Special Topics courses and count these credits towards the major provided that the courses are unique.