Message from the Chair

The Department of Anthropology and Sociology is an interdisciplinary department seeking to better understand the construction of society and its effects on everyday lives. We offer a major combining Anthropology and Sociology. We also offer three options for a major in Sociology, a general major, a track in Crime, Violence, and Justice, and a track in Social Services, Policy, and Advocacy. We also have minors in Anthropology and Sociology. Our majors are interested in exploring society and culture, but also in making it a better place for all people. They graduate with the ability to work across different social groups, communicate effectively, advocate for social change, and build fulfilling, meaningful careers. Many of our students are interested in social justice and equality, and working in fields that address the life consequences of inequality and oppression. Our alumni work as social workers, professors, teachers, journalists, doctors, mediators, police officers, public relations executives, activists, attorneys, business people, policy professionals, counsellors, and in other helping professions.

Students explore a variety of research questions in a broad range of intellectually engaging courses. A few of those courses include Global Political Violence, Digital Storytelling, Restorative Justice, Deviance, Representing Race, Poverty and Society, Grief & Loss, Women and Work, Transracial Adoption, Mass Incarceration, Feminist Theories, Theorizing Inequality, Race and Ethnicity, and Making Families Public. And those are just a few of our classes! Learning not only happens within our classroom walls. Our students frequently engage in service learning and other forms of community engagement in many of our courses. Students engage in research with local communities, and some students participate in faculty research projects focusing on such pressing social issues as homelessness. Some students work as research or teaching assistants. Students create digital videos, story maps, and other online public education projects. Some make site visits to religious institutions, courts, or funeral homes. Students are encouraged to engage in internships that prepare them for their careers. Our students present research at conferences and publish in journals. They receive one-on-one attention in their learning as critical and creative thinkers, exercising their voices, engaging in community issues, and articulating their visions for social equality.

With these tools, you graduate prepared to make a living but also to pursue a meaningful life. Many of our students have more than one major and/or minor. Some students have two majors in our department. Others combine majors from departments and colleges across the rich landscape of Drake’s programs. I am happy to talk with you about our programs and how they could help you fulfill your goals.

Best,

Professor Sandi Patton-Imani