Sociology

Field Description

Ph.D. degree candidates may register in general sociology initially but must select one of the eight areas of concentration before taking the Admission to Candidacy examination. Candidates also choose two minors from sociology or related fields. Students normally take a sequence of core courses in theory and methods but may substitute a general examination in these subjects.

Ph.D. students in full-time residence are normally expected to earn the Ph.D. degree within four years. The written and oral Admission to Candidacy examination is usually taken early in the third year, followed by the dissertation and oral defense. One year of directed teaching experience at Cornell is required unless the student is specifically exempted.

Admission to the Sociology Graduate Field is restricted to students who plan to complete a Ph.D. in Sociology. Students can, in consultation with their Special Committees, take a Master’s degree on the way to a Ph.D. A terminal Master’s is also available but is reserved for students who decide they are no longer interested in doctoral studies, or who, in the view of the Special Committee and other Field members, are not making good progress toward doctoral-level research.

Contact Information

Website: https://sociology.cornell.edu/
Email: sociology@cornell.edu
Phone: 607 255-4266

316 Uris Hall
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY  14853

Data and Statistics

Field Manual

Subject and Degrees

Sociology

Concentrations by Subject

Sociology

  • community & urban sociology
  • computational social science
  • culture (minor)
  • economy and society
  • gender
  • inequality and social stratification
  • methodology (minor)
  • organizations, work and occupations
  • policy analysis (minor)
  • political sociology/social movements
  • race, ethnicity and immigration
  • science, technology & medicine (minor)
  • social demography
  • social networks
  • social psychology (minor)
  • sociology of education
  • sociology of family
  • sociology of health and illness

Faculty

Mabel M. Berezin

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Sociology: economy and society; political sociology/social movements
  • Research Interests: culture; qualitative methods; comparative/historical sociology; theory

Kendra Bischoff

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Sociology: community & urban sociology; inequality and social stratification; political sociology/social movements; sociology of education

Jamie Louise Budnick

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Sociology: gender; methodology
  • Research Interests: Gender, Sexuality, Feminist Science Studies

Mary Diane Burton

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Sociology: economy and society; inequality and social stratification; methodology; organizations, work and occupations
  • Research Interests: organizations

Erin York Cornwell

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Sociology: community & urban sociology; inequality and social stratification; methodology; social networks; sociology of health and illness
  • Research Interests: urban sociology; sociology of law; health, aging, and social inequality

Benjamin T. Cornwell

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Sociology: computational social science; economy and society; inequality and social stratification; methodology; social networks; social psychology; sociology of health and illness
  • Research Interests: social networks; social stratification; economy and society

Rachel E Dunifon

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Sociology: gender; inequality and social stratification; policy analysis; sociology of family
  • Research Interests: policy analysis; gender and life

Elias Friedman

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Sociology: community & urban sociology; economy and society; political sociology/social movements; race, ethnicity and immigration; sociology of education

Shannon Marie Gleeson

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Sociology: inequality and social stratification; organizations, work and occupations; political sociology/social movements; race, ethnicity and immigration; social demography

Matthew Hall

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Sociology: race, ethnicity and immigration; social demography

Dan Hirschman

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Sociology: economy and society; organizations, work and occupations; social networks
  • Research Interests: Race & Racism, Climate Change

Tristan Ivory

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Sociology: inequality and social stratification; race, ethnicity and immigration
  • Research Interests: Race, Ethnicity, Immigration, Social Inequality/Social Stratification

Jon M Kleinberg

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Sociology: computational social science; methodology; social networks
  • Research Interests: link analysis and modeling of large-scale information networks; discrete optimization and network algorithms; and algorithmic approaches to clustering, indexing, and data mining

Karen Levy

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Sociology: computational social science; methodology; organizations, work and occupations; policy analysis; science, technology & medicine

Daniel T. Lichter

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Sociology: community & urban sociology; inequality and social stratification; methodology; policy analysis; race, ethnicity and immigration; social demography; sociology of family
  • Research Interests: social demography; inequality; family and children

Sade L. Lindsay

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Sociology: inequality and social stratification; race, ethnicity and immigration
  • Research Interests: Crime, Law, and Deviance; Punishment and Incarceration; Race, racism, and Public Policy

Ian Daniel Lundberg

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Sociology: computational social science; inequality and social stratification; methodology
  • Research Interests: Inequality and Social Stratification; Quantitative Methodology; Causal Inference

Michael Walton Macy

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Sociology: computational social science; methodology; organizations, work and occupations; political sociology/social movements; social networks; social psychology
  • Research Interests: computational modeling; online social networks; collective action; emergence of norms; opinion dynamics

Vida Maralani

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Sociology: gender; inequality and social stratification; methodology; social demography; sociology of education; sociology of family; sociology of health and illness
  • Research Interests: stratification, demography, gender, education, health

Kelly A. Musick

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Sociology: gender; inequality and social stratification; methodology; social demography; sociology of family
  • Research Interests: family demography; social aspects of fertility; social stratification and inequality

Victor Gilbert Nee

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Sociology: economy and society; inequality and social stratification; organizations, work and occupations; race, ethnicity and immigration
  • Research Interests: economy and society; racial and ethnic relations; social stratification

Barum Park

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Sociology: computational social science; political sociology/social movements; social networks
  • Research Interests: political sociology/social movements, social networks, social mobility and quantitative and computational methods

Karl Andrew Pillemer

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Sociology: gender; policy analysis; social demography; social networks; sociology of family; sociology of health and illness
  • Research Interests: family; life course

Adriana Marie Reyes

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Sociology: gender; inequality and social stratification; race, ethnicity and immigration; social demography; sociology of family; sociology of health and illness

Peter M. Rich

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Sociology: community & urban sociology; inequality and social stratification; policy analysis; race, ethnicity and immigration
  • Research Interests: race and ethnicity; social policy; inequality

Sharon L. Sassler

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Sociology: gender; inequality and social stratification; policy analysis; social demography; sociology of education; sociology of family
  • Research Interests: gender and the life course; young adult transition; cohabitation; marriage

Landon Schnabel

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Sociology: gender; inequality and social stratification
  • Research Interests: inequality, gender, sexualities, religion, public opinion and social change

David Strang

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Sociology: computational social science; methodology; organizations, work and occupations; political sociology/social movements
  • Research Interests: diffusion, imitation and learning processes; organizations; comparative political structures; event history methods

Bryan L. Sykes

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Sociology: community & urban sociology; computational social science; economy and society; inequality and social stratification; social demography
  • Research Interests: Crime and Punishment; Computational Social Science; Economy & Society; Inequality & Social Stratification; Methodology; Policy Analysis; Race, Ethnicity and Immigration; Social Demography

Laura Tach

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Sociology: community & urban sociology; inequality and social stratification; methodology; policy analysis; social demography; sociology of family

Pamela S. Tolbert

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Sociology: culture; inequality and social stratification; organizations, work and occupations; political sociology/social movements
  • Research Interests: organizations; economy and society; policy analysis

Maureen Waller

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Sociology: culture; inequality and social stratification; methodology; policy analysis; sociology of family
  • Research Interests: poverty and inequality; social policy; family; qualitative and mixed methods

Kim A Weeden

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Sociology: economy and society; gender; inequality and social stratification; organizations, work and occupations; sociology of education
  • Research Interests: social stratification and inequality; gender inequality; labor markets; social demography; gender and life course; economy and society

Cristobal Young

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Sociology: computational social science; economy and society; inequality and social stratification; methodology; policy analysis
  • Research Interests: economic sociology, stratifications, methodology