Sociology is the study of how groups and individuals interact in producing social systems. Sociologists study the norms, values, identities, power structures and institutions through which societies are organized. Sociologists have long been particularly concerned with the gap between the ideal of legal equality and the reality of social inequality.

The Sociology Department offers a comprehensive set of introductory and advanced courses through which students acquire a range of research and theoretical skills. The department’s areas of strength include Globalization and Development, Demography, Race and Ethnicity, Gender, Inequality, Urban Sociology, Environmental Sociology, Organizations and Economic Sociology, Political Sociology, and Education.

At the undergraduate level, the department offers an A.B. in Sociology, as well as an optional track in Sociology Organizational Studies (S/OS), and a Sc.B in Social Analysis and Research (SAR). At the graduate level the department offers a PhD in Sociology as well as a Masters in Social Data Analytics (MSDA).

Faculty and students in sociology have extensive and deep ties to a wide range of programs and centers at Brown. These include the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, the Population and Studies Training Center (PSTC), the Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America (CSREA), Spatial Structures in the Social Sciences (S4), the Engaged Scholars Program, and the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society (IBES). The Graduate Program in Development (Watson Institute) and PSTC provide a range of interdisciplinary training opportunities for sociology graduate students.