The sociology major at Seaver College teaches our students to pursue the general study of human behavior in social settings. Students in the sociology degree program learn how to study social interaction scientifically and analytically. Sociology's subject matter is broad in scope, ranging from the study of institutions like family, religion, school, and government to social problems and social inequalities at both local and global levels.
Our sociology major exposes students to the writings and research of scholars with deep insight into the complexity of human interaction. This exposure helps them develop a trained eye and mind, while providing the tools to analyze social life with a degree of precision. Our students gain a deeper understanding of themselves and others in a variety of social environments.
The Sociology major at Pepperdine pre-dates the current faculty and has been part of the curriculum since the founding of Seaver College in 1972. During the past thirty years the number of Sociology faculty has averaged between three and four. Currently there are four full-time sociologists.
In the early years of the Seaver Sociology program the curriculum consisted of four core courses (SOC 200: Introduction to Sociology, SOC 250: Introductory Statistics, SOC 310: Research Methods; SOC 391: Sociological Theory) plus twenty additional units from a list of twelve upper-division electives, for a total of thirty-five units. After a 1995 revision, students took five required core courses (the four listed above plus Senior Seminar), selected one course each from four (of five) substantive areas (Social Inequality, Deviance and Social Control, Micro-Sociology, Social Institutions, Social Change), and selected two additional upper-division courses, for a total of forty-two units.
The most recent revision to major requirements occurred in 2009. Students are now required to take the five core courses listed above, plus five additional courses from a list of fourteen upper-division electives, a total of thirty-eight units. Two factors were influential in the 2009 revision. First, some students have specialized interests within sociology, or may have career goals related to a specific area within sociology. The current curriculum allows students more freedom to focus on specific areas of interest. Second, the flexibility of the current requirements, combined with smaller number of units required, makes it easier for sociology students to select a second major or a minor.
Since 1992, eight courses have been added to the sociology curriculum and two additional classes are being developed. Ten courses have been eliminated. These changes reflect trends in sociology more generally, as well as changes in faculty expertise. In response to a wide-scale change to the General Education program in 2001, one course (SOC 310; Research Methods) was designated as the required Presentation Skills (PS), Research Methodology (RM), and Writing Intensive (WI) course for the major.
Quality Assurance: Each degree program should employ sufficient faculty such that there is a capacity to design and deliver the curriculum (CFR 2.5). Curriculum design and implementation should involve evaluation, improvement, and promotion of student learning and success (CFR 2.5). Thus, faculty are responsible to exercise effective academic leadership on a consistent basis to ensure that the program's quality and educational purposes are upheld (CFR 2.6). Student support and co-curricular programs and services of sufficient nature, scope, and capacity go hand-in-hand with the degree programs for promoting students' academic, personal, and professional development (CFR 2.13). - WSCUC 2023 Handbook, Standard 2