The graduate programs offered by the Department of Sociology are designed to prepare students for the academic job market or other professional careers through a challenging, comprehensive, and integrated curriculum that trains graduate students to 1.) theorize from a variety of sociological perspectives and 2.) analyze using a variety of methodologies. The programs require course work in the general areas of sociological theory and sociological research methods, including qualitative and quantitative methodologies. In addition to core classes, students have flexibility in pursuing specialized coursework designed to concentrate on specific areas. Graduate students can choose to specialize in areas including Sociology of Health and Illness (SOHI); Race, Ethnicity, and Gender (REG); and Global, Transnational and Comparative (GTC).

The research interests and methodological approaches of the faculty are diverse. Faculty have studied and written about a wide range of sociological topics including: aging and life course, development, disabilities, environment, fetal alcohol syndrome, gender and work, immigration, international political economy, mental health, menopause and midlife, precarity and informal employment, military, racial politics, religion, racial discrimination in the consumer markets, race disparities in education, racialization of American Indians, sustainability, welfare state, and work-family policy.