The Department of Sociology offers a PhD program and an undergraduate major. Both programs concentrate on two broad areas:

• Global social change, which focuses on cross-national, comparative research
• Social inequality, which primarily focuses on family, education, work, race, gender, policy, and immigration

These concentrations trace back to the department’s founding in 1959 by renowned American sociologist James Coleman. The department has since earned a reputation as one of most selective, personalized sociology departments in the U.S. Currently home to more than 20 faculty members, more than 30 graduate students, and roughly 75 undergraduates, the department’s intimacy afforded by such numbers creates a unique scholarly atmosphere, in which faculty and students interact and collaborate frequently.

Scholars in the department share a wide variety of interests and interdisciplinary partnerships. Students are given flexible parameters for their study, and several faculty members have been honored with joint appointments in other Johns Hopkins schools and divisions. The department has an especially unique relationship with the Bloomberg School of Public Health, which offers faculty and students access to first-rate collaborations in fields such as population and demography, mental health and mental hygiene, and healthcare organization. The department is also proudly partnered with the Department of Applied Mathematics and Statistics, and is committed to building and maintaining strong foundations in quantitative research methods.