Master of Arts in Sociology

The MSU graduate sociology program seeks to develop professionals who will be creative researchers, teachers, and practitioners in knowledge production. The department has five areas of concentration and a number of specialties: Community and Urban - Areas of study include community development, decline and environmental justice; community health; creative communities and fostering creativity; urban and regional economic and transportation networks; expressive cultural behaviors of U.S. African American communities; international development and community change; international urban transformations; social stratification and race in communities; gangs, violence, criminal justice in urban communities; urban food systems and food security. Environment: Areas of study include food and energy production; land use; our interactions with other species; climate change, pollution, and changes in ecosystem structure and function; and human environment intersections. Family: Areas of study include cultural production and maintenance among minority families; domestic violence; family formation and dissolution; gender; health and aging; impact of social change on the family structure, dynamics, and effectiveness; intergenerational transfer; inter sectionality and social inequality; LGBT families; marriage and cohabitation; divorce and widowhood; migration and family; religion and family; work-family conflict. Health and Medicine: Areas of study include the social context of health, illness, and health care, with a central focus on health disparities by race/ethnicity, social class, gender, and marital status; political, economic, and environmental circumstances that threaten health; and societal forces that impact the health care system. Migration: Areas of study include the African diaspora; the demography of migration; development and migration; the environment and migration; gender and migration; health and migration; migrant ethnic entrepreneurship, communities, and conflict; migrant integration; migration, race, and refugees; migration research methods.