Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminal Justice Studies

Students interested in sociology may elect a major or a minor as part of the liberal arts program leading to the Bachelor of Arts degree or Bachelor of Science degree. The Bachelor of Arts degree requires 12 hours of a non-English modern or classical language.

Sociology

Students can elect to have anthropology courses included in their sociology major/minor and several sociology courses are part of the criminal justice studies program. Many students choose sociology because it is a broad liberal arts base for several professions such as law, criminal justice, education, medicine, social work, and counseling. The undergraduate degree provides strong preparation for a variety of business, social service, and government careers. The USI sociology program emphasizes practical and theoretical skills including: critical thinking about the social world, computer applications, writing and communication skills, and community engagement.

Anthropology

A minor is available in the field of anthropology. The minor consists of 18 credit hours. Coursework is directed toward either cultural anthropology or archaeology. Six hours of anthropology may be applied to a sociology major and three hours to a minor. Six hours must be at the 300–400 level.

Criminal Justice Studies

Students interested in criminal justice studies (CJS) may elect a major or minor as part of the liberal arts program leading to the Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science degree. The Bachelor of Arts degree requires 12 hours of non-English modern or classical language.

Criminal Justice Studies is a multi-disciplinary major with contributions from the fields of sociology, political science, and anthropology. Students will learn the basic four areas of the discipline, policing, law, corrections, and criminology in the introductory courses, and then will be able to specialize in their area of choice through upper division electives.

Several of the required and elective courses in the criminal justice studies major are listed under their respective disciplines such as sociology and political science. There are 27 hours of sociology designated criminal justice courses that can count toward both the criminal justice studies degree and the sociology major.

Criminal Justice Studies requires students to complete the pre-criminal justice requirements before being accepted as criminal justice studies majors. Students also must maintain a cumulative GPA of 2.50.