Graduate Sociology at SUNY Albany

Graduate Study in Sociology

Director of graduate studies: Ron Jacobs

Welcome from the Director of Graduate Studies: Ron Jacobs (2005-2008)

The Department of Sociology at the University at Albany is an exciting and congenial place to pursue a graduate education. Our faculty now numbers twenty-eight, many of whom have held (or are holding) the highest national and regional professional offices. We have five Distinguished Professors (the highest honor bestowed on faculty by the SUNY system) among our ranks, and many of our faculty has won university awards for Excellence in Teaching, Research, or Service. Our research interests are diverse and include, but are not limited to: Urban Sociology, Race and Ethnicity; Social Demography; Deviance and Crime; Qualitative Sociologies; Gender Studies; Work, Economy, and Society; Sociology of Families; Cultural Sociology; and Political Sociology. Sociologists at Albany publish their work in the major sociology journals at a rate higher than almost any other faculty in the country. Since classes are small and our faculty is relatively large, graduate students receive quite a bit of personal attention. Intellectual and social interaction with our faculty is frequent. Graduate students are paired with faculty mentors, thus affording students the opportunity to participate actively in research projects, often supported by external funding, conducted by the faculty. Such collaborations often result in publications coauthored by students.

Students also take advantage of the facilities, faculty, and resources associated with the Center for Social and Demographic Analysis, the Lewis Mumford Center for Comparative Urban and Regional Research, the Institute for Research on Women, the Center for Women in Government and Civil Society, the Hindelang Criminal Justice Research Center, the Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy, the Schools of Criminal Justice, Public Health, Social Welfare (located on SUNY's downtown and East campuses), and a variety of New York State agencies, including the New York State Office of Mental Health.

The University at Albany has recently completed construction on a number of new facilities, several of which directly benefit our department and our graduate students. Our department is now located on the third floor of the newly renovated Arts & Sciences building and we are comfortably settling into our new offices and research space. Empire Commons was completed in Fall 2002, offering a convenient on-campus housing community for graduate students. The university has also just completed a significant expansion of wireless service on campus, allowing students with laptop computers to access university resources from all of the Campus Center and the libraries, as well as many outdoor sections of the campus.

In closing, I would like to welcome our 2007 graduate student cohort.