Degree Requirements
To complete the degree, students must earn a total of 128 credit hours and meet the requirements of WVU, the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, and the Division.
WVU’s General Education Curriculum (GEC):
For a complete description of GEC requirements, see http://www.arc.wvu.edu/courses/GEC.html.
Students may count SOCA 101 toward GEC objective 4 or 7, and SOCA 105 toward GEC objective 8 or 9. Students may count no more than one additional SOCA course toward their GEC requirements.
WVU also requires a course with a substantial writing component (W). Sociology and Anthropology majors satisfy this requirement when they complete a Writing and Capstone course during their senior year.
Eberly College of Arts and Sciences foreign language requirement:
The College requires four semesters of a single foreign language. Students with no prior instruction in a language satisfy this requirement by successfully completing courses 101, 102, 203, and 204. Students must take a placement test to start at a level higher than 101. For more information about placement tests, see the Foreign Language Department’s homepage (http://forlang.wvu.edu/). Students cannot use foreign language requirements to satisfy GEC requirements.
Major requirements:
In addition to STAT 211 or 215, students must complete the following courses:
SOCA 101 Introduction to Sociology
SOCA 105 Introduction to Anthropology
SOCA 199 Orientation to Sociology and Anthropology
SOCA 311 Social Research Methods
SOCA 401 Sociological Theory
SOCA 389 Writing in Sociology and Anthropology
SOCA 488 The Capstone Experience
Students take SOCA 389 and 488 concurrently with a substantive course that is designated as a Writing and Capstone course, for a total of five credit hours. This is done senior year by permit only.
Criminology & Investigations majors must also complete the following requirements. Courses numbered 293 and 493 are special topic courses without permanent course numbers, but may be counted toward major requirements as specified in the course listings.
Foundation courses (six credit hours required)
SOCA 232 Criminology
SOCA 233 Juvenile Delinquency
SOCA 234 The Criminal Justice System
Intermediate courses (nine credit hours required)
SOCA 293T Race, Racism, and the Law
SOCA 302 Deviant Behavior
SOCA 318 Hate Crime (PR: SOCA 101, 232 or 233)
SOCA 319 Police Culture and Socialization (PR: SOCA 101, 232 or 233, and 330)
SOCA 321 Punishment and Social Control (PR: SOCA 101, 232 or 233)
SOCA 324 Gender and Crime (PR: SOCA 101, 232 or 233)
SOCA 331 Sociology of Law
SOCA 334 Corporate and White Collar Crime
SOCA 339 Organized Crime
SOCA 345 Terrorism
SOCA 346 Victimology
Advanced courses (six credit hours required)
SOCA 402 The Investigating Professions
SOCA 407 Constructing Social Problems
SOCA 435 Criminal Justice Processes (typically offered with 389/488)
SOCA 444 Neighborhoods and Crime
SOCA 461 Issues in Crime and Justice
SOCA 470 Cities and Urban Life (typically offered with 389/488)
SOCA 493E Internet Crime
SOCA 493W Media, Crime, and Deviance (typically offered with 389/488)
SOCA 493Y Radical Wings of Social Movement Organizations
SOCA 493 Situational Policing Survey (typically offered with 389/488)
SOCA 493 Survey Methods (typically offered with 389/488)
SOCA 493 Sex, Lies, and Statistics (typically offered with 389/488)
SOCA 494 Advanced Sociological Methods (typically offered with 389/488)
Non-criminology elective courses (nine credit hours required)
SOCA 207 Social Problems in Contemporary America
SOCA 221 Families and Society
SOCA 223 Death and Dying
SOCA 235 Race Relations
SOCA 238 Ethnic Groups
SOCA 252 Physical Anthropology
SOCA 254 Cultural Anthropology
SOCA 255 Latin American Cultures
SOCA 256 Traditional and Changing Africa
SOCA 258 Introduction to Archaeology (Co-Req: SOCA 250, Archaeology Laboratory)
SOCA 293O North American Archaeology
SOCA 293R Environmental Sociology
SOCA 293V Cultural Resource Management
SOCA 293W Understanding Social Issues
SOCA 293X Inequality and the Media
SOCA 304 Complex Organizations
SOCA 318 Hate Crime (PR: SOCA 101, 232 or 233)
SOCA 320 Social Psychology
SOCA 322 Third World Development
SOCA 323 Sociology of Rural Life
SOCA 333 Sociology of Work and Work Places
SOCA 336 Sociology of Religion
SOCA 337 Sociology of American Business
SOCA 353 Anthropology of Religion
SOCA 358 Anthropology of Health and Illness
SOCA 359 World Prehistory
SOCA 360 Women and Men in Society
SOCA 405 Introduction to Social Inequality
SOCA 440 Social Change
SOCA 463 Economy and Society
SOCA 493V Contemporary Social Theory
SOCA 493X Rise of Social Complexity
SOCA 493 Environmental Anthropology
Students are encouraged to do independent study, fieldwork, or an internship in their junior or senior year. Students must identify a supervising faculty member and complete a special course contract to enroll in these courses. Up to three credit hours of independent study (SOCA 495) or field experience (SOCA 491) may be counted toward fulfilling departmental elective requirements (any additional credits count only toward the 128 hours needed to graduate).