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 Requirements:
Students who were admitted to WVU Fall 2005 or later, you are subject to the requirements of the General Education Curriculum (GEC). 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.
Students who were admitted to WVU before Fall 2005 are subject to the requirements of the Liberal Studies Program (LSP), but may elect to follow the GEC requirements. SOCA 101 and 105 may be counted toward Cluster B requirements. In addition, SOCA 105 may be used to satisfy International Studies and Foreign/Minority/Gender Studies requirements.
WVU also requires a course with a substantial writing component (W). Criminology and Investigations 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 website. Students cannotuse foreign language requirements to satisfy GEC requirements.
Division Requirements:
In addition to STAT 211/215, all students in the Division must complete the following courses:
SOCA 101 Introduction to Sociology
SOCA 105 Introduction to 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 5 credit hours. This is done by permit only during your senior year and will be explained during your first advising session in the Division.
Criminology and Investigations majors must also complete the following requirements. The courses listed under each area may not be offered every semester, so make sure to consult the course schedule. Courses numbered 293 or 493 are special topic courses without permanent course numbers, but may be counted toward Division requirements as specified below.
Course Descriptions
Foundation courses (6 credit hours required)
SOCA 232 Criminology
SOCA 233 Juvenile Delinquency
SOCA 330 The Criminal Justice System
Intermediate courses (9 credit hours required)
SOCA 293T Race, Racism, and the Law
SOCA 302 Deviant Behavior
SOCA 318 Hate Crime
SOCA 319 Police Culture and Socialization
SOCA 321 Punishment and Social Control (formerly Prisons and Incarcerations)
SOCA 324 Gender and Crime (formerly Female Offenders)
SOCA 331 Sociology of Law
SOCA 334 Corporate and White Collar Crime
SOCA 335 Criminal Justice Processes
SOCA 339 Organized Crime
SOCA 345 Terrorism
SOCA 346 Victimology
SOCA 370 Cities and Urban Life
Advanced courses (6 credit hours required)
SOCA 335 Criminal Justice Processes (only when offered as Writing and Capstone course)
SOCA 370 Cities and Urban Life (only when offered as Writing and Capstone course)
SOCA 402 The Investigating Professions
SOCA 407 Constructing Social Problems
SOCA 444 Neighborhoods and Crime
SOCA 461 Issues in Crime and Justice
SOCA 493W Media, Crime, and Deviance
Non-criminology elective courses (9 credit hours required)
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 293R Environmental Sociology
SOCA 293V Cultural Resource Management
SOCA 293W Understanding Social Issues
SOCA 293X Inequality and the Media
SOCA 304 Complex Organizations
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 494 Advanced Sociological Methods (quantitative focus)
SOCA 494 Advanced Sociological Methods (qualitative focus)
Students are encouraged to enroll in one or more of the following courses their senior year:
SOCA 490 Teaching Practicum (1-3 credit hours, graded)
SOCA 491 Professional Field Experience (1-18 credit hours, P/F)
SOCA 495 Independent Study (1-6 credit hours, graded)
Up to three credits of SOCA 491 or 495 may be counted toward elective requirements for the major (any additional credits count only toward the 128 hours needed to graduate). Students must identify a supervising faculty member and complete a special course contract to enroll in these courses.