Sociology and Anthropology
- Degree Type Bachelor of Arts
- Department Sociology and Anthropology
- Academic Division The College
- Offerings Major
Sociology and Anthropology students are curious about how society and culture work and care deeply about solving social problems to make the world better.
Sociology and Anthropology
W&L提供一个主修人类学或社会学的专业 跨学科考古学辅修课程.
Our courses cover the following themes: archaeology and historical social science; gender, sexuality and human development; global cultures; health and society; identity and inequality; and politics, economics and culture.
Our classes feature a free-form style of learning where students apply readings to real-life situations and explore their own topics of interest. 当与与自己不同的人和文化一起工作时, 学生们学习如何从其他角度看世界. Students engage with theoretical perspectives and practical skills that are applicable to their lives. This mixture of topical and practical training prepares our graduates for entering a variety of graduate schools and careers.
Typically, 学生选择最符合他们兴趣的研究方法, work closely with professors in the classroom and through independent research projects, 并通过学习突破知识的界限, travel and community engagement. 学生们在阿巴拉契亚等地进行了研究, New York City, Western Europe, India, French Polynesia, Nepal, South Africa, Madagascar, Romania and Peru.
Masako Konishi to Deliver Lecture as Part of the Class of 1963 Scholars in Residence Program
小西是Forever 21的首席营销官,她将于9月11日发表演讲. 25.
Cultivating a Community of Care
通过戴维斯和平项目基金和富布赖特ETA基金, Allie Stankewich ’23 is building relationships with the communities she serves in East Africa.
Sai Chebrolu ’26 and Valentina Giraldo Lozano ’25 are among 13 students chosen for the Zero Hunger Internship program.
W&L students in the Spring Term course Global Urban Sociology are examining the social consequences of an increasingly urbanized world.
W&L ' s Michelle Morgan ' 24 ' earn Fulbright到北马其顿
Morgan was selected for a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship to teach English in North Macedonia.
Students, faculty and alumni gathered April 12-13 to recognize the archaeological evolution of W&L’s back campus.
The April 6 gathering marks the restoration of “The Foundation” on the university’s campus, 原本是历史悠久的自由大厅学院财产的一部分.
Record Number of W&L学生获重要语言奖学金
The Critical Language Scholarship Program funds a summer of overseas language and cultural immersion.
Sample Courses
What classes will you take?
SOAN 278
健康与不平等:医学社会学导论
本课程介绍健康与疾病的社会学观点. Students examine topics such as social organization of medicine; the social construction of illness; class, race and gender inequalities in health; and health care reform. 我们解决的一些问题是:医疗行业是如何变化的? 以市场为导向的医疗有什么利弊? 阶级对健康结果有持久的影响吗? 朋友吃什么,我们就是什么,这是真的吗? Can unconscious racial bias affect the quality of care for people of different ethnicities? 哪些陷阱影响了循证医学的实施方式?
SOAN 266
Neighborhoods and Inequality
This course examines the ways in which residential context relates to social and economic inequalities. 借鉴社会学及相关领域的实证文献, we consider both (a) how residential contexts may shape individuals’ opportunities and (b) the factors that may shape the persistence or change of concentrated advantage and disadvantage across those residential settings. Half of the course is a traditional seminar and half is a data analysis lab in which we learn tools of spatial data analysis and then apply them in individual student projects on contemporary cities.
SOAN 210
Field Methods in Archaeology
Students study the cultural and natural processes that lead to the patterns we see in the archaeological record. Using the scientific method and current theoretical motivations in anthropological archaeology, students learn how to develop a research design and to implement it with actual field excavation. We visit several field excavation sites in order to experience firsthand the range of archaeological field methods and research interests currently undertaken by leading archaeologists. Students use the archaeological data to test hypotheses about the sites under consideration and produce a report of their research.
SOAN 208
Qualitative Methods
Qualitative research methods are widely used to provide rich and detailed understandings of people’s experiences, interactions, 在更广泛的社会政治和经济背景下的叙述和实践. 典型的方法包括口述历史, interviews, participant observation, 以及视觉文化和文本文化的分析. 学生将从事与社区利益一致的研究. 项目的各个阶段将包括主题确定, research design, ethical and legal considerations, 选择合适的方法, data collection, analysis and write-up, and presentation and critique.
SOAN 228
Race & Ethnic Relations
An examination of why and how society creates and maintains racial and ethnic boundaries in the US. 我们讨论了一些关键问题, which include: What conditions constitute a privileged group and an oppressed group? 太阳城集团官网和如何种族/少数民族群体, 穷人和妇女受到歧视, 社会生活中的压迫和排斥? 是否存在针对特权种族/民族的种族歧视? How can ordinary people, policymakers and social scientists contribute to improving race and ethnic relations among different social groups in the U.S.?
SOAN 240
Food, Culture & Society
本课程探讨食物、文化和社会之间的联系. 食物一直是个人和社会定义自己的重要方式, 尤其是在我们这个日益全球化的世界里, as cultural anthropology continues to be a central discipline guiding this field of study. Students review some of the classic symbolic and structural analyses of gastro-politics. 我们探索快餐/全球化口味与. 慢食运动/本土化口味, and delve into socioeconomic and political practices behind the production and consumption of coffee, 奶制品和酒精饮料. 学生调查烹饪/饮食和种族之间的关系, gender and sexuality, 讨论社区食物公平. Opportunities to experience the Rockbridge area food scene are integrated into the syllabus.
Meet the Faculty
At W&L, students enjoy small classes and close relationships with professors who educate and nurture.
Jonathan Eastwood
Department Head, Sociology and Anthropology; Professor of Sociology
Professor Eastwood is a social theorist who also has a strong interest in quantitative methods. He teaches seminars on classical and contemporary theory as well as a series of courses that train students how to use quantitative and computational tools to answer sociological questions.
Alison Bell
Professor of Anthropology
贝尔教授美国历史人类学课程. 她的研究兴趣包括历史考古学, material culture, social stratification, 以及18和19世纪在美国东部.
Lynn G. Chin
社会学副教授
中国教授关于权力和地位的课程, health and inequality, 以及社会学中其他独特的话题. 她的研究重点是群体过程和社会心理学.
Donald Gaylord
研究考古学家和人类学讲师
Gaylord teaches courses in archaeology including Field Methods in Archaeology and Discovering W&用历史考古学研究L的起源. 他研究财产所有权和土地使用的人类学分析.
Marcos Perez
社会学助理教授
Perez teaches courses such as Revolutions and Revolutionaries and Poverty and Marginality in the Americas. 他的研究兴趣包括政治社会学, urban studies, 分层和拉丁美洲研究.