Welcome to the
Department of Sociology & Anthropology
Paul Gauguin's Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going? hangs in Boston's Museum of Fine Arts (see the full image). The questions Gauguin addressed with his brush and visualized with dabs of paint and splashes of color are the same ones we - the students and faculty in URI's Sociology and Anthropology programs - explore in our classrooms, in our research, and in the many opportunities we offer for experiential learning.
Our B.A. Sociology degree is rooted deeply in the liberal arts, offering students an opportunity to explore the connections between the sociological imagination and humanities and the other social disciplines. With an emphasis on the effects of inequality and a focus on institutional analysis and the prospects for social change, BA sociology students are well-equipped to pursue a wide variety of professional careers as well as graduate and legal education.
The B.S. Sociology degree allows students to concentrate their studies on criminology and the criminal justice system. Course work stresses an empirically and theoretically based understanding of crime, criminal behavior, corrections, and the workings of the criminal justice system at local, state, and federal levels. The broad general education component of the degree makes graduates especially well-qualified to begin careers in criminal justice or to pursue additional study.
URI's B.A. Anthropology degree offers a unique combination of social science, natural science, and humanistic inquiry. Courses ranging from Native North Americans to Coastal Anthropology, and from the Human Fossil Record to Immigration and Migration create a context in which students can choose to focus their attention on archaeology, physical anthropology, or socio-cultural anthropology or sample widely from the range of offerings. Graduates are well-positioned for careers in curating, cultural preservation, teaching, and to gain graduate and professional degrees.
Our department also houses the national office of Sociologists for Women in Society, an international organization whose members work to improve the position of women in societies world-wide.
A quick scan of our faculty directory will give you some idea of the range of research interests and activities underway in our department. There is something to pique the curiosity of nearly everyone.
As you can see, there is a lot going on here. Think about joining us in Sociology and Anthropology.
C. B. Peters
Chair, Sociology and Anthropology
News & Announcements
Anthropology Honor Society
URI Anthropology students have been chartered as the Alpha Rhode Island Chapter of Lamda Alpha, the national anthropology honor society. This is a tribute to the hard work of several students and to the academic excellence of our majors and our faculty. Right now, the recruitment of charter members is underway. If you're interested in being one of the first Lamda Alphas, shoot off an email to Ashley Waggoner for all the details.
The URI Anthropology Society is also up and running. Check out their page too.
Department contacts
Department Chair
C. B. Peters, cbp@uri.edu
Justice, Law & Society Minor Coordinator
Professor Leo Carroll, lcarroll@uri.edu
Administrative Assistant
Theresa Nobile, nobile@uri.edu
