Prof. Kaufman meets and chats with student

Sociology

Sociology at Davidson

Sociology analyses and contextualizes the ways in which structural opportunities and constraints predict individual outcomes. Students develop a sophisticated ability to evaluate the effects of social dynamics in an increasingly interconnected world.

The Sociology Department at Davidson has particular strengths in a variety of sociological specializations, including:

The Sociology of Conflict
The Sociology of Culture
The Sociology of Education
The Sociology of Gender
The Sociology of the Past
The Sociology of Migration
The Sociology of Power
The Sociology of Race and Ethnicity
The Sociology of Religion
The Sociology of Urban Life

In each of these areas, we ask that students critically engage with the ways in which current realities are constructed (and deconstructed) and how existing social problems came (and continue) to be. Additionally, sociology offers rigorous methodological training, and students graduate with wide-ranging acumen in oral history methods, statistics, survey and interview best practices, and quasi-quantitative methods like discourse and geo-spatial analysis

Student/Faculty Research

Our faculty members are leaders in their classrooms and in their fields of expertise. With books and journals on a variety of topics published by the most highly respected outlets, theoretical discussions are never far from the discipline's cutting edge.

Sociology Research

Sociology student reads book to small child

Sociology in the Community

Faculty members and students are actively engaged in issues of the local and national community. Working to understand our lives and societies so that we can improve them is part of the sociological mission.

Three students stand around their research posters, ready to present

Building Expertise

Students have the opportunity to present and publish research at academic conferences and in academic journals. Sociological study demands meticulous rigor and, once complete, should be shared.

Prof. Marti leans in near two students and joins their discussion

Collaborative Research

Our students work with faculty to ask–and answer–compelling research questions about our social world, learning the skills necessary to collect and analyze data in a variety of settings.

Sociology News

Sociology Prof. Gerardo Martí Wins National Award for Anti-Racist Scholarship

Gerardo Martí, chair and professor of sociology at Davidson College, has been awarded the 2026 Sandra Barnes Anti-Racist Scholarship Award by the American Sociological Association. The prestigious honor recognizes his comprehensive body of work challenging racist structures through public scholarship, influential books and hands-on religious initiatives.

Sociology Events

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