Sociology, PhD

Location(s): Main Campus

The doctoral program of the Department of Sociology is distinguished by its emphasis on world-historical social science. It offers promising scholars the opportunity to pursue the critical study of political economy, culture, power, knowledge and hierarchies of class, race and gender. Inquiry is guided by multiple theoretical approaches and research methodologies and addresses the interplay of the local and the global, as well as the past and the present. Substantive research interests include, but are not limited to, labor, work and world-scale capital accumulation; imperialism, colonialism and diasporic formations; state formation and hegemony; social movements; racial, ethnic and gendered forms of domination; processes and institutions of knowledge production and distribution; world-systems studies; historical sociology; and alternative paths of technological and economic change and their divergent social and environmental consequences.

Within this broad framework, the department stresses independent scholarly development, rather than standardized training in established specializations. Students are encouraged to develop their own intellectual pursuits and, in consultation with faculty, design their programs of study and select their own areas of scholarly competence. Individual programs of study generally include introductory and advanced seminars, colloquia and doctoral research seminars in the department. Relevant coursework in other departments, programs or schools and independent study with department faculty may be taken only with the approval of the director of graduate studies. Students may also have occasion to collaborate with faculty on research of mutual interest, including in collaborative student/faculty research groups.

Students considering the program should carefully note the department’s thematic strengths, faculty breadth and research interests, and course and program requirements.

Admission Requirements

Applicants are expected to have a superior academic record and an informed interest in pursuing advanced studies in the Department of Sociology at Binghamton University. The program is as demanding intellectually as it is flexible structurally, and adequate preparation is indispensable. Nonetheless, prior work in a department of sociology is not essential. Admissions are based on a variety of criteria. Students must submit appropriate samples of their writing that they consider indicative of their scholarly promise. Students are also asked to submit a carefully framed statement that addresses why they specifically want to come to Binghamton and spell out the directions they anticipate developing in their work while here. In addition, letters of recommendation, transcripts and appropriate standardized test scores (TOEFL/IELTS/PTE Academic) are required. Experience suggests, however, that while test scores are helpful, the writing samples, along with the statement and letters of recommendation, are better indicators of potential for success in the program.

Students who are not citizens or permanent residents of the United States must also submit proof of English proficiency (such as TOEFL, IELTS or PTE Academic scores). International students who have received a college or university degree from an institution in the United States, United Kingdom (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales), Ireland, Australia, New Zealand or some Canadian provinces are not required to submit TOEFL, IELTS or PTE Academic scores. Additionally, all international students must provide immigration forms guaranteeing financial support.

Admission information, including electronic forms, can be found online. A personal interview is not required, although the department encourages and can help coordinate campus visits. The department only admits applicants for the doctoral degree. Applicants should feel free to send questions by email to the director of graduate studies or any member of the faculty specializing in research areas in which the applicant may also have an interest. For further information, see the faculty listings on the department’s website.

Completed applications are due Jan. 1 for consideration for departmental funding.

Program Requirements

The department offers coursework, supervised independent study and research guidance at various stages of study. Core courses are offered in world-system studies; contemporary capitalism; world-historical perspectives on race, class and gender; methodologies; and theoretical studies. In addition, there are colloquia and seminars that prepare students for advanced research and writing.

Course Requirements

Each student’s program is worked out in consultation with the director of graduate studies and one or more faculty advisors in light of the student’s preparation and interests. Ordinarily, a first-year program consists of six courses, including four of the five core courses offered by the department. During the second year, the student completes remaining course requirements by taking advanced seminars and a course on writing for publication and has the possibility of taking an independent study course (SOC 697) arranged by agreement with a selected faculty advisor. The PhD degree requires completion of 12 courses if entering with a BA or nine courses if entering with an MA.

A second group of courses is regularly offered to cover key subject areas, including courses in the areas of political economy, inequalities and world-systems/world-historical studies. Special, advanced topics courses are also regularly offered.

The MA in Sociology is awarded after completing nine courses of graduate coursework as part of the PhD program.

When students become course complete, they are required to register for and attend a writing practicum which supports them in completing their advanced studies.

Core Courses

The Core Courses include the following:

Advanced Studies

In advanced studies, students concentrate their work in developing a paper of publishable quality, demonstrating a high level of competence in an area of inquiry and in developing a dissertation-research project. The actual program of studies is jointly worked out by the student and a study committee chosen by the student.

Students will demonstrate their competence in the craft of writing scholarship for publication by formulating, researching, writing, presenting and revising a paper that they could develop into a publishable paper during their second year of the program. The aim of the second-year paper is to help students begin the process of writing for publication early on in graduate school. The paper should formulate a compelling rationale for the project, be it an empirical puzzle or theoretical debate, elaborate a well-reasoned argument and support it with in-depth or systematically gathered evidence. To develop a publishable paper, students will form a study committee of two sociology faculty members, one as chair. Students will identify their chair by the end of the second semester and formulate a proposal for the paper by the start of the third semester. To support them in completing this paper, students will take a course on writing for publication during their second year. The aim of the course will be to orient students to the peer review process, familiarize students with a variety of forms that published scholarship can take and support students in completing the initial draft of the research paper. Students submit the paper to their committee for final evaluation by the end of the fourth semester.

Students will demonstrate their competence in a field or area of intellectual inquiry (whether established or newly defined by the student) by successful completion and defense of an area paper or a critical literature review by the end of their fifth semester. The area paper or critical literature review typically comprises 1) a critical review of the literature (debates, theories, research methods and practices, and matters of generally accepted fact, along with a mapping of the origins, trajectories and inter-relations among these diverse approaches, as relating to a particular theoretical area of inquiry; 2) an indication of one’s own understanding and theoretical approach to the debates in this field; and 3) how one would move forward in his/her own later research and teaching as relating to this field. This area should be discussed and developed in close consultation with one’s committee chair, with whom students often take an independent study in their last semester of coursework, and with at least one other committee member. Students must form their committee of two faculty members and a reader by the end of their fourth semester. Demonstration of competence in an area is based on the successful oral defense of the area paper or critical literature review, presentation of syllabi, research papers and other supporting material, and an indication of how one’s future research and teaching activities will be informed by one’s work in this area. See the Graduate Handbook for further discussion of the area paper.

Dissertation and PhD

After successfully passing the second-year paper and the examination of their area of inquiry, students form a PhD dissertation committee, to be composed of at least three persons, including a chair and at least two other members, one of which must be from among the department faculty. The chair of the dissertation committee must be a regular tenured or tenure-track member of the Department of Sociology. In certain circumstances, a member of the committee may be non-tenure track (e.g., international adjunct, visiting professor), with permission of the director of graduate studies and the Graduate School. Within six months of demonstrating their competency in an area of inquiry, typically by the end of the sixth semester, the student must submit a dissertation prospectus (proposal) which must then be approved by members of the dissertation committee. The filing of the approved prospectus confirms official admission to PhD candidacy and ABD (all-but-dissertation) status.

The department recommends that the University grant the PhD in sociology when the student has fulfilled the University residence and doctoral research requirements; passed an oral examination (“the defense”) administered by the University on the topic of the dissertation; and deposited with the University a copy of the dissertation approved by the examining committee.

Additional Information About the Program

Funding

A small number of department assistantships are awarded each year to entering students. Awards are highly competitive. In arriving at a decision on admission and funding, the department pays primary attention to an applicant’s scholarly promise as indicated by submitted written work, the statement of purpose and past academic record as indicated in transcripts and letters of recommendation. Normally, a student in good standing remains eligible for funding for four years if the student enters the doctoral program with a bachelor’s degree or equivalent, and for three years if the student already has a master’s degree or equivalent. Graduate assistant/teaching assistant awards come with a benefits package. For further information, contact the Office of Human Resources.

Adjunct teaching positions are available, on a competitive basis, to students admitted to PhD candidacy.

For more information on the Sociology PhD program, please refer to the Sociology Department website. To apply to the Sociology PhD program, please visit the University Admissions website.