Mission
The Sociology department at the University of Southern Indiana is committed to serving the university, our discipline and the community at large.
We are scholars with a vigorous commitment to quality and rigorous undergraduate education. We are dedicated to strengthening the university's educational goals through our multiple course offerings in the core curriculum and through our program of study.
We seek to enhance our students' lives through thoughtful and diverse teaching pedagogies which emphasize the scientific, interpretive and critical skills needed to conduct theoretically sound, methodologically rigorous and multifaceted analyses of human social phenomena at both the local and global levels. We offer students direct opportunities to develop and apply those skills through traditional research and experiential learning activities.
We believe our students and community are best served by emphasizing a strong foundation in the fundamental and broad perspectives of the discipline which permit students to analyze and understand social phenomena across times, places and cultures while minimizing ethnocentric biases. With this foundation, our graduates gain greater flexibility in career choices, are able to take leadership roles in their community and are better prepared to live effectively in this new global era.
As scholars, we are committed to advancing the knowledge of our discipline through research and publications in a variety of specialty areas; developing pedagogical materials; participating in regional, national and international professional meetings; and providing professional service to scholarly organizations. We respect and support the diverse research topics and approaches of our members in their scholarly activity.
We seek to support the university and community wherever our expertise meets broader needs. This involves bringing the best sociological knowledge to bear on the concerns, needs and problems faced in these environments.
Vision and Goals
We seek to become a distinguished undergraduate department recognized by the success of our graduates and faculty in both the scientific and larger community. We seek this objective through: