The Graduate Program

Program of Study

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The Curriculum: Required Courses

Several basic and advanced courses are required of all students who enter with only a bachelor's degree. In addition, they are required of other students who cannot demonstrate previous equivalent work at the graduate level. These courses include:

  • One semester of classical sociological theory, for three credit hours.
  • One-semester of sociological research methods, for three credit hours.
  • One semester of advanced social statistics for three credit hours. The student must have taken a more elementary statistics course as a prerequisite, or have received the permission of the instructor.
  • A Proseminar, for a total of three credit hours. This seminar provides a general introduction to faculty and facilities at the University and develops professional skills.
  • One semester (three credit hours) in the Master’s Research Practicum. In this practicum, students develop an outline for their M.A. Thesis and present ongoing progress reports of their work. Students working on their doctoral dissertations may also take this practicum for credit if they have not previously taken the same course.
  • One advanced seminar in sociological theory, for three credit hours.
  • One advanced seminar in sociological methods or social statistics, for three credit hours.
  • Five graduate level sociology seminars in a variety of substantive areas of the discipline, for a total of fifteen credit hours.

Each year in the spring, prior to the pre-registration period for fall courses, the area committees in Theory and in Methods & Statistics will determine and communicate to the Director of Graduate Studies which graduate courses meet the requirement for “advanced” seminars in their respective areas. These lists will be approved and published by the Director of Graduate Studies.

The above courses constitute 35 of the required 54 credit hours for completion of the doctoral program. Students can earn the remaining 19 credits required for their degree by enrolling in any combination of the following course offerings:

  • Master’s thesis research credits (a maximum of 6 credits can be applied toward the required total of 54)
  • Dissertation research credits (a maximum of 12 credits can be applied toward the required total of 54)
  • Graduate seminars offered by the Sociology Department above and beyond the required courses
  • 1-credit training seminars offered by the Sociology Department
  • Graduate courses offered by other Notre Dame departments
  • Advanced undergraduate Sociology courses at the 400 level (not to exceed 10 credit hours)
  • Directed Readings (not to exceed three credit hours per semester and six credit hours total)

Directed Reading courses ought to be confined to reading and research on highly specialized topics that are immediately relevant to the student's interests and that are not routinely covered in the regular curriculum. These courses are not to be employed as substitutes for readily accessible forms of classroom training.

To schedule a Directed Readings course, the student should obtain the permission of the cooperating faculty member and complete the appropriate form, copies of which are available in the departmental office. On this form, the student must explain the reasons for this unusual arrangement as well as list the materials to be explored. Forms signed by the cooperating faculty member are to be returned to the departmental office, where they are retained in the student's personal file.