Utah State University
Department of SSW&A
0730 Old Main Hill
Logan, UT 84322-0730
Tel. 435-797-1230
Fax 435-797-1240
ann.johns@usu.edu

department of
Sociology, Social Work & Anthropology

Demography

The Demography area of specialization is administered through the Population Research Laboratory. The orientation is twofold: (1) basic and policy oriented research on sociological aspects of demographic structure and processes including migration, marriage and fertility, morbidity and mortality and technical demographic topics such as population estimates and projections; and, (2) the provision of demographic training to domestic and international students relevant to their respective settings. Research endeavors encompass a broad range of local, regional, national, and international projects in the areas of migration and population redistribution, family demography, life course and aging, health and disability, labor force, and population estimates and projections. Graduate course work is provided in social demography, population theories and policy, demographic methods as well as various special topic seminars.

For a more detailed description of this specialization area (including a list of recent faculty publications and research projects) click HERE

Environmental Sociology/Natural Resources

The faculty in the Environmental/Natural Resource Sociology sub-field maintain active research involvement across a wide variety of topics. Current research projects focus on the social impacts of natural resource development, social implications of hazardous and radioactive waste management and the risks of toxic exposure, community growth and changes associated with local environmental conditions, public lands management issues, public responses to environmental regulations and changing land management regulations, recreation and tourism development issues, social dimensions of wildlife resource management and numerous other topics involving natural resource use and environmental quality.

Faculty and graduate students are often involved in collaborative and interdisciplinary research efforts involving colleagues in engineering, natural resource science fields, and other physical and social sciences. Much of the faculty and graduate student research in this specialty area is coordinated through the Institute for Social Science Research on Natural Resources, a research unit housed within the department.

Graduate curriculum offerings are focused on the sociology of natural resources, environmental sociology, inequality and environmental problems.

For a more detailed description of this specialization area (including a list of recent faculty publications and research projects) click HERE

Social Problems and Inequality

The social problems and inequality area is a specialization that focuses on theoretical and research-related issues relevant to various forms of inequality in society and to a range of topics currently defined as "social problems." Students will find a good deal of flexibility in the program allowing them to pursue special interests. The area includes a significant number of departmental faculty members actively involved in social problems research.

A number of themes will be emphasized in each of the specific content courses for the Social Problems area. For example: how are social problems defined? What identifiable interest groups are involved in defining social problems? How do responses to social problems vary across time, place, and group? Examples of specific content of courses in this area include: criminal justice, aging, gender, race and ethnic relations, mental health, sexuality, social change, stratification, science/technology, medicine, and work.

For a more detailed description of this specialization area (including a list of recent faculty publications and research projects) click HERE

Social Change and Development

The Social Change and Development specialization includes two areas of focus: international development in the context of developing societies, and the rural sociology in the context of advanced industrial societies. Two major goals of the program are to give students the conceptual and analytical foundations needed to understand development trends and processes, and to convey specific skills required for effective performance in applied fields. The basic curriculum covers a broad range of topics related to processes of local, national and international development. Core courses in this area include Advanced Rural Sociology, Sociology of Developing Societies, Gender and International Development, Applied Rural Development, and Cities and Development. Faculty involved in this area of specialization conduct a broad range of both domestic and international research focusing on rural conditions and trends. Current projects include a study of social changes accompanying rural economic restructuring in the western U.S., studies of restructuring and reorganization affecting U.S. agricultural operations, and studies focusing on the social implications of large-scale water resource developments occurring in several Asian societies.

For a more detailed description of this specialization area (including a list of recent faculty publications and research projects) click HERE

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For more information Email Dr. Doug Jackson-Smith @ doug.jackson-smith@usu.edu