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.
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.
