Welcome

WELCOME TO UCI SOCIOLOGY!

On behalf of the faculty, students, and staff in the Department of Sociology at the University of California, Irvine, I warmly invite you to explore our website to learn about the exciting scholarly and educational endeavors in our department.

In a short decade, sociology at UC Irvine has grown into what we can now call “Irvine Sociology,” in recognition of our department’s distinctive approach to research and education. Here we focus on the fundamental questions the world faces: how human beings organize themselves into different organizations, why inequalities exist, and why and how social change takes place. In scholarly pursuit of discovering new knowledge, we follow an approach that is theoretically informed yet at the same time empirically based. We respect and promote multiple methods of investigation, ranging from comparative-historical, demographic, ethnographic, and social networks, to statistical modeling and analysis. Our perspective is often global, with many faculty pursuing research in international settings. In graduate and undergraduate education, we strive for excellence with a curriculum that nurtures critical intellectual thinking while at the same time emphasizing basic research skills using a variety of approaches. We pride ourselves in close faculty mentoring and faculty-student collaboration. We also take pride in creating and maintaining a vibrant and collegial setting that allows us to focus on learning and discovering. Intellectual rigor, excellence, diversity, and departmental collegiality are the hallmarks that distinguish our program as Irvine Sociology.

In our department’s short history, our faculty has expanded from fewer than 10 to close to 30 now. Our faculty’s cutting-edge research is frequently supported by the National Science Foundation and other funding agencies, with results published in the most prestigious scholarly venues and repeatedly winning national awards. Our graduate program, established in 1998, now has over 80 students, and offers multiple opportunities for students to generate their own research agendas and collaborate with faculty. In 2007, 11 students completed their Ph.D. degrees, with six taking tenure-track positions elsewhere and three taking post-doctoral fellowships. Our undergraduate program, with more than 800 majors, is one of the largest on campus and is supported by award winning instructors. We provide opportunities for advanced undergraduate work in honors seminars and with individual faculty. It is no surprise that in its 2005 debut national ranking by U.S. News and World Report, Irvine Sociology ranked 27th nationally (out of 115 sociology doctoral programs) and 15th among departments at public universities.
Irvine Sociology is young and is still growing. We invite you to be part of our continued growth. For more information, consult the rest of our website and don't hesitate to contact us directly.

Sincerely,

WANG Feng
Professor and Chair

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