Document Actions
Honors and Independent Study
Independent Study and Reading
Sociology 396, titled "Independent Study and Reading," may be taken for 1-3 hours of credit, depending on the amount of academic work to be done by the student. Any student is eligible to take 396 with a sponsoring faculty member in the Department, but is usually taken by those who have had at least three previous courses in sociology.
You will need to download the Soci form 396. Fill it out and return it to the sociology office, 155 Hamilton Hall.
The following are some typical uses of Sociology 396:
- The student does reading and research in an area in which no course is offered.
- The student has taken course work in an area and wishes to undertake advanced or more specialized work in that field.
- The student combines employment and study in some internship program for which he or she wishes to receive academic credit.
Students wishing to take Sociology 396 should carefully think through the purposes and substance of the course they would like to do. If an internship is planned, it is the student's responsibility to secure the employment. All sociology 396s must include related reading work and a final written product. Registering for 396 is contingent upon the student identifying a sociology faculty member who will sponsor and oversee their work. After the student has decided on a plan of action, he or she should come to the Department office to obtain the form necessary for seeking faculty sponsorship and permission to take the course.
It is up to the supervising instructor in consultation with the student to decide exactly how much reading and possibly outside work is to be done by the student, how often the two will meet to discuss what is being accomplished in the course, and what papers or examinations will be a part of the course. Some reading and written work involving sociological analysis must be done to receive credit for this course.
To graduate with "honors" in Sociology, a major must meet these requirements:
- a cumulative GPA of at least 3.2 overall and in the major;
- completion of an honors thesis based on independent study (which may or may not involve collection of one's own set of data) under the supervision of a faculty thesis advisor;
- participation in a senior honors thesis seminar--in both the Fall (SOCI 691H) and the Spring (692H) semester year for May graduates, and in the final fall semester (SOCI 691H) for December graduates.
Either one or two courses' worth of credit (SOCI 691H and SOCI 692H) can be earned for the thesis and seminar participation, depending on how much work the thesis actually entails. However, only one semester (SOCI 691H) of the senior honors thesis seminar may be counted as "upper-level" credit toward the completion of a student's major in Sociology.
The department attempts to identify and invite all qualified students to participate in the honors program at the end of their junior year. But some are occasionally overlooked. This is especially true for double-majors and transfer students and for those who declare their major in sociology relatively late in their college careers. Anyone who is interested in the honors program and who might qualify to participate should consult his or her major advisor or the department's advisor no later than preregistration time in the second semester of his or her junior year.
The Howard Odum Undergraduate Award
This award was established in 1967 in honor of Professor Howard Odum, who founded and first chaired the UNC Sociology Department. Odum was a pioneer in American sociology and a major influence on the discipline. The Department faculty selects the recipient of the annual Award on the basis of grade records and other demonstrations of academic talent and accomplishment as an undergraduate. The recipients of the 2009 Award were Parfait Gasana and Laurie Graham.