ROCK HILL, SOUTH CAROLINA – Winthrop University’s Department of Sociology, Criminology & Anthropology has introduced a new sociology concentration that addresses many of today’s news headlines.
Beginning this fall, the new social inequalities concentration is designed to highlight the intersections of privilege and oppression throughout society in several areas, noted Assistant Professor of Sociology Mike Sickels.
The concentration calls for a wide range of courses covering topics related to racial and ethnic relations; social class and economic analysis; gender and sexuality; and inequalities related to age and disability. Examples of these courses include masculinities (SOCL509), urban sociology (SOCL309) and class, status, power (SOCL311).
“Honestly, I can’t imagine a more important time to offer this new concentration,” Sickels said. “We are living through a pandemic that is disproportionately affecting the poor and communities of color. We are taking a stand against police violence in black and brown communities and pushing for change in the criminal justice system. We’re fighting gender discrimination and the harassment of women and the LGBTQ community.”
Sickels says the program will allow students to embark on cutting-edge social science research and develop the vocabulary and analytical skills necessary to “dismantle systems of inequality outside of the classroom.”
The study of social inequalities is central to careers in government, human rights, nonprofit, activist work, criminal justice, education, the health care system and more, he added.
For more information on the new sociology concentration, contact Sickels at sickelsm@winthrop.edu.
