Comparative Sociology
About the Department
The disciplines of sociology and anthropology provide the foundation for an integrated curriculum in the Department of Comparative Sociology at Puget Sound. Faculty members representing both disciplines share a fundamental concern for engaging students in critical comparative study of social and cultural phenomena from a wide variety of ethnographic and historical contexts.
The overall goal of the department is to provide students with a program that enables them to: 1) comprehend the diversity and similarities of societies from a broad range of cross-cultural and historical settings; 2) develop a comparative perspective from the integration of theories and methods drawn from both sociology and anthropology; 3) learn to analyze and interpret socio-cultural phenomena in light of relevant assumptions, knowledge, theory, and praxis; and 4) effectively communicate acquired knowledge and insight.
A major in comparative sociology provides excellent opportunity to develop knowledge and skills valued in a wide range of career possibilities in the private or public sector. It also provides excellent preparation for graduate study in anthropology, sociology, social work, law, criminology, counseling, or public policy. Further, the major is a rewarding end in itself, providing students with valuable experiences for their intellectual growth.
For all students - majors, minors, or those simply taking comparative sociology courses as part of their liberal arts education - the Comparative Sociology department is strongly committed to the development of analytic skills and reflective thinking in the process of conveying knowledge of other societies and cultures. In this endeavor, faculty attempt to expand students’ intellectual horizons, challenge them to recognize the oftentimes ethnocentric limitations of personal experience and individual biography, and encourage them to become more conscious of the ways human beings come to take the “reasonableness” of their world for granted.
