Experience

We consider experiential education to be a prime laboratory in which the sociology major puts her or his sociological knowledge and skills to work.

Our students have worked as interns with city planning staff, the public defender’s office, probation and parole agents, family service agencies, the battered women’s shelter, primary and secondary teachers, clergy, and others.

Nearly ever year, one or more of our majors participate in the urban studies program. This program engages students for four months in Chicago, where they live, study, and work under the supervision and guidance of the Associated Colleges of the Midwest urban studies faculty.

Duffy Partnerships

The Duffy Partnerships give the students both a macro and micro understanding of how institutions interact within society.

Duffy scholars apply, are selected and placed at community sites which fit their academic and professional goals and deepen their learning. They complete 90 hours/semester (~7-8 hours a week) on site and come together in a weekly seminar to reflect and analyzed their experiences. Duffy scholars learn how to read a community through sociological and interdisciplinary lenses in light of current events, as well as sociological and interdisciplinary texts.

The Duffy course is available every semester and students can enroll in one stand-alone or two sequential semesters beginning either in the fall or spring. In addition, one or more students are invited to build on their work through funded community-based research in the summer.

Study Abroad

Our majors are also encouraged to participate in one of a variety of overseas seminars offered by Beloit.