“[The sociological imagination] is a quality of mind that seems most dramatically to promise an understanding of the intimate realities of ourselves in connection with larger social realities.”
(C. Wright Mills)

Sociology at Bard aims to provide an understanding of the structure and processes of society - from micro-level daily interactions with friends, co-workers and family members to macro-level processes of global magnitude - that shape human social behavior. The Sociology curriculum provides students with a solid theoretical and empirical foundation for an understanding of the sources and consequences of these social forces and the extent to which they form people’s attitudes, behavior, social status and well-being. Faculty research and teaching areas include social inequality, gender and sexuality, poverty, education, immigration, the welfare state, subjective well-being, race and ethnicity, family life, deviance, crime and punishment, urban sociology, social problems, political sociology, social theory, and research methods. Students are encouraged to engage in internships and original research.