Welcome

Welcome to the Yale Sociology Department

Sociology – the systematic study of social life and social transformation – is flourishing at Yale. In 1875, Yale professor William Graham Sumner (1840-1910) offered the first American course titled “Sociology.” Today’s department spans a wide array of areas and specialties, balanced with an emphasis on the core concepts, theory and methods of the discipline. Much is new since Sumner’s day, but the Yale department still offers an overarching vision of the field, its future, and its relationship to knowledge of our changing world.

News

May 8, 2025
Sociology graduate student Jason Wong recently published two first-author articles.  The first article entitled “Socially Withdrawn or Socially Engaged?  The Impacts of...
May 6, 2025
Assistant Professor Emma Zang’s research was highlighted in the New York Times.  Emma’s research shows the significant impact of sibling relationships on academic...
May 6, 2025
Associate Professor Rourke O’Brien was one of four Yale faculty to receive the Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS) Graduate Mentor Award.  Award recipients...
May 6, 2025
Sociology major August Rios was named as one of the 2025 Truman Scholars.  Scholarship recipients are selected for “outstanding leadership potential, a commitment to a career...
May 5, 2025
Isabela Alvarado’s senior thesis “Careers in Translation: Occupational Downgrading and Identity Reconstruction Among Venezuelan Immigrants in the United States” was...