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Bachelor of Arts
Staging - Sociology
Major | Minor

Understand How Society Works, and Change It
Investigate inequality and power, then learn to be a force for justice.
Sociology at Goshen College asks what shapes how people live, think, and relate to each other. You investigate the forces behind human behavior, identity, inequality, and learn to be a force for justice and social transformation.
Rooted in Goshen’s core values, the program helps you understand and critique social systems. With small classes, close faculty mentorship, and immersive learning, you’ll gain real tools to promote positive change and prepare for a meaningful career.

Is Sociology Right for You?
This major fits students who notice how systems shape people’s lives and want to do something about it. You’ll build the analytical and research skills to read inequality clearly and to act. Sociology alumni work in social services, education, law, public policy, research, and nonprofit leadership. Moreover, many go on to graduate study in sociology, social work, law, or public administration.
It’s also a deeply human field, and a supported one. You learn alongside real people and communities, in small classes where faculty know you by name. This program is built around service and positive change that welcomes students of every background. Goshen is committed to affordability, and all students are considered for academic scholarships, so the question of whether this adds up has real answers.

What You’ll Study
As a sociology student, you’ll examine how social institutions, identities, and power structures shape everyday life. Courses focus on social theory, research methods, race and ethnicity, gender, religion, and inequality, giving you both the big-picture frameworks and the hands-on research skills the field runs on. The major and the minor draw on the same core, so you can go deep as a major, or add a sociological lens to another field with the minor. View the complete program requirements in our catalog.

Put Your Learning Into Action
Sociology at Goshen is hands-on. You can design and conduct community-based research, intern with local nonprofits, social service agencies, or policy organizations. As well as work with professors on evaluation projects for local institutions, or take your learning off campus through the Study-Service Term and urban-diversity programs in Chicago, Washington, D.C., or Guatemala.
The work is real. Past student projects have included studying jail overcrowding, updating census data for a civil rights agency, and researching gender dynamics in sports. You’ll also collaborate across the behavioral and social sciences through interdisciplinary coursework, research labs and community partnerships, sociology-led peace and justice initiatives, and guest lectures and panels on race, class, gender, and social reform.
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Paying for Goshen
It’s worth asking about early. Goshen is committed to affordability, and all students are automatically considered for academic scholarships based on GPA and test scores, alongside need-based aid. To see your own price after aid, run the net price calculator and talk with a real person in the financial aid office.
Common Questions About The Sociology Major
You’ll examine how social institutions, identities, and power structures shape everyday life, with courses in social theory, research methods, race and ethnicity, gender, religion, and inequality. The program balances big-picture frameworks with the hands-on research skills that prepare you for careers and graduate study.
Graduates work in social services, education, law, public policy, research, and nonprofit leadership, as community organizers, human resource specialists, counselors, educators, and advocates. Many continue to graduate study in sociology, social work, law, or public administration. 93% of graduates are employed or in service or grad school within a year.
You can design community-based research, intern with nonprofits and policy organizations, and work with professors on evaluation projects. Past students have studied jail overcrowding, updated census data for a civil rights agency, and researched gender in sports. You can also study off campus through the Study-Service Term and programs in Chicago, Washington, D.C., or Guatemala.
Goshen is committed to affordability, and all students are automatically considered for academic scholarships based on GPA and test scores, alongside need-based aid. Use the net price calculator on the financial aid page to see your real number rather than a sticker price, and a financial aid counselor can walk you through the options.
Start your application at the Goshen College apply page, or request information first if you’d like to talk through fit, research opportunities, or careers before committing. You can also schedule a visit to meet the faculty. Admission to Goshen is the first step into the major.
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Sister Veronica Adeduro
Associate Professor of Nursing
Phil Allman
Professor of Marine Biology
Andy Ammons
Professor of Biology
Hilary Arroyo
Assistant Professor of Nursing
Jessica Baldanzi
Professor of English
Department ChairManu Bhattarai
Assistant Professor of Physics
Amanda Borden
Assisant Professor of Public Health
Diana Boussom
Assistant Professor of American Sign Language
Rob Brenneman
Professor of Criminal Justice and Sociology
Deena Brissett
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Amy Budd
Associate Professor of Theater
Cheryl Caffee
Associate Professor of Nursing
Matthew Cloud
Visiting Assistant Professor of Chemistry
Andrew Clouse
Assistant Professor of Nursing
Brianna Conery
Assistant Professor of Nursing
Courtney Cotter
Assistant Professor of Social Work
Justin DeWeese
Assistant Professor of Kinesiology
Mark Douglass
Associate Professor of Music
Suzanne Ehst
Associate Academic Dean
Interdisciplinary Major Advisor
Patrick Farran
Associate Professor of Business
Nata Fontan
Assistant Professor of Social Work
Cristobal Garza Gonzalez
Associate Professor of Spanish
Colleen Geier
Professor of ASL Interpreting
Philipp Gollner
Professor of US History
Anna Groff
Associate Professor of Communication
Jeanette Harder
Program Director of the Masters Program of Social Work and Professor of Social Work
Jason Harrison
Assistant Professor of Business
Andrew Hartzler
Professor of Accounting
Matthew Hill
Professor of Music
Scott Hochstetler
Professor of Music
Michelle Horning
Professor of Accounting
Program Director
Department ChairDavid Housman
Professor of Mathematics
Department ChairKyle Hufford
Professor of Communication
Department ChairRoy Jackson
Associate Professor of Education
Luke Kreider
Associate Professor of Religion and Sustainability
Joe Kreider
Visiting Assistant Professor of English
Jewel Lehman
Professor of Kinesiology
Brooke Lemmon
Professor of Education
Director of Special EducationJeanne Liechty
Professor of Social Work
Department ChairAlysha Liljeqvist
Associate Professor of Business
Joey Lyon
Assistant Professor of Computer Science
Alicia Maldonado-Zahra
Scholar Activist Fellow
Kathryn Marsh
Visiting Associate Professor of Mathematics
Terry Martin
Associate Professor of Spanish
Sara Method
Associate Professor of Art
Elizabeth Miller
Director of the Institute for the Study of Global Anabaptism
Assistant Professor of History
& Convocation CoordinatorBeth Miller
Professor of Nursing
Raquel Montanez Gonzalez
Associate Professor of Biology
Jorge Montenegro Martinez
Assistant Professor of Business
Breanna Nickel
Associate Professor of Bible & Religion
Julie Reese
Professor of Psychology
Department ChairPaul Reimer
Professor of Physics
Department ChairJerrell Richer
Professor of Economics
Carl Kreider Chair and Co-Director of Global EngagementBrandon Sanchez Bravo
Visiting Assistant Professor of History
Jonathon Schramm
Professor of Sustainability and Environmental Education
Department ChairKatie Schramm
Assistant Professor of Nursing
Amanda Sensenig
Associate Professor of Psychology
Susan Setiawan
Professor of Nursing
Regina Shands Stoltzfus
Professor of Peace
Justice
and Conflict StudiesDan Smith
Professor of Chemistry
Department ChairRobina Sommers
Associate Professor of Education
Solomia Soroka
Professor of Music
Steven Thalheimer
Associate Professor of Education
Department ChairJennifer Van Fleet
Assistant Professor of Nursing
Randi Warren
Nursing Simulation Coordinator
Danae Wirth
Assistant Professor of Education
Roz Woll
Associate Professor of Music
Tiffany Wyse-Fisher
Associate Professor of Art
Jewel Yoder
Professor of Nursing
Department ChairKendra Yoder
Professor of Sociology
RJS and Co-Director of Global EngagementEyob Zeleke
Assistant Professor of Information Technology








































































