Department of Sociology

Welcome to the Department of Sociology

Chair’s Greetings

As Chair of the Department of Sociology, I am delighted to welcome you to this vibrant and friendly academic community. The Department of Sociology faculty consists of 18 tenure track faculty with full appointments in the School of Liberal Arts. Our graduate program faculty also includes 5 sociologists with full or partial appointments in other Schools on the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) campus.

The Department of Sociology offers an undergraduate major and minor in sociology in general, and a Medical Sociology minor, in particular. Through these programs, students gain sociological instruction and learn to employ sociological knowledge in seeking solutions to local, state, national and international issues. You will find the faculty to be committed to working with you both in and out of the classroom. As an IUPUI sociology major, you will find small class sizes, a variety of classroom options (nights; on-line), personalized academic planning, and relevant applied projects with community partners.

The graduate program offers Master of Arts (MA) degree and PhD Minor with instruction in both qualitative and quantitative methodologies. The MA program offers three areas of concentration—-Medical Sociology, Family, and Work/Organizations. Our faculty and students, both undergraduate and graduate, are doing research on an extraordinary range of topics. There is strong support and respect for this wonderful assortment of sociological research. Let me name just a few specific areas of research.

Research interests include bringing the rigorous methods of sociological inquiry to bear on such topics as understanding the social networks of heterosexual risk and HIV, fathers’ experience of work-family conflict, understanding the causes and consequences of adolescent gambling, why individuals become involved in political violence, social support and resilience in the aftermath of sexual assault, barriers that physically impaired community-dwelling older individuals have accessing timely healthcare, and the link between young women’s gender attitudes and risky sexual behavior. In support of their research over the last several years, our faculty has been awarded grants from the National Institute for Child Health and Development, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Lance Armstrong Foundation, Regenstrief Foundation, Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, Woodrow Wilson Foundation, U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, and Indiana State Department of Health.

The Sociology department draws on the unique resources offered by IUPUI and the city of Indianapolis. IUPUI has many outstanding departments, programs, and libraries that enrich our teaching, scholarship, and learning. Our department has strong associations with the IU School of Medicine, Office of International Affairs, Moi University School of Medicine in Kenya, Philanthropic Studies, the Center for Service and Learning, and Medical Humanities, just to name a few. The city of Indianapolis is not only a vibrant and fascinating place to study, it is also a wonderful place to live and visit. Indianapolis has been referred to as the amateur sports capital of the world. It is home to the largest Children’s Museum in the world, several interesting museums and theatres, and the International Film Festival.

We want to do everything possible to offer you the educational opportunities that will help you succeed, both at IUPUI and in your future career.  I hope you will explore our website and learn more about our department, school, and university. In these pages, we trust you will be able to find the information you are looking for regarding our mission, faculty, and Undergraduate or Graduate programs. If I can be of any help to you, please feel free to contact me.

With Warm Regards,
Neale R. Chumbler,
Professor and Chair
Department of Sociology