To graduate you must complete 120 semester hours (including lower-division work taken elsewhere), requirements for the SOA major, and UIS requirements.
The SOA major includes six required courses (22 semester hours) and at least two other SOA courses of your choice for a total of at least 30 semester hours in Sociology/Anthropology.
| Lower-division Coursework | 78 hours |
| Core Coursework | |
| SOA 302 Understanding Other Cultures | 4 hours |
| SOA 304 Human Evolution: Biological and Cultural | 4 hours |
| SOA 405 Sociocultural Theory* | 4 hours |
| SOA 410 Senior Seminar** | 2 hours |
| SOA 411 Social Research Methods | 4 hours |
| SOA 461 Social Psychology: Sociological Perspectives | 4 hours |
| Sociology/Anthropology Electives | 8 hours |
| Core Total | 30 hours |
| UIS Requirements | 12 hours |
| Total | 120 hours |
*Prerequisite: At least one upper-division sociology
and one upper-division anthropology course, or permission of instructor
**Prerequisite: SOA 302, 304, 405, 411, and 461,
and permission of instructor
Knowledge of a foreign language is an important part of being a well-educated person, and opens a realm of experience—both professional and personal—unavailable to those limited to a single language. Completion of a fourth semester course in a foreign language is required for graduation in many universities and is required for admission to graduate school in many fields.
UIS students can take lower-division foreign language courses offered by LLCC and count up to 12 hours of that coursework toward their upper division requirements (see your advisor for details). UIS also offers upper-division instruction in a number of foreign languages, depending on student interest. In the past these have included French, Spanish, German, Japanese, Chinese, Russian, Arabic, and Swahili. We recommend that Sociology/Anthropology majors include study of a foreign language as part of their baccalaureate education.
No one can graduate from UIS who cannot write at the college level. To ensure that all students have this minimal skill level, each department must certify the written communication skills of its students. SOA does this by reviewing a paper you have written for one of the required SOA courses. As soon as possible after entering the program, you should submit a paper to your advisor for review. Any paper (four pages or longer) for an SOA required course that is graded A or B will be automatically accepted as certification of your writing skills, and papers with lower grades or from other courses will be considered based on their merits.
A copy of your first essay in SOA 304 Human Evolution will be kept in your program file to be compared to an essay you write during your final semester in SOA 410, Senior Seminar, to assess improvements in your writing skills, knowledge of the major, and so on. Your oral communication skills and knowledge of major areas in sociology and anthropology will also be assessed in the Senior Seminar.
All UIS students must take 12 semester hours from among Applied Study Term (AST), Public Affairs Colloquia (PAC), and Liberal Studies Colloquia (LSC), including work in at least two of these areas.
Applied Study Term is an internship-like opportunity in which you work in a local business, public agency or not-for-profit organization and attend a seminar on learning from experience. Students usually take the AST for 8 semester hours, requiring 20 hours per week for a semester (40 hrs/week in summer); or for 4 semester hours, requiring 10 hours per week for a semester (20 hours/week in summer). You should discuss AST opportunities with your advisor and then see the AST staff (F-50) to arrange your AST experience. We usually recommend that students interested in an AST plan to take it in their senior year. You may not take an AST in a semester when you are on academic probation.
Public Affairs Colloquia are interdisciplinary courses focusing on public affairs issues. PACs for each semester are listed and described in the course schedules.
Liberal Studies Colloquia are multi-disciplinary courses that cover significant liberal arts topics. LSCs also have a major writing component, require reading from original sources, and cover perspectives divergent from those of contemporary mainstream American society. We suggest that you use the PAC and LSC to expand your educational experiences and do not take PACs from Sociology/Anthropology faculty. You'll see enough of us as it is.
In the semester before you graduate, you must submit a "graduation contract," a form that shows the courses you have taken to meet requirements for the major, university requirements, and requirements for any minor you have completed. Graduation contract forms are available in the program office, and must be submitted to your advisor to approve ten weeks before the end of the semester.
