University of Nebraska at Omaha
UNO global navigation:
You are here:
Relevant unomaha.edu links:
This page's main content:
M.A. Program
- Increase your knowledge of the global economy and multicultural societies
- Prepare for success in professions such as business, economics, health and medicine, education, law, human rights and public policy
- Acquire research and computer skills
- Learn to think critically, analyze information, and acquire writing skills for grant and report writing
- Zoom into a dynamic career or doctoral program
General Information
The M.A. program in sociology is organized around three broad areas of specialization: 1) Medical Sociology; 2) Sociology of the Family; and 3) Global Social Inequality. Within these 3 core areas students are encouraged to customize their MA program around themes that coincide with their own interests and faculty research areas. Required courses are offered on a regular rotation to enable students to complete their degree in two years. Students can choose a thesis or a non-thesis option. The department offers graduate assistantships on a competitive basis which includes full tuition remission and a monthly stipend.
The department is one of the most culturally diverse on campus and faculty members have extensive teaching and research experience. Research interests range from international to local communities (e.g., Eastern and Western Europe, Canada, Latin America and urban and communities in Nebraska) as well as interest in racial and ethnic populations, medical, family and business sociology.
For more information, please contact Dr. Shireen Rajaram, Chair of the Graduate Programs Committee at 402-554-3375 or srajaram@mail.unomaha.edu
Admission Requirements
How to apply
To apply to the Sociology Master degree program, applicants must submit the following to the Sociology Department:
- a completed Sociology Application form;
- a current resume;
- two letters of reference; and
- a short essay describing their goals and their perception of how graduate work in sociology may help them achieve their goals.
- Please contact Dr. Shireen S. Rajaram, Chair of Graduate Program Committee (GPC) (email: srajaram@unomaha.edu; phone: 402-554-3375; fax: 402-554-3786), or Dr. Mark Rousseau, Chair of the Sociology/Anthropology Department (email: mrousseau@mail.unomaha.edu; 402-554-2626), for Sociology application materials. Or you may download the Sociology Graduate Application form .
Please submit the following to the UNOmaha Office of Graduate Studies :
- a completed Graduate School Application Form;
- two official transcripts;
- and a $35 application fee.
International Students will need to submit:
- a completed International Students Graduate Application Form ;
- two official transcripts; and
- a $35 application fee
Deadline for Admissions
The deadline for admissions is July 1 st for the fall semester and December 1 st for the spring semester. Admission will be made on a rolling basis. In order to be fully considered for funding, we recommend that applications be submitted by March 1 (fall admission) and November 1 (spring admission).
Admission Criteria
To be considered for unconditional admission, a student must have competed a minimum of 15 undergraduate semester hours in sociology including courses in research methods, basic statistics, and sociological theory, and a minimum of 6 additional hours of sociology or related courses.
Students who have not fulfilled these requirements may be admitted provisionally but must remove any deficiencies within the first year of graduate study. Students admitted provisionally can show competence in statistics by taking SOC 2130, in theory by taking SOC 4710, and in research methods by taking SOC 2510 or by taking a program of independent work approved by the graduate committee. All must be completed with a grade of "B" or better.
Financial Assistance
Several forms of graduate assistantships and scholarships exist that range from Graduate Teaching Assistantships that provide a monthly stipend of $933 with full tuition remission to one-time thesis scholarships of $1000. For more information contact the UNOmaha Office of Graduate Studies .
Degree Requirements
Both Plan A (thesis) and Plan B (non-thesis) are available. For both Plan A and Plan B, students must complete two courses on sociological theory (SOC 8010 and SOC 8020), research methods (SOC 8030) and statistics (SOC 8040) with a grade of B or better.
Plan A is recommended for students who wish to pursue the Ph.D. degree after completing their work at UNOmaha. Plan A is also recommended for students who wish to participate in a research project and the writing experience provided by the thesis process.
Students in Plan A must take one core course from one of the three areas of specialization: 1) Medical Sociology; 2) Sociology of the Family; or 3) Global Social Inequality.
They also must take one other course related to their chosen area of specialization and at least 6 hours of elective courses.
Plan A requires a total of 30 hours -- a minimum of 24 hours of approved graduate work in sociology and related discipline, including the methods and theory courses, plus 6 semester hours of thesis credit, for a total of 30 hours
They must pass the Comprehensive Oral Exam in their core area of specialization. This exam is structured around their thesis proposal and takes place at the oral defense of the thesis proposal. (See Comprehensive Oral Exam for more details).
Students will be assigned an advisor during their first year in the program. At the end of the second semester in the graduate program, students are required to select their advisor. Students are required to work closely with their advisor to ensure timely completion of their graduate program
No later than the end of the second semester in the graduate program, students are required to opt for the thesis or non-thesis option and provide written notification of the same to the chair of the GPC and their advisor.
Students who opt for the thesis option are required to form their committee and obtain formal approval of their committee from the Graduate School no later than the end of the second semester.
By the end of the third week of the third semester, students are required to defend their thesis proposal and pass the Comprehensive Oral Examination.
Comprehensive Oral Exam and Thesis
The Comprehensive Oral Examination is in the form of a thesis proposal defense. If the chair and the rest of the thesis committee agree that the student is ready to defend his/her proposal, then a defense date will be set. All revisions suggested by the thesis chair and other committee members will need to be completed before a defense date is set.
All Graduate Assistants and other students who wish to complete the program in two years should defend their thesis proposal during their third week of the third semester. Students then can complete their thesis during the fourth and final semester.
The thesis proposal should be approximately 12-18 pages in length and include the following sections: introduction, literature review, methodology, expected results and references. The student is required to work closely with the thesis chair while preparing his/her proposal.
The defense must be made public by providing written notification of the date, time and place, at least a week in advance of the defense. All sociology/anthropology faculty are invited to attend the defense.
At the defense, students will begin by giving a brief presentation of their proposal (15-20 minutes). Committee members will then proceed to ask the student relevant questions. Students should be prepared to address questions regarding their proposed research as well as about their general research area.
Students will be expected to relate their thesis proposal to materials covered in the core courses in Theory and Research Methods and their specialty area. They would be expected to relate their proposal to alternative theoretical perspectives and research methodologies. Likewise, they will be able to show how their proposal relates to their specialty field. For example, why is this study important to the questions being addressed in the field? How does this study contribute to knowledge in the area of study? Also, how does the project contribute to social change and social policy in the community and society?
Since the thesis supervisor and committee must approve the thesis proposal in advance, it is unlikely the student would not pass the oral thesis defense. However, in the unlikely case that this were to happen, the committee will reconvene a non-public meeting at a later date for a subsequent evaluation.
Plan B is recommended for students who do not wish to pursue the Ph.D. degree after completing their work at UNOmaha.
Plan B students are exempt from the thesis requirement and must complete 36 graduate credit hours including at least 2 core courses from one of the three areas of specialization (Medical Sociology; Sociology of the Family; Global Social Inequality), one of which is in their area of specialization.
Students must complete one additional course in their area of specialization. Reading courses may not be used to meet this requirement except by petitioning the Graduate Programs Committee.
Students must complete at least 15 hours of elective courses selected in consultation with their advisor.
Students in Plan B must pass a written comprehensive exam after meeting all other requirements for the non-thesis masters degree or during their final semester in the program. (See Comprehensive Written Examination for more details).
Students will be assigned an advisor during their first year in the program. At the end of the second semester in the graduate program, students are required to select their advisor. Students are required to work closely with their advisor to ensure timely completion of their graduate program
No later than the end of the second semester in the graduate program, students are required to opt for the thesis or non-thesis option and provide written notification of the same to the chair of the GPC and their advisor.
By the end of the third week of their fourth and/or final semester (i.e., after meeting all the requirements for the non-thesis masters degree option), students will need to provide written notification to the chair of the GPC and their advisor of their intention to take the non-thesis written comprehensive exam that semester.
Written Comprehensive Exam
The comps will take place at the end of each semester -- no later than 4 weeks prior to the due date for comprehensive exam results -- which is 12 working days prior to commencement. The Graduate School determines the latter. Faculty are required to submit grades to the Graduate Programs Committee (GPC) within 2 weeks of the date of the exam. The GPC will accordingly notify the respective comprehensive committee members and will work towards scheduling the exam. This will be done no later than 5 weeks after the start of the semester.
The exam will be a four-hour closed-book exam and will be held in the Sociology/Anthropology Department. Students will be assigned computers on the day of the exam.
The GPC with the help of the Department will determine faculty with the necessary competence and expertise in Theory, Method and the 3 areas of specialization Medical, Family and Inequality.
The GPC will choose 2 faculty each from Theory, Methods, and the 3 areas of specialization and these faculty will jointly submit 3 to 4 exam questions each from theory, methods and the 3 areas of specialization.
The GPC will pick 2 questions each from theory, methods and area of specialization. The student will be given a choice and required to answer only one question each from theory, methods and their area of specialization.
Students answers will be graded by 6 faculty the 2 theory faculty will grade the theory answer, the 2 methods faculty will grade the methods question and the 2 respective area faculty will grade the area answer.
Faculty are required to submit the grades to the GPC within 2 weeks of the date of the exam. Students will be graded on a pass/fail basis. Pass constitutes a B and above and fail constitutes a C and below. In case there is a discrepancy in the grading of the 2 faculty on any of the 3 questions, the 2 faculty will need to confer with each other to discuss their difference in grade and will be encouraged to reach a resolution. If no resolution is reached, the GPC will resolve the issue by making a final and binding decision
If the student does not get a passing grade in the exam, i.e., both faculty assign a fail grade to that answer, the student can take a make-up exam one additional time that will cover only that area that they failed - i.e., if they failed the theory question, they can retake only the theory part of the exam, and so on. This make-up exam will have to be arranged by the student, her/his advisor and the area faculty in which the make-up exam is sought. The make-up exam needs to be scheduled before the end of the following semester.
If the student fails this make up exam, s/he will be required to retake at least 2 courses in that area i.e., if the student fails the methods exam, s/he will have to retake the Graduate Research Methods I and Methods II and will be allowed to retake the comprehensive exam in the semester following the completion of these 2 courses. For example, if s/he is taking the first of the Research Methods in the Fall, s/he should wait till the Spring to take the comp exams. In the case s/her fails the area exam, the 2 courses will be the core course and another course within that area, to be determined by the Comp committee in effect of that student.
This second retake of the comprehensive exam will need to be taken no later than the 4th semester following the fail in their make-up exam the first time around. If either of the 2 faculty give a fail grade, no further make-up exams will given and the student will be terminated from the graduate program.
Schedule of Required Course Offerings
|
Every fall semester, the first two required theory and methods courses will be offered. Every spring semester, the second of the two required theory and methods courses will be offered.
Two of the three core courses (Medical - SOC 8200; Family - SOC 8080, Inequality SOC 8100) will be offered every year.
Other graduate courses will be offered each semester. Each semester, at least one elective in each area of specialization will be offered in sociology and/or anthropology. These course may be graduate level course of dual level (4000/8000) courses.
The Professionalization Seminar (non-credit) will be offered every other fall semester. This seminar will involve all faculty members and exposes students to the interests and specialties of the faculty.
The Graduate Program in Sociology has established a set of requirements and course schedules so that entering full-time graduate students can reasonably expect to complete their Masters program within two years. To accomplish this objective, the department has developed a list of guidelines and expectations for the graduate students who enroll in the program.
Students are expected to carry a nine credit hour load during the first and second semesters in the graduate program. This includes undergraduate pre-requisites that students may be required to take Sociological Theory, SOC 4710; Research Methods SOC 2510, and Statistics SOC 2130.
Students taking the thesis option (Plan A) will take 6 hours in their third semester and will need to defend their thesis proposal (i.e., pass the Comprehensive Oral Exam) by the third week of the third semester. Students spend their fourth and final semester writing their thesis (6 hours thesis credit).
Non-thesis students will be required to take a 9-hour load all four semesters and take the written comprehensive exam at the end of the fourth semester. The non-thesis option requires a total of 36 hours.