The Department of Development Sociology has a unique PROGRAMprofile that is unmatched by any other departments of sociology in the nation. The integrated package of scholarship on development, environment, population and community is its distinguishing characteristic and comparative advantage. Faculty and students in the department conduct theoretical and applied research, teaching, and outreach on the causes, dynamics, and consequences of social, cultural, political and economic change. Development Sociology majors study how societies develop and identify the social pathways that can help build a successful career. The department is well known for international, domestic, rural, environmental, agricultural, and population studies.

Vision

Our vision is to sustain our national and international leadership among Sociology departments, particularly our expertise in the sociology of development.

Mission

We regard our mission as first, playing a central role in informing contemporary debates about the scope, meaning and promise of development in a globalizing world; and second, as building such knowledge through engaged research with a wide range of constituencies.

We believe that understanding of and solutions to development problems can be found through original research, teaching, and outreach that support scholars, practitioners and organizations working to address some of the most pressing social, economic and environmental questions of our times