Department of Sociology
Rutgers Sociology has a chapter membership with Alpha Kappa Delta, the International Sociology Honors Society. Current students who are majoring or minoring in sociology or a program sociological in nature are eligible for membership. Please contact the undergraduate director for more information.
Minimum Eligibility Requirements
Be enrolled as a major or minor in a sociology program or a program sociological in nature
- Be at least a junior (third year) by standards of the host institution
- Have maintained the equivalent of a 3.5 GPA in sociology courses taken at the host institution prior to initiation, and an overall GPA of 3.3
- Have completed at least four courses (the equivalent of 12 semester hours) in sociology prior to initiation
Benefits
You can learn more about the benefits of membership on the AKD website.
Membership Fee
The lifetime membership fee is $50. In some instances, the department may be able to cover the cost of this fee.
Induction Ceremony
Members of Alpha Kappa Delta are inducted into the honors society in late spring.
2025
Our People Ain't Crazy: Race Stigmatization and Building Supportive Mental Health Communities Online
Alexandria Stevens Prisock
Advisor: Dr. Rina Bliss
The Knowledge to Eat Better: The Role of Government Nutrition Educators in Supporting Self-Governmentality
Joyce Lee
Advisor: Dr. Norah MacKendrick
From Film to Canvas: Gender Construction and Distortion Through Fanart
Ivana Albert
Advisor: Dr. Ali Chaudhary
2024
Climate Change and the Jersey Shore: Rutgers Students' Emotions and Perspectives
John Von Oehsen
Advisor: Dr. Julie Phillips
Cultural Significance and Familial Patterns: Understanding the Midwife and Birth Center Preferences Among Women
Nicoletta Concord
Advisor: Dr. Kristen Springer
New Jersey Department of Corrections Policy for Transgendered Care and Housing
Bridget Patterson
Advisor: Dr. Hana Shepherd
Internet Use and Mental Health among Chinese Older Adults - The Moderation Effect of Educational Level
Zimeng Wang
Advisor: Dr. Lei Lei
Hair as a Mirror: Navigating Racial Identity and Self-Expression Among Black Women in Higher Education
Aniyah Muldrow
Advisor: Dr. Joanna Kempner
Navigating Inclusion: Exploring Support Structures for Underrepresented Students in Computer Science
Luke Rivera
Advisor: Dr. Rina Bliss
Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Missing White Woman Syndrome in News Media: A Qualitative Content Analysis of Word Choice and Scripts
Alexandria Chastain
Advisor: Dr. Norah MacKendrick
2023
How Does an Immigrant Relief Organization Work?
John E. DeMarco
Advisor: Dr. Ali R. Chaudhary
The Intricacies of Beauty and Ethnic Identity Among South Asian American Gen-Z Women
Rhea K. Hingu
Advisor: Dr. Catherine Lee
Dignity in Grocery: The Reality of Dignity in Low-Wage Cashier Work
Jared M. Neyman
Advisor: Dr. Norah A. MacKendrick
Powerlifting: Moving the Weight of Gender
Kira G. Sheldon
Advisor: Dr. Kristen W. Springer
Mr. Spock Is One of the Girls: Gender Play in the Star Trek Franchise and Fandom
Manya Sherman
Advisor: Dr. Thomas R. Davidson
The Memory Recollection of Young Adults in Bogotá, Colombia
Sofia Trujullo
Advisor: Dr. Arlene Stein
2022
How Technology Use During COVID-19 Affected the Personal, Social, and Emotional Lives of Working Adults and College Students
Tulsi Patel
Advisor: Dr. Leslie Kay Jones
Equity Between Native Students and Transfer Students at Rutgers
Catherine Sackey
Advisor: Dr. Lei Lei
How COVID-19 Social Isolation Affected Students Social Connections: Comparing NJ-Based and Chinese-Based Students
Jiarui Chen
Advisor: Dr. Paul McLean
2021
Formation and Negotiation of an Arab Identity Among Young People in the U.S.: The Role of Language in Self-Identification
Leila Moustafa
Advisors: Dr. Ali Chaudhary and Dr. Catherine Lee
Examining the Effect of Social Media Content on Observers’ Anxiety-Related Emotions and Perceptions: Evidence from a Survey Experiment of Young Adults
Shannon Pultorak
Advisor: Dr. Leslie Kay Jones
2020
A Closer Look: Analyzing the Portrayal of Sexual Assault in Film
Evelyn Collins
Advisor: Dr. Quan Mai
'Being a Man': How College Aged Men are Defining Masculinity in the Midst of a Rising Fourth Wave Feminist Movement
Gabrielle Casares
Advisor: Dr. Norah MacKendrick
Animal Testing and Consumer Habits: A Sociological Study of Awareness and Choice
Eline Hjelle
Advisor: Dr. Patricia Roos
The Talk of Dance: The Language of Identity and Group-Forming
Hannah Kaufman
Advisor: Dr. Jeffery Dowd
Tweeting from the Bedroom: Black Women, Sexual Stories & Twitter
Danielle McCarthy
Advisor: Dr. Arlene Stein
Self-Presentation in Climate Change Conversations Between Alarmed and Concerned Individuals
Lindsey Marie Panes
Advisor: Dr. Hana Shepherd
Why We Believe Conspiracy Theories: An Exploration into the Nefarious, Suspicious, and Intriguing
Leah Stone
Advisor: Dr. Paul McLean
2019
'Less from a Box, More from the Earth: Exploring Clean Eating in Everyday Life'
Julia Wasilewski
Advisor: Dr. Eviatar Zerubavel and Dr. Norah MacKendrick
Help Seeking Behavior: What Influences Undergraduates to Seek Medical Treatment?
Victoria Echevarria
Advisor: Dr. Sharon Bzostek and Dr. Eleanor LaPointe
Community-Based Organizations at the Forefront of Disaster Response
Miah Hagood
Advisor: Dr. Lee Clarke
Examining College Honors Identities and Intergroup Relations
Kristina Laya
Advisor: Dr. Kristen Springer
2018
Rhythmic Patterns: Former Soviet Musicians as Immigrants in the United States
Meesh Fradkin
Advisor: Dr. József Böröcz
The Impact of Social Interaction on the International Student Experience
Adesuwa E. Igbinovia
Advisor: Dr. Paul McLean
Representation of Gun Control in Cable News Media
Suchismita Lohani
Advisor: Dr. Jeffrey Dowd
The Role of Stigma in the Perception of Mental Illness
Victoria Gonzalez
Advisor: Dr. Jorie Hofstra
2017
Can you Keep It Down? The Impact of Public Transportation Courtesy Campaigns on Perceived Consensus
Aleksandra Wec
Advisors: Dr. Stephen Brechin and Dr. Hana Shepherd
Constructions of Identity Among Multilinguals: The Case of Turkish and Korean Speakers
Hayrunnisa Kalac
Advisor: Dr. Paul McLean
Social Capital: A Tool For Indian Immigrant Workers and Entrepreneurs in Co-ethnic Restaurants
Zachary L. Del Rosso
Advisors: Dr. Jozsef Borocz, Dr. Judith Gerson
Women, Politics and Power: Influences on the Decision to Run for Political Office
Arielle Mizrahi
Advisor: Dr. Patricia A. Roos
Extrication from the Ex-Role
Frederick Cacace
Advisor: Dr. Eviatar Zerubavel
2016
Perceptions of Multiracial Identities
Sarah Castro
Advisor: Dr. Catherine Lee and Dr. Julie Phillips
Social Influences on Disaster Risk Communication
Azdren Coma
Advisor: Dr. Lee Clarke
Leadership Types and Group Development
Sean Miralles
Advisor: Dr. Paul McLean
Student Perception of the College Athlete Experience
John Curtis
Advisor: Dr. Steven Brechin
Tipping the Scales: An Examination of Weight Bias in Introduction to Psychology Textbooks
Brianna Florovito
Advisor: Dr. Patricia Roos
2015
Ability Threat and Choice of Academic Major
Tracy Ng
Advisor: Dr. Steven Brechin
Differences among Media Portrayals and Medical Definitions of OCD from 1980-2014
Nicholas Kiriakatos
Advisor: Dr. Allan Horwitz
How Class Background Conditions the Undergraduate Experience at Rutgers
Christopher Froberg
Advisor: Dr. Thomas Rudel
Cultural Representations of Gender in Literary Education
Kristen Ferris
Advisors: Dr. Hana Shepherd and Dr. Deborah Carr
Resistance to Social Change
Kathy Smith
Advisor: Dr. Paul McLean
Railroaded: The Examination of the Lives of the Innocent after Prison
Jacquelyn McFarland
Advisors: Dr. Patrick Carr and Dr. Julie Phillips
2014
Segregation and Inequality in Non-Residential Movement Patterns
Kevin Dahaghi
Advisor: Lauren Krivo
Human-Animal Relationships and Social Media
Gina Giacobbe
Advisor: Hana Shepherd
Potential Correlations Between Rap/Hip-Hop and Neighborhood
Peter Habib
Advisor: Zaire Dinzey-Flores
Perceptions of and Patterns Found in Sorority and Fraternity Hazing
Alexandra Henninger
Advisor: Sarah Rosenfield
Gentrification as Segregation in Asbury Park, NJ
Alyssa Maio
Advisor: Richard Williams
Fair Discipline in NJ Public High Schools
Conrad Stepien
Advisor: Paul Hirschfield
2013
The stigma of schizophrenia: Understanding the impact of race, gender, and labeling on stigmatizing attitudes toward people with schizophrenia
Megan Bolton
Advisor: Dr. Catherine Lee
Minority high school student preparation for four-year college acceptance
Laura Callejas
Advisor: Dr. D. Randall Smith
The impact of family structure and familial stability on problem behaviors among boys and girls
Kristen E. Hagemann
Advisors: Dr. Lauren Krivo and Dr. Sharon Bzostek
African-American women and the Leadership Scholars Program
Lizethe Martinez
Advisor: Dr. Kristen Springer
Growing up Druze: The role of religion in the construction and maintenance of identity among American-born Druze
Carol Sharrouf
Advisor: Dr. Judith Gerson
The impact of network topology and the navigation of norms on popularity on the social networking site, Reddit
Charles Tong
Advisor: Dr. Paul McLean
2012
The Popularity of NFL Players in Social Media
David Einhorn
Advisor: Dr. Allan V. Horwitz
Drawing the Line: Racial Delineation and the U.S. Census
Rachel Moseson
Advisor: Dr. Eviatar Zerubavel
Effects of Support On First Motherhood
Dina Lippey
Advisor: Dr. Judith Friedman
Attitudes Toward American Culture
Nadia Rahi
Advisor: Dr. Richard Williams
2011
Big Box Retailer: Harmless Chain or Community Pain?
Justine Abrams
Advisors: Dr. Robyn Rodriguez and Dr. Deborah Carr
From Corsets to Jumpers: School Uniform Policies and the Construction of Gender
Nicole Auffant
Advisor: Dr. Pat Roos
Measuring Food Access in New Brunswick
Rachel Kenselaar
Advisor: Dr. Julie Phillips
Green Dynamics and Decisions within Households
Victoria Nielsen
Advisor: Dr. Tom Rudel
2010
Identifying Perceptions of School Safety Through Demographic, School, and Community Characteristics
Carolyn Nicodemo
Advisor: Dr. Patrick Carr
The Identity of Anorexia
Lyndsi Silberman
Advisors: Dr. Allan Horwitz and Dr. Joanna Kempner
Sex Trafficking in Thailand
Nicole Bassi
Advisor: Dr. Zakia Salime
The Role of Weight History in the Construction of Weight Confidence
Christopher Hedges
Advisor: Dr. Deborah Carr
Media Representations of Missing Person Cases
Nicole O'Connor
Advisor: Dr. Arlene Stein
Racial and Ethnic Identity Motivators for Joining Culturally Based Greek Organizations
Nandita Ghosh
Advisor: Dr. Richard Williams
What's in a label? Determinants of Stigmatizing Attitudes toward Delinquents
Samantha Kerwin
Advisor: Dr. Paul Hirschfield
Just Plain White: Shifting from Ethno-Racial Markedness to Unmarkedness in Italian Immigrants
Albert Yin
Advisor: Dr. Eviatar Zerubavel
The Trials of War: Lt. Ehren Watada and the Asian American Movement
Kohshi Itagaki
Advisor: Dr. Robyn Rodriguez
Everything In Its Right Place: The Sociocognitive Categorization of Music
Joshua Baker
Advisor: Dr. Eviatar Zerubavel
2009
Gender in Elementary Education
Kate O'Malley
Advisor: Dr. Judith Gerson
Why Are Black Brides Less Happy?
Jennifer Vergeon
Advisor: Ellen Idler
Barriers to Healthcare: How the Lack of Insurance Damages General Health
Naomi Anacius
Advisor: Dr. Zaire Dinzey-Flores
How Does Hezbollah Use Rhetoric and Media to Gain Popular Support?
Derek Ludovici
Advisor: Dr. Paul McLean
Identity and Gender Depiction on Facebook
Grace Sang-Eun Hong
Advisor: Dr. Ethel Brooks
The Sociology Honors Program involves an independent project developed over two semesters. Seniors in the Sociology Honors Program enroll in the Honors Seminar (920:497 in the fall, 498 in the spring), and, in consultation with the Honors Seminar instructor, they select an individual advisor from among all Sociology faculty. The Seminar, which meets weekly, covers topics that everyone faces when doing an independent sociological project, such as narrowing a topic, identifying researchable questions, carrying out a review of existing literature on the topic, getting approval for conducting research on human subjects, and organizing a long research paper. Students also present problems that they are trying to solve, and the class helps them find a solution.
Eligibility
Admission to the Sociology Honors Program requires completion of 18 or more credits in Sociology with a GPA of 3.5 or more. It also requires an overall GPA of 3.0 at the end of the junior year. To be considered, declare a Sociology major by February of your junior year. The Seminar (920:497, 498) has 2 prerequisites selected from 215, 311, 312, and 316. We highly recommend that students have completed Introduction to Social Research (920:311) in particular, and at least one of our other core courses (312, 316) by Fall of the junior year if possible.
Invitations
The Department identifies eligible students in March of the junior year. Eligible students are sent a letter of invitation that describes the program. Included in the letter is an application form and an invitation to submit a one-page project proposal. The Seminar coordinator typically is available to meet with prospective participants in April and early May to discuss their proposals. Those accepted receive a special permission number for 920:497, typically by late May or June. Be sure your official University records indicate a Sociology major by February of your junior year and that they show the correct graduation year. (If these are wrong on your official record, you will not appear on our list of majors with a 3.0 or higher average.)
Getting the invitation does not guarantee acceptance. We work to ensure in advance that students have workable projects, and that the Seminar is not overly full, so that students get the attention and guidance they deserve. We want students to succeed, not have to drop their projects part way along because they are infeasible. Furthermore, please note that all acceptances to the Sociology Honors Seminar are subject to the student’s continued level of outstanding work.
The Project
Each Honors student selects a topic for their project and an individual advisor who helps them develop the topic. The Honors Seminar instructor must approve the topic. Most students collect original data. Students have carried out informal interviews, developed questionnaires, observed behavior, and analyzed both texts and images such as advertisements. Some students use data already collected by someone else. Still others develop theoretical or conceptual analyses of a sociological issue. The final papers range in length; most are between 40 and 60 pages (including graphs, charts, and works cited).
The project is due by late March. Each student turns in a final written copy, and they also present their project at a Department's Colloquia in early April. Faculty members attend, and students invite parents and friends.
Projects that involve "human subjects" must be reviewed by the IRB (Institutional Review Board for the Protection of Human Subjects). This means writing a brief protocol that describes the project and identifies any risk to subjects. If you want to collect information from minors or information on a topic that involves risk "out of the everyday," your proposal requires a full review. This takes time. If the protocol is not ready by October 12, you are likely to have trouble collecting data in time. [It is difficult to collect data during exams and during the holidays.]
Grades and Level of Honors
At the end of the fall semester, each student doing good work gets a temporary grade of H. [It is possible, at this time, to convert from Honors to Independent Study. This requires permission from the Undergraduate Chair.] In April, the Honors Seminar instructor and the student's advisor together assign letter grades for both Fall and Spring. Honors students can graduate with Honors, High Honors, or Highest Honors in Sociology. High or Highest Honors means the instructor, the advisor, and a small committee of other faculty members find the project exceptionally well done.
Recent Senior Honors Projects
Click here to see examples of topics for recent senior honors projects
Questions
Anyone with questions regarding the Sociology Honors Program should contact:
The Undergraduate Coordinator:
or
The Undergraduate Director:
Students who meet additional eligibility requirements and are willing to do extra work may participate in both the Sociology Honors Program and the School of Arts and Sciences Honors Program. It is possible for the same research project to partially satisfy the requirements for both programs, although the project must then be more ambitious and of greater scope than is typically the case. Note that there are two separate application processes, both of which must be undertaken.
“Honors” at Rutgers can mean different things, and similarly “Honors” refers to different things within the Sociology department. Primarily when we speak of Sociology Honors we are referring to our capstone senior thesis project. The details of that program are described below. But we also periodically offer individual courses within the department with the ‘Honors’ designation (courses numbered 920:198, 298 or 398), and sometimes Sociology faculty members teach courses with considerable sociological content in the interdisciplinary School of Arts and Sciences Honors program (department code 090). You do not have to be a sociology major to take one of these courses, but typically you must obtain special permission from the instructor to register. For honors courses listed within the department, we normally like students to have taken Introduction to Sociology first, but this prerequisite is sometimes waived.
All Honors courses are organized as seminars with an enrollment of 15-20 students. They provide an excellent opportunity to develop your scholarly potential among a group of especially strong peers, and to become well acquainted with a particular faculty member. Students are more likely to earn detailed letters of recommendation from their professors in these courses—good to keep in mind when contemplating future applications to graduate or professional school.
Click on the options below to learn more:
Undergraduate Program
Graduate Program
Research
