Today marks the first day of classes for the fall semester hereon the Hilltop.
For some students, these classes represent the beginning of anew chapter in their lives.
For others, the culmination of their undergraduate days seems tobe creeping closer and closer to reality.
And for a growing group of SMU students, today is the first daysince the mid-nineties that they can take courses toward apreviously dying field of study.
As Jasper Neel, Dean of Dedman College and University ViceProvost, explained, about ten years ago, sociology was discontinuedas a major.
“Prior to 1994, and going back to its early beginnings,SMU had a Department of Sociology with its own faculty anddepartment chair,” Neel said. “At one point, we evenhad graduate programs based in sociology.”
As the number of students and faculty involved in the majorbegan to dwindle, however, the choice was made to terminatesociology as a major.
“After 1994, the number of faculty in sociology wasreduced to only two, and they were moved into the Department ofAnthropology, where they remained for a decade,” Neelexplained.
Following a strong urge from his newly appointed advisingcommittee, Dean Neel, who acquired his current title in 1997,decided that the decline of sociology would not persist.
“I undertook a study on the field and decided not onlythat sociology should be continued, but also that it should berestored to full departmental autonomy,” he said.
Neel’s studies took him to about twenty differentuniversities across the nation, including Duke and MIT.
From his travels, a new major was born.
“I decided that we would both restore sociology and createa new interdisciplinary major, [‘Markets and Culture’],that would be housed in sociology.”
The new major is available online for the first time today.
Dean Neel went on to explain that the number of faculty housedwithin sociology has also increased.
“Last fall, we recruited Dr. Linda Stearns from theUniversity of California at Riverside to be the new departmentchair,” he said.
“This fall we hired two new assistant professors plus anew lecturer, bringing the full-time faculty to six. We hope tohire again for next year.”
Although today marks the first time in a decade that sociologyis offered as a major, Neel does not anticipate an immediate jumpin the number of students involved with the department.
“I don’t expect the number of sociology majors toincrease dramatically next year because there has always been acore of forty to fifty majors,” he said.
“I do, however, expect the number to increase graduallyover the next five years as we bring in new faculty to complementthe two tenured faculty who have remained here and done anexcellent job in a difficult situation.
“I expect sociology itself to double to about 100majors,” he continued, “but I expect that growth to begradual.”
Dean Neel went on to elaborate on the development of the newestmajor offered to SMU students.
“I do expect Markets and Culture to grow very, veryquickly,” he explained.
“It is the only major that requires courses from threedifferent schools (Dedman, Cox, and Engineering), and the onlymajor to draw on so many departments within Dedman College(anthropology, English, foreign languages, history, politicalscience, psychology, statistical science, and, of course,sociology).”
Thirty hours will be required to obtain a BA in sociology,thirty six for a BS, and thirty six hours for a Bachelor’sdegree in Markets and Culture, a degree that Neel hopes will groomstudents for life after college.
“[It] will be a broad-based, very interdisciplinaryapproach to a major that will prepare one for the working world andgive one an excellent liberal arts education.”
More information on the new major is available on page 199 inthe 2004-2005 academic catalog.
