Why do undergraduate Sociology at NUIM?
"the Sociology Department at NUIM is very strong in the key areas of research, teaching, and administration; in fact, it is one of the leading sociology departments in Ireland"
Peer Review Report, Sociology Department Quality Review, 2009
In a time of crisis and uncertainty, the search for an understanding of the world around us becomes all the more important. In the Department of Sociology at NUI Maynooth, you will find this search well underway - in our teaching, our research and our public engagement. Undergraduates can find innovative BA degrees in Sociology and in Politics among other topics. Postgraduates can choose from two masters courses and a vibrant research postgraduate programme. Research by staff and students explores the changes, dilemmas and possibilities in Irish society and beyond. We bring these sociological insights to bear on public life through our participation in civil society, in policy making, through the media and other forms of public engagement.
Sociology is a varied subject, with almost any area of social life open to sociological analysis. Most recently, we have brought the sociological imagination to bear on politics through a new and creative BA Politics. But sociology is more a way of thinking about the world than the study of any specific area. For C. Wright Mills the ‘sociological imagination’ enabled us to link the individual and society, biography and history and to show how ‘private troubles’ are shaped by ‘public issues’.
The Department of Sociology has a long history, going back to 1930, when a Chair of Sociology was established in Maynooth College. The department consists of eighteen academic staff, three postdoctoral researchers, and two administrators. The department has over 900 undergraduate students, taking degrees in Arts, Social Science, Media Studies and Community Studies. We offer three Masters courses and there are currently almost 40 research postgraduate students in the department. Our teaching is fully modularized and our student body is very diverse with a wealth of different experiences and interests.
The department offers two undergraduate degree courses - the BA Sociology and the BA Politics. Our courses emphasise critical thinking; learning about local, national and global social and political worlds; undergraduate student research; and active citizenship. Sociology modules are also crucial components of other undergraduate degrees - Social Science, Community Studies, European Studies, and Applied Social Studies. Welcome to the exciting world of sociology!