Skip to main content
contentVerticalPosition: , overrideVerticalAlignment: , contentHorizontalPosition: , overrideHorizontalAlignment:
contentVerticalPosition: , overrideVerticalAlignment: , contentHorizontalPosition: , overrideHorizontalAlignment:

Welcome to BYU SOCIOLOGY


Brigham Young University’s Sociology Department is committed to providing undergraduate and graduate students with a world-class education. Our department is home to highly-regarded teacher-scholar faculty that educate students and research on a wide array of sociological topics.

Become a Part of our Community

Brigham Young University’s Sociology Department is known for its excellence in teaching and research. Our department has been recognized for its commitment to undergraduate education and training. We aim to provide students with an education that compels them to a life of service, empathy, compassion, and sociological insights that they can bring to their employment, families, and communities.

Our faculty produce cutting edge research on many areas of sociological study including the family, race/ethnicity, education, immigration, crime, community, culture, religion, and health. Our scholars make important contributions to our discipline and society through their scholarship. The department is also the current home of the Rural Sociological Society’s flagship journal Rural Sociology.

Our department is proud to make our educational and empirical contributions to sociology at a religious institution that combines our discipline with our religious principles.

Click here to read more about our program.

Recent Department Highlights

data-content-type="oneOffPage"

Meet Sociology's Valedictorian for 2023!

Click here to read about Rachel Macdonald Sumsion, Sociology's Valedictorian 2023
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= overrideTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection= overrideCardHideByline= overrideCardHideDescription= overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= overrideTextAlignment=
data-content-type="employee"

Scott Sanders Disciple-Scholar Lecture

Associate Professor

Research Areas
Rural Inequalities
Poverty
Healthcare Access
Globalization
Labor Standards
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= overrideTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection= overrideCardHideByline= overrideCardHideDescription= overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= overrideTextAlignment=
data-content-type="external"
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= overrideTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection= overrideCardHideByline= overrideCardHideDescription= overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= overrideTextAlignment=
data-content-type="oneOffPage"

Watch Dr. Kevin Shafer's "Committing the Science of Compassion"

Winter 2022 Disciple-Scholar Lecture
Watch Here
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= overrideTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection= overrideCardHideByline= overrideCardHideDescription= overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= overrideTextAlignment=
data-content-type="oneOffPage"
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= overrideTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection= overrideCardHideByline= overrideCardHideDescription= overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= overrideTextAlignment=
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= overrideTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection= overrideCardHideByline= overrideCardHideDescription= overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText=