Mission Statement

The mission of the Department of Sociology is to further the aims of a BYU education by teaching the sociological perspective, researching social phenomena, and disseminating sociological insights. We aspire to help students, our discipline, and all people develop sociological awareness as we struggle together to understand the social dimensions of individuals, families, groups, and communities. In pursuing this work, we are committed to seeing through the eyes of faith and promoting compassion for God’s children.

We value:

Faith.

We walk a path of faith, exemplifying the life of a disciple-scholar.

Diversity.

We embrace diversity, demonstrating respect towards all of God’s children, creating spaces of belonging for all.

Unity.

We are a faculty of varied interests, skills, and backgrounds, and we make contributions across subdisciplines within sociology and its cognate fields. Yet we are unified in our commitment to this mission, and we work collaboratively to achieve it.

Knowledge.

We value the scholarly enterprise. We are committed to truth and rely on the best scholarship in our teaching and decision-making.

Service.

We contribute the time and energy needed to support the work of the department, college, university, and profession.

Excellence.

We strive for excellence—to become effective teachers in the classroom, leaders within the university, and contributors to our respective fields.

Growth.

We acknowledge human shortcomings and exercise generosity towards colleagues and students as we work ourselves to become better colleagues, teachers, mentors, and scholars.