M.A. Program
En route to Ph.D. ONLY - No terminal Masters program available
NOTE: Application Deadline JANUARY 1, for all students wishing full consideration of their application.
Most students enter with the expectation of completing the Ph.D. program. Formally, all applicants with a bachelor's degree are initially admitted to the M.A. program; after completing M.A. degree requirements, students must petition their M.A. thesis committee and the faculty to proceed toward the doctorate. These petitions are almost always approved for students who remain in good standing.
Course Requirements | Masters Thesis
Course Requirements
M.A. students must complete both University and Departmental requirements.
University-level Requirements:
- Students are required to complete 24 semester hours (8 courses) of graded coursework. These courses must be taught by UVA faculty; no transfer credits are allowed.
- Students must receive satisfactory standing in a final exam (oral or written) conducted by two or more faculty. (the M.A. thesis fulfills this requirement.)
- Students must complete the M.A. program within 5 years.
Department Requirements:
- Students are urged to take courses over the minimum requirement, and when their course background and/or achievement record is found to be deficient, they may be required to take courses beyond the minimum. M.A. candidates may take one course in directed readings or on apprenticeship as part of their M.A. work.
- Graded courses must include:
Required courses may be waived if the student demonstrates competence in the subject. Waiver of a required course does not reduce the twenty-four hour requirement, but does give the student greater flexibility in choosing electives to fulfill that requirement. Petitions for such waivers should be directed to the Chair of Graduate Studies. (One page explaining why you are qualified for a waiver; attach relevant syllabi or other supporting materials.)
Students may take an unlimited number of ungraded courses, which include non-topical research and department colloquia.
There is no language requirement for the M.A. in sociology.
Master Thesis
A Master's thesis is required to demonstrate the student's ability to complete a sustained scholarly project in a professional way. Prior to the completion of coursework, each student will have a Thesis Committee of not less than two faculty members. In consultation with the Thesis Committee, students will write a research paper, developed from an already completed seminar paper or another piece of independent research, with the aim of producing a publishable article. The final version should be presented to the committee in the format of a journal article. (See ASR, AJS, Social Forces, Sociological Theory, or other scholarly journals for examples of this format. Publishable papers are generally 25-40 pages in length, including the bibliography.) By the end of the fourth semester in the Master's program, the thesis will be submitted to the Thesis Committee for approval.
In keeping with the spirit of sharing ideas and building community, all students in the fourth semester of the Master's Program are required to present their thesis research before the faculty. These presentations will take place at the Master's Colloquium in the late Spring. The Master's Colloquium will follow the format of a session of the American Sociological Association's professional meetings, with 4-5 graduate students presenting a brief rendering of their work in a 10-12 minute time slot. An advanced graduate student will act as the presider. There is no formal evaluation of the Master's presentations, though thesis committees and faculty members may offer informal evaluations and/or consider these presentations in the Graduate Student Review. The Master's Colloquium is distinct from successful completion of the master's thesis. Students' theses may be approved by their Committees either before or after the Master's Colloquium.
(NOTE: Students with special circumstances may petition their thesis committee or the Graduate Director to be exempted from the Master's Colloquium. For these students, other arrangements will be made to satisfy the "presentations" requirement).
The breadth and ambition of Master's Theses is suggested by these titles:
"Why Abusive Relationships Continue: Competing Explanations of the Domestic Violence issue."
"An Empirical Investigation of the 'New Class' Thesis"
"The Liability of Marriage: The Effects of Family Status on the Wages of Working Men and Women"
"Marketing the Church: A New Evangelical Strategy for Winning the World"
"Racial Discrimination: An Empirical Analysis of Discrimination Components"
"Self-Help Groups as Modern Forms of Religious Life: A Case Study of Narcotics Anonymous"
"Spousal Rape Laws and Gender Inequality"
"Fundamentalism and Racial Prejudice: The Social Sources of Racism"