Welcome

The fundamental question of sociology is "How is society possible?" How is it that individual humans with their differing and competing needs and desires manage more often than not to work together cooperatively?

In broad terms, sociology is about the groups and organisations which make up human society. It is about social forces which work to hold groups together or to weaken them. And it is about the processes which change the way societies function as time passes.

 

Sociology provides our best means of understanding how society works and how it influences our personal lives. It contributes to investigating and solving social problems on a local, national and international level. The ANU has particular strength and focus in the research areas of crime and justice, sociology of the environment and political sociology.

 

Our scholars are engaged in a wide range of innovative and challenging research projects and participate in 3 of the college’s strategic research themes which are:

 

 

At the undergraduate level our staff provide an exciting research lead undergraduate program while our postgraduate program allows for challenging coursework masters degrees as well as research only masters and PhD study. 

 

Sociology graduates develop careers in many fields including migrant and ethnic affairs, market research, services for the aged, community development, welfare policy and administration, women's issues, staff training and development, youth and family services, crime and justice services, workforce research and health services. The kind of work that graduates do varies widely but frequently involves research into social issues, the development of policies and plans, social administration and the evaluation of social programs.

 

Sociology graduates find employment in federal, state and local government departments and research agencies, in community service organisations, and in private enterprise, for example firms doing social research and consultancy.