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sociology department

sociology department

1 3.2
A part of a university that teaches and studies how people live together
  • noun
  • /ˌsoʊsiˈɑːlədʒi dɪˈpɑːrtmənt/
translation icon : departamento de sociología
  • Nina was the youngest member of the sociology department.
  • sociology department at the University
  • chairman of the sociology department
  • member of the sociology department

Examples

  • Younger than Manfred, Ruth felt guilty because she already had tenure in the sociology department.

    Fiction book (1998)
  • In English-speaking countries, Bourdieu had, in fact, a relatively minimal presence outside of certain sociology departments.

    Academic text (2002)
  • She is also an adjunct faculty member in the sociology department at New Mexico State University.

    Academic text (2010)
  • Our speaker today is Professor Mary Brinton, the who's the chair of the Sociology department here at Harvard.

  • American sociology departments, which started out as movements for social reform, ended up training students to clothe statistics in jargon.

    Academic text (1996)
  • At the same time, a recent student of his told me that Edward had written him a brilliant, many-paged testimonial showing how his, the student's, own work made him a perfect fit historically for the sociology department to which he had applied.

    Academic text (1995)
  • "The discussion becomes even more interesting when we consider who is most likely to read the Bible frequently," said Aaron B. Franzen, a graduate student in the sociology department at Baylor University, who authored the article in Christianity Today.

    Blog text (31)
  • Dugin is a professor in the sociology department of Russia's flagship Moscow State University, where the list of courses he offers (mainly on geopolitics, philosophy, and the history of science) far outnumbers that of any colleague.

    Academic text (2015)
  • The sociology department at Harvard University conducts research on social inequality.

  • She works as a lecturer in the sociology department at her local college.

Surface Forms

Morphology

sociology + department

The phrase is a straightforward noun–noun combination where the meaning ('the academic unit for sociology') is directly derivable from 'sociology' (the discipline) + 'department' (an organizational division). This compositional pattern is common across languages and in higher-education contexts, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will reliably infer the MWE's meaning.

Etymology

Sociology department is a name made from two words: sociology ('study of society') and department ('part of a university that teaches one subject'). So the phrase means the part of a university that teaches and studies social life.