Thomas Davidson, PhD Student in Sociology, works with Michael Macy

Department of Sociology

The department is known for the cutting-edge research of its faculty and for its exceptionally strong graduate and undergraduate training programs.

The department’s focus on basic science is complemented by a deep commitment to informing public and educational policy, particularly on issues related to gender and racial inequality, income inequality, poverty, drug use, economic development, school funding, organizational practices and race and ethnicity.

Sociology News

Cornell's central campus with lake beyond

Cornell Center for Social Sciences names 2025-26 Faculty Fellows

12 faculty members from seven colleges have been named 2025-26 Faculty Fellows with the Cornell Center for Social Sciences.

Illustration showing a crowd of people, a network of dots and lines, and some binary code

Where computer scientists and economists talk to each other

In a world that’s growing more connected every day, economists and computer scientists need to work together. Cornell researchers have thought this way for years, and the rest of the world is catching on.

Several children sit on a rug in a classroom

With education funding cut looming, ‘irreplaceable data on schools’ at risk

The real economic and social value of the Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences research won’t show up in DOGE’s metrics.

Shoreline of houses vulnerable to rising seas

CCSS grant awarded for "The Costs of Climate Change" research project

Cornell Sociologist Dan Hirschman's research investigates the questions, "How much will climate change cost? And how will we know?"

Continuing to Exploit Division for Political Gain

Distinguished Professor of Sociology at Cornell University, Mabel Berezin discusses the second Trump term.

New research project investigates U.S./U.K. LGBTQ data

Researchers from Cornell and the University of Edinburgh are investigating how data about LGBTQ communities is used (and misused) by governments, companies and community organizations.

Elon Musk Endorses Far-Right Party Amidst German Political Turmoil

Elon Musk, the world's wealthiest man, has recently drawn significant attention for his political comments and endorsements, particularly concerning Germany's far-right party, the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD).

NPR interview: How French politician Jean-Marie Le Pen used populism to fuel his far right agenda

Here & Now's Celeste Headlee talks with Mabel Berezin, the director of Cornell University's Institute for European Studies, about the legacy of far-right French politician Jean-Marie Le Pen. He died on Tuesday at the age of 96.

More News

Events

Mar 12

Wednesday

Suspect Citizenship: Rethinking Belonging and Non-belonging in Plural Societies

Wednesday, Mar, 12 - 04:30 PM

Warren B02

This is a inperson event.

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Event speaker

Jean Beaman

Description

Based on years of ethnographic research on France’s present antiracist movement and mobilization against state violence, I introduce a framework of “suspect citizenship” which demonstrates how ethnoracial minorities are constantly outside of the boundaries of full societal inclusion. I argue that postcolonial plural societies like France position a certain populations as suspect or suspicious, due to their ethnoracial assignment. I examine suspect citizenship at the nexus between active citizenship, belonging/non-belonging, antiracism at a macro level, and activism against state violence. I consider how certain populations are automatically rendered suspicious or suspect by virtue of their ethnoracial assignment on micro and macro levels, and how this construction of citizenship is not just a postcolonial formation. I discuss how we can understand how individuals resist their categorization as suspect through examining mobilization against state violence, as well as how suspect citizenship exists without state recognition of ethnoracial difference. Suspect citizenship is therefore a framework and mode for understanding and making sense of how colonial hierarchies are maintained in postcolonial or neocolonial societies.

Jean Beaman (she/her) is Associate Professor of Sociology in the Ph.D. Program at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY), and on leave from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Her research is ethnographic in nature and focuses on race/ethnicity, racism, international migration, and state violence in both France and the United States. She is author of Citizen Outsider: Children of North African Immigrants in France (University of California Press, 2017), as well as numerous articles and book chapters. She is also an Associate Editor of the journal, Identities: Global Studies in Culture and Power and a Corresponding Editor for the journal Metropolitics/Metropolitiques. She was a 2022-2023 fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University, and a Co-PI for the Mellon Foundation Sawyer Seminar grant, “Race, Precarity, and Privilege: Migration in a Global Context” for 2020-2022.

Host
Institute for European Studies

Cosponsors
Sociology
French Studies

Event access

Cornell Community and Public

Contact information

For more information contact Taylor Burk

Apr 17

Thursday

CSES Colloquium--Prof. Paul DiMaggio

Thursday, Apr, 17 - 04:30 PM

AD White House Guerlac Room 108

This is a inperson event.

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Event speaker

Paul DiMaggio

Princeton

Description

Talk title: TBA

Abstract: TBA

https://sociology.cornell.edu/

Apr 25

Friday

Bart Bonikowski--SOC Colloquium

Friday, Apr, 25 - 03:00 PM

This is a inperson event.

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Description

Talk title: TBA

Talk abstract: TBA

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What is Sociology?

Sociology is the study of social life, social change, and the social causes and consequences of human behavior. Sociologists investigate the structure of groups, organizations, and societies, and how people interact within these contexts.

Because all human behavior is social, the subject matter of sociology ranges from the intimate family to the hostile mob; from organized crime to religious cults; from the divisions of race, gender, and social class to the shared beliefs of a common culture; and from the sociology of work to the sociology of sports.

Because sociology addresses the most challenging issues of our time, it is a rapidly expanding field whose potential is increasingly tapped by those who craft policies and create programs.

If you think you might be interested in Sociology, start by taking a class. Or, learn more about the major.

Professor Michael Macy with a grad student

The Graduate Program

Cornell’s Graduate Field of Sociology provides top-notch training toward the PhD in Sociology, and has long been known for its emphasis on both theoretical innovation and methodological rigor. The Field, which is much larger than the Department, has close to thirty faculty members.

Click here to explore our graduate program.

Jeopardy!

Check out the Department's Jeopardy! display case on the 3rd floor of Uris Hall and the corresponding Jeopardy! page, home to solutions, history, and a place where you can share your trivia ideas with us.