2025-2026 Graduate Catalog
Sociology, Applied (SOCY)
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BAMBI CHAPIN, Chair
DENA SMITH, Graduate Program Director
M.A., P.B.C. (Degree Types )
Professors
CHARD, SARAH, Ph.D., Case Western Reserve University; Medical anthropology, urban anthropology, treatment seeking, social support
SCHUMACHER, JOHN, Ph.D., Case Western Reserve University; Medical sociology, social gerontology, physician-patient relationships
YAMASHITA, TAKA, Ph.D., Miami University; Social determinants of health and well-being over the life course; benefits of lifelong learning; socio-geographic access to health resources; health literacy in older
populations
Associate Professors
CHAPIN, BAMBI, Ph.D., University of California, San Diego; Psychodynamics and child development in socio-cultural context; social and emotional relationships; mental health and illness; dissociation and
trauma; trance and spirit possession; South Asia
JACKSON-SOLLER, AUBREY L., Ph.D., The Ohio State University; Neighborhoods, crime, and health; law & society; gender stratification; and political sociology
KALFOGLOU, ANDREA L, Ph.D., Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health; Bioethics; feminist bioethics; public health ethics; public health policy; women’s health; reproductive policy and ethics; genetics policy and ethics; research ethics; research methods
KUPERBERG, ARIELLE, Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania; Family, sex and sexuality, gender, young adulthood, demography, higher education, student debt, economic inequality and social mobility
MAIR, CHRISTINE A., Ph.D., North Carolina State University; Life course; social ties; family; aging; health; social inequality (race, class, and gender); and globalization
SMITH, DENA T., Ph.D., Rutgers University; Sociology of health and illness (medical sociology), sociology of mental health, sociology of psychiatry, gender and health, cognitive sociology
SOLLER, BRIAN, Ph.D., The Ohio State University; Criminology; social determinants of health; social networks; adolescence
WALLACE, BRANDY, Ph.D., Florida State University, Tallahassee; Social inequality (race, class, gender); paraprofessional healthcare workforce in senior housing; physician-patient interaction; health
disparities
YAMASHITA, TAKA, Ph.D., Miami University; Social determinants of health and well-being over the life course;benefits of lifelong learning; socio-geographic access to health resources; health literacy in older
populations
Assistant Professors
CHU, JUN, Ph.D., University of Maryland, College Park; Immigrant health and health care access; immigration and health policy and their impacts; Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia (ADRD)’s patients and their caregivers; health care systems; quantitative research methods; data management and analysis
DUNN-GALLIER, MERCEDEZ, Ph.D., University of Michigan; Body and society, racialized gender identity
MADDOX-WINGFIELD, CAMEE, Ph.D., University of Florida; Political anthropology; anthropology of dance; expressive culture; spirituality & religion; gender; Black diaspora; Caribbean, Martinique
NAYAK, SAMEERA, Ph.D., Northeastern University; Immigrant health; legal status; political and social determinants of health; social epidemiology; mental health; reproductive health; undocumented Asian immigrants; migration and health; health and human rights
WELCOME, NICHOLAS, Ph.D., University of California, Riverside; Science and technology;energy and the environment; urban anthropology; medical anthropology; applied anthropology; Latin America
Teaching Professors
BIRGER, KATIE, MA, University of Maryland, Baltimore County; Medical sociology; health behaviors
Program Description
The Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Public Health (SAPH) offers a degree program leading toward a Master of Arts in Applied Sociology. The Master of Arts degree in Applied Sociology emphasizes the “practical side” of sociology and the acquisition of analytic skills to prepare students for employment in many professional settings, including public and private organizations involved in social research, social policy, and program development. Program foci include sociology of health, illness, and medicine; aging and the life course; selected areas of diversity, gender, and culture; and applied research methods.
Students learn quantitative and qualitative research methods and develop expertise in the areas of specialization listed above.
Graduates of our programs are employed at university and medical school research centers, nonprofit organizations, private research organizations, and numerous governmental organizations (CMS, SSA, NIH, NIA, Census, MDH). The program is open to full-time and part-time students with any undergraduate major. Students may enter the program in the fall or spring semesters.
The Department also offers a Post-Baccalaureate Certificate in the Nonprofit Sector either separately or as part of the M.A. program. It consists of 4 courses, including 2 courses that analyze nonprofit
organizations, 1 course in methods or statistics, and 1 course in a substantive area of sociology. These courses also count toward the M.A. degree, which permits M.A. students to complete the certificate
without taking additional courses.
Students may be admitted to the M.A. program with any undergraduate major and an undergraduate GPA of at least a 3.0. A writing sample is required as part of the application materials. The sample should
come from coursework in sociology or a related discipline. Applicants can submit any course paper, thesis or capstone project that best represents their skills in research and writing. The GRE is not required for admission. Please visit our website for more information on all required application materials. The fall admission deadline is May 1st (March 15th for best consideration) and for Spring admission, December 1st (October 15 for best consideration). All application materials must be received by the respective deadline.
Accelerated Bachelor’s/Master’s (B.A./M.A.) Program
The Department also offers an Accelerated Bachelor’s/Master’s Program for UMBC undergraduate students in any majors. The accelerated program allows students to take up to nine graduate credits to
apply toward the master’s degree as well as the bachelor’s degree.
Students are eligible for admission into the accelerated program once they have completed 90 credits of undergraduate courses, SOCY 101, and at least one upper-level course in a substantive area of
sociology (at UMBC). Students must have a minimum GPA of 3.0. Before they graduate with their undergraduate degree, B.A./M.A. students must apply for the M.A. program in order to become regular graduate students in the semester after they complete their undergraduate degree. The graduate school application fee is waived for students who apply for the accelerated program.
Dual Degree Program in Applied Sociology and Gerontology
The dual degree program enables students to combine the M.A. in Applied Sociology with the Ph.D. in Gerontology offered by the University of Maryland, Baltimore County and the University of Maryland,
Baltimore. Students are admitted to both programs separately. Interested students should communicate with the graduate program directors of both programs.
Dual Degree Program in Applied Sociology and Public Policy
The dual degree program enables students to combine the M.A. in Applied Sociology with the Ph.D. in Public Policy offered by the University of Maryland Baltimore County. Students are admitted to both programs separately. Interested students should communicate with the graduate program directors of both programs.
A number of assistantships are available in the Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Public Health and elsewhere on and off campus. Assistantships require 10 to 20 hours of work per week and provide tuition remission, health insurance, and a stipend. Assistantships are assigned on a competitive basis.
ProgramsMaster of ArtsPost-Baccalaureate CertificateCoursesSociology
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