Welcome to the Study of Culture and Society at Drake!

Welcome to the web page of the Department for the Study of Culture and Society at Drake University. I hope that you will use this and other pages to find out more about our department and the programs and courses that we offer. The courses offered in our department are designed to give our students the opportunity to think critically about a wide range of cultural and social topics and to learn how to study them in systematic ways. We offer a major and minor in Sociology, a combined major in Sociology and Anthropology, a minor in Anthropology, major in Rhetoric, an interdisciplinary major and minor in the Study of Culture and Society, and a minor in Cultural Geography. Our courses serve a wide range of students majoring in other Arts and Sciences subjects and in the professional schools at Drake. Our courses reflect both traditional and new areas of sociocultural study and create opportunities to consider and pursue questions of emerging social importance and concern. They of course also reflect the research interests of our faculty and range in size from lecture sections of about 45 students to seminars of about 20. In addition to offering a wide array of relevant social and cultural topics for study, students are introduced to various disciplinary theories and research methods. Upper level students may pursue their own research interests through the independent study and senior capstone courses and investigate career options in internships done in the local community. Click on the following links to find out the details of the department 's various majors, minors, and programs:

Major and minor in Sociology
Major in Anthropology and Sociology
Major and minor in Rhetoric
Major and minor in Study of Culture and Society
Minor in Geography
Minor in Anthropology
Detailed course descriptions for all department courses

Department faculty also participate in other interdisciplinary programs on campus, including Environmental Science and Policy, First-Year Seminar Program, Honors Program, Law, Politics, and Society, and Women's Studies. Department faculty pursue diverse academic interests and expertise. We are active in the communities of Drake University, our disciplines, and in Des Moines, and several of us have interests and extensive experience in other societies, which we bring to our courses. The faculty are dedicated to assisting students in exploring the advanced education and career options that may flow from the undergraduate degrees offered in the department. Please take the time to learn more about our department and about Drake. To find out more about the department faculty follow the link to Department Faculty.

Our students also reflect a great deal of diversity in their interests and career goals. After graduation, sociology majors seek jobs in both public service agencies and private business and other students go on to graduate and professional study in a variety of fields.

If you have questions, please contact me by clicking on the live link below. Thank you for checking the Culture and Society department at Drake University.

William Lewis, Ph.D.
Chair, Department for the Study of Culture and Society
E-mail the chair: william.lewis@drake.edu