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ABOUT SOCIOLOGY |
Sociology is the primary field of scientific inquiry into society and social operations. Details of the range of theories, ideas and substantive topics in the field can be found via the American Sociological Association.
The Department of Sociology at Wake Forest University subscribes to the notion of the Teacher-Scholar as the ideal type of academic professional. Listed below are the details of this ideology.
The Teacher-Scholar Ideal
Wake Forest endorses a Teacher-Scholar Ideal and as a University is committed to providing the environment in which this ideal may be realized for both faculty and students. By “teacher-scholars” we mean faculty passionately committed to teaching and actively engaged in advancing their fields of specialty. By “providing the environment” we mean that faculty will have appropriate teaching loads and adequate infrastructure, and that the full range of their professional endeavors will be recognized and supported. Students will benefit directly from this commitment. They will interact with their faculty mentors and with each other, acquiring both a grounding in the liberal arts and opportunities for excellence in their chosen fields.
The work of the faculty is to encourage the development of imaginative thinking and creativity as well as spiritual and philosophical inquiry, to foster aesthetic and ethical judgment, and to promote the use of language with integrity. The core conceptual skills of critical thinking, pattern recognition, reasoning by analogy, scientific observation, and alertness to new discoveries can be imparted to aspiring students by caring, enthusiastic faculty mentors. The discipline of effective teaching, of synthesizing old and new knowledge with imagination and passionate curiosity, inevitably raises new questions and makes the faculty stronger scholars. Teaching and scholarship are inextricably intertwined
Wake Forest students share the responsibility for their education. Faculty serve as catalysts for the students’ own growth; they are not to function as mere conduits of information. Wake Forest students should not merely absorb information from faculty, but should engage in significant individualized research, which they will share with both the faculty and their fellow students. It is the goal of this University to provide students the opportunity to both teach and learn from one another.
Wake Forest strives to bring together the best features of a liberal arts college and a research university. Our University should become a model for students seeking individualized instruction by a faculty with strong commitments to teaching, research, and professional endeavors. The presence of talented artists and scholars and of significant research programs within a nurturing environment offers unique benefits to our students. Individualized instruction, plus mentoring by accomplished scholars, helps our students achieve their potential and compete effectively for the most selective opportunities in graduate study and employment.
For teacher-scholars, teaching and scholarship are synergistic aspects of a single challenge and a singe vocation. The existence of high-quality but moderately-sized graduate programs is a distinctive feature of Wake Forest and one that furthers this synergy. Our graduate and undergraduate students have the opportunity to gain experience in significant research projects, to keep pace with the expanding knowledge and sophisticated techniques of current disciplines, and to enhance meaningful research throughout campus. Such students, and the presence of talented scholars in every field, enrich the educational experience for all. |
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