Sociology and Anthropology

Degree Type Bachelor of Arts
Department Sociology and Anthropology
Academic Division The College
Offerings Major

Student with a group of children

Sociology and Anthropology students are curious about how society and culture work and care deeply about solving social problems to make the world better.

Home Academics Areas of Study Sociology and Anthropology

Sociology and Anthropology

W&L offers one major with a concentration in either anthropology or sociology and an interdisciplinary minor in archaeology.

Our courses cover the following themes: archaeology and historical social science; gender, sexuality and human development; global cultures; health and society; identity and inequality; and politics, economics and culture.

Our classes feature a free-form style of learning where students apply readings to real-life situations and explore their own topics of interest. When working with peoples and cultures different from their own, students learn how to see the world from other perspectives. Students engage with theoretical perspectives and practical skills that are applicable to their lives. This mixture of topical and practical training prepares our graduates for entering a variety of graduate schools and careers.

Typically, students choose research methodologies that most match their interests, work closely with professors in the classroom and through independent research projects, and push the boundaries of their knowledge through study, travel and community engagement. Students have conducted research in places such as Appalachia, New York City, Western Europe, India, French Polynesia, Nepal, South Africa, Madagascar, Romania and Peru.

Jon Eastwood

Department Head

E: eastwoodj@wlu.edu

Melissa Gualtieri

Administrative Assistant

P: 540-458-8798
E: mgualtieri@wlu.edu

Learn more about the department

News

All News

W&L Hosts 20th Annual Tom Wolfe Weekend

The weekend’s seminar will feature Jayne Anne Phillips discussing her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, “Night Watch.”

Meet Ashton Mouton ’28

Mouton entered college with plans to be a surgeon, but a sociology class changed his career path.

Jon Eastwood

Jon Eastwood Publishes New Book

The professor of sociology’s book, titled “Social Structure: Relationships, Representations and Rules,” was released on Feb. 26.

W&L’s Staniar Gallery Presents Stephen Towns’ ‘Loud as the Rolling Sea’

The solo exhibition will open Feb. 17 with an artist’s talk slated for March 4.

Candice Robinson is the Next Speaker in the Anne and Edgar Basse Jr. Author Talk Series

Robinson will deliver a lecture titled “The Sociology of Cardi B: A Trap Feminist Approach” on campus on Mar. 4.

W&L Presents Premiere Screening of ‘Letters to Eleanore’

The Jan. 30 screening of the award-winning documentary about disability, perseverance and the story of a girl and her wheelchair is free and open to the public.

W&L to Host ‘Slices of Research’ Program at Salerno Wood Fired Pizza & Taphouse

Newly promoted faculty members will present their research in a PechaKucha format on Jan. 28.

Twelve W&L Students Awarded Gilman Scholarships to Study Abroad

The Gilman Scholarship Program offers awards of up to $5,000 to U.S. undergraduate students who are Pell Grant recipients.

Candice Robinson Co-Authors Book About the Sociology of Cardi-B

The assistant professor of sociology explores Black femininity through a contemporary perspective.

Lawyer and Historian Paul Lombardo to Deliver Lecture on Buck v. Priddy Court Case

The Nov. 18 lecture is open to the public and marks the centenary of the case argued in Amherst County, Virginia.

Campus Kitchen Announces 2024-25 Just Food Series

The annual event series examines the ways in which food systems interact with issues of social justice.

Masako Konishi to Deliver Lecture as Part of the Class of 1963 Scholars in Residence Program

Konishi, Chief Merchandising Officer at Forever 21, will deliver her talk on Sept. 25.

Sample Courses

What classes will you take?

SOAN 278

Health and Inequality: An Introduction to Medical Sociology

This course introduces sociological perspectives of health and illness. Students examine topics such as social organization of medicine; the social construction of illness; class, race and gender inequalities in health; and health care reform. Some of the questions we address: How is the medical profession changing? What are the pros and cons of market-driven medicine? Does class have an enduring impact on health outcomes? Is it true that we are what our friends’ eat? Can unconscious racial bias affect the quality of care for people of different ethnicities? What pitfalls have affected the way evidence-based medicine has been carried out?

SOAN 266

Neighborhoods and Inequality

This course examines the ways in which residential context relates to social and economic inequalities. Drawing on empirical literature from sociology and related fields, we consider both (a) how residential contexts may shape individuals’ opportunities and (b) the factors that may shape the persistence or change of concentrated advantage and disadvantage across those residential settings. Half of the course is a traditional seminar and half is a data analysis lab in which we learn tools of spatial data analysis and then apply them in individual student projects on contemporary cities.

SOAN 210

Field Methods in Archaeology

Students study the cultural and natural processes that lead to the patterns we see in the archaeological record. Using the scientific method and current theoretical motivations in anthropological archaeology, students learn how to develop a research design and to implement it with actual field excavation. We visit several field excavation sites in order to experience firsthand the range of archaeological field methods and research interests currently undertaken by leading archaeologists. Students use the archaeological data to test hypotheses about the sites under consideration and produce a report of their research.

SOAN 208

Qualitative Methods

Qualitative research methods are widely used to provide rich and detailed understandings of people’s experiences, interactions, narratives and practices within wider sociopolitical and economic contexts. Typical methods include oral histories, interviews, participant observation, and analysis of visual and textual culture. Students will engage in research aligned with community interests. Stages of the project will include topic identification, research design, ethical and legal considerations, choosing an appropriate methodology, data collection, analysis and write-up, and presentation and critique.

SOAN 228

Race & Ethnic Relations

An examination of why and how society creates and maintains racial and ethnic boundaries in the US. We discuss some of the crucial questions, which include: What conditions constitute a privileged group and an oppressed group? Why and how do racial/ethnic minority groups, the poor and women experience discrimination, oppression and exclusion in social life? Is there any racial discrimination against privileged racial/ethnic groups? How can ordinary people, policymakers and social scientists contribute to improving race and ethnic relations among different social groups in the U.S.?

SOAN 240

Food, Culture & Society

This course explores connections among food, culture and society. Food has been an essential way that individuals and societies define themselves, especially now in our ever globalizing world, as cultural anthropology continues to be a central discipline guiding this field of study. Students review some of the classic symbolic and structural analyses of gastro-politics. We explore relationships between fast-food/globalized taste vs. the Slow Food Movement/localized taste, and delve into socioeconomic and political practices behind the production and consumption of coffee, milk products and alcoholic beverages. Students investigate relationships among cooking/eating and race, gender and sexuality, and discuss community food justice. Opportunities to experience the Rockbridge area food scene are integrated into the syllabus.

Meet the Faculty

At W&L, students enjoy small classes and close relationships with professors who educate and nurture.

Jonathan Eastwood

Department Head, Sociology and Anthropology; Professor of Sociology

P: 540-458-8777
E: eastwoodj@wlu.edu

Professor Eastwood is a social theorist who also has a strong interest in quantitative methods. He teaches seminars on classical and contemporary theory as well as a series of courses that train students how to use quantitative and computational tools to answer sociological questions.

Alison Bell

Professor of Anthropology

P: 540-458-8638
E: bella@wlu.edu

Bell teaches courses on the anthropology of American history. Her research interests include historical archaeology, material culture, social stratification, and the 18th and 19th century in the eastern United States.

Curriculum Vitae

Rebecca Benefiel

Abigail Grigsby Urquhart Professor of Classics

P: 540-458-8082
E: benefielr@wlu.edu

Benefiel teaches classics and Latin courses such as Pompeii, Classics in a Digital Age, Roman Religion, and The Poetry of Ovid. Her research focuses on Pompeii, Latin epigraphy, and Roman social and cultural history.

Mauricio Betancourt

Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies

P: 540-458-8196
E: mbetancourt@wlu.edu

Betancourt teaches Intro to Environmental Studies, Environmental Sociology, and the Commodification of Nature. His research has focused on agroecology, nature-society interactions, imperialism, and unequal ecological exchange.

Curriculum Vitae

Christopher Brown

Assistant Professor of Anthropology

P: 540-458-8387
E: cbrown2@wlu.edu

Lynn G. Chin

Associate Professor of Sociology

P: 540-458-8791
E: chinl@wlu.edu

Chin teaches courses on power and status, health and inequality, and other unique topics in sociology. Her research focuses on group processes and social psychology.

Donald Gaylord

Research Archaeologist and Instructor of Anthropology

P: 540-458-8378
E: gaylordd@wlu.edu

Gaylord teaches courses in archaeology including Field Methods in Archaeology and Discovering W&L’s Origins Using Historical Archaeology. He researches the anthropological analysis of property ownership and land use.

Curriculum Vitae

Sascha L. Goluboff

Professor of Cultural Anthropology

P: 540-458-8807
E: goluboffs@wlu.edu

Goluboff teaches courses such as Food, Culture, and Society, and Gender and Sexuality. Her research focuses on the anthropology of emotion in a variety of geographic and historic contexts.

Melissa R. Kerin

Professor of Art History

P: 540-458-8858
E: kerinm@wlu.edu

Kerin teaches courses in South Asian and East Asian art and architecture. Her research focuses on the intricate and multifaceted relationships between art and identity formation, cultural memory and religious praxis.

Curriculum Vitae

Emily Landry

Assistant Professor of Business Administration

P: 540-458-8608
E: elandry@wlu.edu

Michael Laughy

Boetsch Term Associate Professor of Classics and Department Head

P: 540-458-4569
E: laughym@wlu.edu

Laughy teaches courses in ancient Greek religion, history, art and archaeology. His research interests are Greek religion, Greek epigraphy and ancient Athens.

Sue Ann McCarty

Visiting Assistant Professor of Sociology and Anthropology

P: 540-458-8775
E: smccarty@wlu.edu

Hafsa Oubou

Visiting Assistant Professor of Anthropology

P: 540-458-8798
E: houbou@wlu.edu

Marcos Perez

Assistant Professor of Sociology

P: 540-458-8793
E: mperez@wlu.edu

Perez teaches courses such as Revolutions and Revolutionaries and Poverty and Marginality in the Americas. His research interests include political sociology, urban studies, stratification and Latin American studies.

Curriculum Vitae