Social Theory Graduate Certificate
Social theory is a fascinating field of study that informs the way we see and engage with the world around us. It provides an intellectual framework, revealing the hidden patterns and forces that shape human behavior, relationships, and institutions. Through ideas like power, identity, culture, and social change, the Social Theory Graduate Certificate allows you to reimagine society, question assumptions, and formulate solutions to address challenges now and into the future.
Program Overview
The Social Theory Graduate Certificate allows students to collaborate across disciplines while deepening their understanding of social and human behavior.
Through course offerings in various departments—including English, geography, sociology, world languages and cultures, and more—students will be exposed to a wide range of disciplines and participate in vibrant discussions that prepare them to interpret, develop, and refine new theoretical research methods.
Designed as an add-on certificate, the graduate certificate in social theory will help enhance students’ primary field of study, all while allowing them to collaborate, network, and build strong connections. Plus, with UT’s unique Center for Social Theory, students will be exposed to over 25 faculty members from various disciplines who actively contribute to the broad area of social and cultural theory.
Why Study Social Theory?
At UT, students interested in social theory have the unique opportunity to participate in and attend lectures and conferences set up by the College of Arts and Sciences’ Center for Social Theory.
Led by the Committee on Social Theory established in 2012, the Center for Social Theory supports the research and teaching of faculty and graduate students, offering them a space to exchange ideas about inter-, cross-, multi- or trans-disciplinary perspectives and topics.
The center supports research across several themes, including American society/modernity; constellations of past, present, and future; film, television, and literature; governance and law in the 21st century; mass media and social media; technology and society; and universities and higher education.
Whatever your research interests, a graduate certificate in social theory prepares you to contribute and engage critically with innovative perspectives across disciplines.
What Can You Do with a Graduate Certificate in Social Theory After Graduation?
The graduate certificate in social theory provides students with an interdisciplinary approach to various concentrations of social theory such as classical, critical, postcolonial, contemporary, and more. With your education in sociology and a social theory concentration, there are many different ways you could go with your career, easily transferring the skills you obtain into numerous fields.
Many of our graduates go on to work in academics, as professors, research administrators, academic advisors, or program evaluators. In the research industry or with non-profit organizations, you could contribute further to the concentration you studied for your certificate with program evaluation, market research, community organization, or policy analysis. If you’re interested in government, you could become a civil rights analyst, research data specialist, social science analyst, or survey statistician.
Whichever direction you choose to go, your ability to construct representations of society, enhanced analytical and critical thinking skills, and wide intellectual horizon will make you fit for any job in this career field, helping you to make an impact on the world of social theory starting right here at UT.
Featured Courses
CSE 609 Feminist Theories and Education
This course focuses on theoretical research currently presented by feminist scholars questioning traditional (male) theories. Students also learn how to apply these feminist theories to current feminist work in education.
GEOG 599 Geographic Concept and Method
Topics covered include traditional and modern geographic thought and readings on nature, scope, problems, and methods of geography.
PHIL 528 Topics in Contemporary Philosophy
In this course, students will complete intensive critical work on themes in late 20th-century philosophy.
SOCI 504 Sociological Foundations of Political Economy
This course surveys contemporary sociological theories of political economy and sources of political and economic power and conflict.
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