Interested in Undertaking a Sociology Honors Thesis?

The Sociology Honors Thesis Program welcomes ambitious and dedicated students who are interested in undertaking independent research, under the supervision of a faculty mentor.

About the Sociology Honors Thesis Program

To be eligible for Latin Honors, the student must have maintained a 3.65 GPA through their sixth semester and must be approved by the Academic Coordinator or Director of Undergraduate studies. Latin Honors indicates that you have earned top grades and will complete a substantial research project. Students interested in the opportunity to conduct research on a topic of their choosing, and whose grades satisfy the criteria for Latin honors established by the College of Arts & Sciences may elect to undertake a Sociology Honors Thesis. Completion of an Honors Thesis is the only path to Latin honors for Sociology majors.  Students who participate in the Honors Thesis Program must complete a two-semester sequence of coursework (6 credit hours total) to successfully fulfill the departmental Capstone and Latin Honors requirements.

Thesis projects can vary in scope, but typically involve original sociological research presented in the format and length of a conventional academic article – i.e. 30-40 pages of text, references, and figures. We strongly recommend that students considering a thesis speak with their department advisor and/or other Sociology faculty members about their ideas as early as possible - no later than the Spring term of their Junior year - so that they are ready to complete their Sociology Honors Thesis Program application and begin the Honors Program sequence in the Fall of their Senior year. 

Application and Course Enrollments

Students who wish to write an Honors Thesis should first complete the Sociology Honors Thesis Program application.  As thesis cohorts are admitted annually, students should apply for the Program in the Spring prior to their senior year.  Students will be notified of their acceptance into the Program in the early- to mid-Summer.  Once your application is approved, you may register for SOC 4901: Sociology Honors Thesis (3 credits) in the Fall semester of their senior year.  In the Fall, students will participate in a seminar style course, working to develop their thesis projects, secure needed institutional research approval, solidify their faculty mentoring team, and to construct the basis of their thesis through a project proposal. In the Spring, students will register again for SOC 4901 (3 credits), this time completing their coursework as an independent study supervised by their faculty mentoring team.

Previous Sociology Honors Theses

  • Navigating the Bottom of the Dating Totem Pole: Politics of Exclusion among Asian American Men
  • Policing Transit: Poverty Violations on the St. Louis MetroLink
  • The Cost of Contact: Documenting Disparities in St. Louis Municipal Court Fines and Fees
  • A City Upon A Hill: Moral Schemas and Resilience Narratives in the Face of Disaster
  • Localized Responses to Immigration: Using Newspapers to Analyze Public Portrayals
  • Social Media and the Anti-Sex Trafficking Movement: How Organizational Identity Shapes Discourse
  • On Canfield Drive: Rituals of Mourning and Protest in Ferguson
  • Racist Past, Raceless Present: Historical Narratives of Race in High School U.S. History Standards
  • Framing Criminal Justice Reform: An Assessment of Legislative Decarceration Efforts in Illinois
  • ‘A Messy Scale’: Parental Support as Understood by Queer Adult Children
  • Essential Mothering: Work and Parenting Obligations among Mothers in Essential Occupations During the COVID-19 Pandemic
  • “Am I Better Than Them?”: Class and Consumer Perceptions in Sustainable Fashion Consumption
  • Criminal or Civil Servant? A Comparative Case Study of Serbia and the U.S. Administering Justice to Errant State Actors
  • Justice for All?: Political Consciousness and Acts of Resistance in the Missouri Carceral System
  • Incorporating Corporations: A Content Analysis of Social Responsibility Communications
  • Negotiating Community Health: Community Based Organizations, Elite Institutions, and the Persistence of Racialized and Classed Health Disparities in St. Louis
  • Caring for the Caretaker: Understandings of Sexual Assault Response Training and its Impacts among College Students
  • Remembering the Oneida Massacre: Reconstructing Memory around Unwritten Histories of Racial Violence
  • Men Have Skin Too: A Study of Men’s Skincare Habits and Enactments of Gender
  • Reproducing Inequality: Social Drivers of Perinatal Shackling in the United States
  • Geographies of Trauma: Racial Disparities in Distance to Emergency Care Centers
  • How Court Advocates Perceive the Benefits and Limitations of Specialized Domestic Violence Courts
  • The Financialization of Food: Investigating the Effects of Financial Speculation on Agricultural Prices in the 21st Century
  • The Dating and Sexual Experiences of Queer Men of Color: Racial Preference in the 21st Century Bedroom
  • Moneyball? Evaluating the Effect of Non-performance Factors on Major League Baseball Salaries

Negotiating Community Health: Community Based Organizations, Elite Institutions, and the Persistence of Racialized and Classed Health Disparities in St. Louis

― Olivia Rau Sociology Honors Thesis Program, 2022 Cohort