Opportunities

Financial Support and Travel Funds

• The Department of Sociology provides financial support to as many Master's students as possible by awarding Graduate Assistantships (click here) to its most qualified students. Graduate Assistants gain valuable experience by working with faculty on teaching and/or research projects.
• The Department provides some travel funds for students who present papers at professional meetings. In addition, students can apply for travel funds through the Donovan Travel Enrichment Fund and University of Memphis Graduate Student Association.

Teaching and Professional Development/Enrichment

• Some of our more advanced graduate students have an opportunity to teach their own introductory sociology courses. Students who have completed 18 hours of coursework and who have taken SOCI 7210 (Theory Seminar) may be considered for a teaching assistantship.
• We offer monthly professional development seminars that covers such topics as publishing, submitting grant proposals, developing good teaching skills, reading papers at professional meetings, preparing resumes and vitas, applying for non-academic jobs, and applying to doctoral programs.
• The Department of Sociology sponsors a Research Colloquium Series. Well-known scholars, departmental faculty, and our own graduate students present as part of the Series.
• The Department encourages students to present their research as part of the Research Colloquium Series and at professional meetings. In recent years, our students have presented at such regional and national associations as the Southern Sociological Society, Southern Demographic Association, American Sociological Association, Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction, International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry, and Association of Black Sociologists. Click Graduate Student Accomplishments for a list of student publications, presentations, and honors.

Support for Thesis and Other Student Research

• To carry out thesis projects, students may need financial assistance to cover the costs of such things as supplies, printing, and data sets. The Department makes every attempt to provide financial support for these projects.
• The University of Memphis is a member of the Inter-University Consortium on Political and Social Research (ICPSR). This membership gives students ready access to a wide range of data sets that can be used for thesis and independent research projects.
• Students have access to a large computer lab and a wide array of current software programs.

Student Paper Competition

Every year we have a graduate student paper competition. The winner receives $200.