Graduate Program
The UCF Sociology graduate programs provides training in the skills necessary to secure research careers in both academic and non-academic professions and emphasizes applied research in community-based settings. The program is organized around a curriculum combining grounding in the acquisition of theoretical and methodological skills with advanced study in one of the department’s three primary areas of specialization:
- Crime & Deviance: This area comprises a broad analysis of criminal and deviant behavior including the locations of crime, fluctuations in crime rates, and the experiences of crime victims.
- Medical Sociology: This area examines the ways connecting social statuses relate to health, illness, and medical care.
- Social Inequalities: This area examines how power, social, and spatial inequalities are manifested, reinforced, and contested in contemporary society.
We encourage our students to interact with our faculty, staff, and community partner network to elevate their learning and develop new theories, methods, and skillsets for both academic and non-academic careers. We support full-time and part-time graduate school options in our department. To help our students succeed, our department promotes collaboration, dialogue, professional development, mentoring networks, diverse and inclusive workspaces, community connections, and cutting-edge research and education opportunities for students to work with faculty, staff, and community stakeholders. Our programs also provide opportunities for students to engage with faculty on collaborative research projects, journal articles, and presentations at academic and non-academic conferences/meetings/workshops.
Faculty & Research Excellence
Our faculty is composed of 15 tenure-track scholars, including three with NIH-funded postdoctoral training, who bring experience and national recognition to their work. They are actively engaged in research funded by leading agencies such as the National Institute of Health, the National Science Foundation, the Department of Justice, and numerous state and local organizations. Their scholarship is widely published in high impact journals like Criminology, American Journal of Public Health, Gender & Society, and Journal of the American Medical Association, and they have authored books with academic presses including Sage, Routledge, and the University of Georgia. Many serve as editors or editorial board members for prominent journals and are frequently invited to review research for federal agencies. In addition, faculty hold elected positions in many professional associations like the American Sociological Association, the Society for the Study of Social Problems, and the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences.
Department Features
UCF Sociology emphasizes applied, interdisciplinary research, often in collaboration with public health, criminal justice, anthropology, and other fields. The department is a key contributor to the Violence Against Women Research Cluster and houses the Institute for Social and Behavioral Science, which partners with local organizations to conduct impactful, community-based research. Students also benefit from advanced training in spatial science, including GIS courses led by Dr. Yingru Li, a specialist in spatial statistics and urban geography.
Apply Now!Graduate Program Contact
Students thinking about our graduate programs are encouraged to reach out to Dr. Amy Donley, UCF Sociology Graduate Director and Associate Professor.
Message from the Director: We’d love to learn more about your interests, how they might align with our department’s strengths, and how we could work together to create a learning path to support your career goals, your education, and your professional development. We are a diverse, inclusive, and vibrant learning community with students, faculty, and staff from all across the globe. We’re located in one of the fastest-growing metropolitan regions in the country (the Orlando MSA) and just 45 minutes from the Atlantic Coast and less than 2 hours from the Gulf Coast.
Please do reach out so we can get to know each other and discuss how UCF Sociology graduate programs can support your next steps. Thank you for visiting our website site and social media channels, and for considering an application to our program. Whether you choose to apply to our program or another program, we hope you find a supportive environment to support your efforts and to elevate your skillsets for the next step in your career.
About the Graduate Director:
I am an Associate Professor in the UCF Department of Sociology and the Director of the Institute for Social and Behavioral Science (ISBS), a community-based research institute housed in the Sociology department (learn more about ISBS here). I am an applied sociologist whose research focuses on diverse topics including housing precarity and homelessness, poverty, food insecurity, substance use and misuse, and intimate partner violence, among others. Through ISBS I have partnered with over 50 organizations and government entities including Lift Orlando, United Against Poverty, Orange County Drug Free Office, Miami Dade County, and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
My work appears in many journals including Journal of Social Distress and the Homeless, Journal of Applied Social Sciences, and Journal of Forensic Psychology Practice. My most recent book, entitled Between Systems and Violence: State-Level Policy Targeting Intimate Partner Violence in Immigrant and Refugee Lives, is co-authored with UCF Sociology doctoral student, Julio Montanez, and UCF Sociology Professor, Dr. Amy Reckdenwald.
I have several current research projects underway including a qualitative study focused on the growing senior homeless population and an analysis of Good Samaritan laws as a form of harm reduction.
Office Hours:
Thursdays 3:00 PM – 5:30 PM EST, and by appointment
