Sociology at a Jesuit University?

[avee]

Being that we know all Ivy leagues (and other universities) have religious affiliation, is applying to a Jesuit school for sociology a good idea? Does it matter what the school's affiliation is? I am specifically talking about Boston College. I am wondering how sociology works there. Thoughts?

[julesevar]

I went to a Jesuit school for my undergrad, specifically saint louis university. I feel I got a quality education and that

Catholicism wasn't really any part of the sociology program. I would say go for it if you can afford it...

[dimanche0829]

I spent a year at Loyola University in Chicago as an anthropology, sociology, and psychology major before switching schools and majors. I cannot think of any time when religion factored into my course materials. I did have to take to religion-themed courses as part of pre-reqs, but even those just explored the history of christian marriage; other than that, religion stayed out of my classrooms and I received a very thorough background in my major fields.

My recommendation would be to look closely into the publications of faculty and course descriptions for a few semesters to get a feel of what you'd be getting into by applying to a Jesuit school.

Edited November 20, 2011 by dimanche0829

[LLajax]

Being that we know all Ivy leagues (and other universities) have religious affiliation

Which of the Ivies have religious affiliation? Sorry, I know the question was "does affiliation matter to the quality of the education" (again, I apologize if that wasn't it), but to start off your statement with an incorrect assumption is a little strange. Penn, Princeton, and Cornell are all historically non-affiliated, and none of the eight are Jesuit. (Harvard, Yale, and Dartmouth= Calvinist; Columbia= Church of England; Brown= Baptist, historically). I'm just saying.

I don't mean to be in any way rude, mostly just wanted to clear it up.

Edited November 20, 2011 by LLajax

[avee]

I didn't say they were Jesuit. All Ivy leagues, with the exception of Cornell, were founded to some extent on religious affiliation. It DOES NOT suggest in this statement that they maintain strong religious affiliation per se, but almost each university has a church on campus.

Edited November 21, 2011 by avee

[sociologyplease]

Might not be that relevant, but I went to a Catholic institution for my undergraduate (Holy Cross affiliated, not Jesuit, however) and religion seeped into every part of the classroom experience! It also impacted the services I could receive in the health center (no birth control) and the sort of policies that were put into place to protect students (no clause granting non-discrimination based on sexual orientation, for example). Now, this stuff might not impact you, and obviously graduate programs are much different than undergraduate, but I would take a look at the overall policies of the school as well.

[RefurbedScientist]

As an outsider, I can't say for certain, but I would guess that BC's religious affiliate in no way bears on its sociology doctoral program, except perhaps that BC Sociology has something of an activist bent and Jesuit schools tend to claim some "social justice" ethos, at least superficially. However, I doubt that BC Sociology's activist culture and the Catholicism of the school are in any way related.

Judging by my impression of BC faculty, I doubt that they feel compelled to abide by the larger institutions religious affiliations.