PhD in Geography or Sociology?

[ParmaSean]

Hello People of GradCafe, I need some help!

I just received my Master's in Urban Planning and Policy from the University of Illinois, Chicago this May. During my Undergrad I studied Economics and the Sociology of Religion. I am interested in eventually applying for PhD programs but am unsure if I should be applying for Sociology PhD's or one in Geography (Human). 

The topics I am interested in focusing on are immigration, migration, and diaspora policies and how migrants/refugees fit into western societal spaces. Additionally I am very interested in how the role of the city plays into these trends as well.

I can make arguments for both disciplines-on the one hand Geography could be better because it is more closely aligned with my Master's in Urban Planning in that it deals with human interaction with the environment (both built or otherwise), and it also would allow me to include some sociological trends into the study as well, such as demography.

On the other hand, sociology has more longly been associated with immigration and transnational studies and is more aligned with population dtudies and demography research which ended up being my favorite aspect of my Urban Planning degree.

I never thought I would be having this dilemma but I am. If someone could address what the differences are between these potential two programs in terms of research methodologies etc., as well as which you think would be better for someone with my research interests that would be amazing.

I am very aware that I may be rambling here so if you need clarification on anything or have further questions to help me out please do not hesitate!

Thanks so much,

Sean 

[TK2]

Going through this myself, so this is hardly authoritative, but i've approached it s a question of specific research and faculty at particular institutions. Look at it backwards - find the type of research you'd want to be doing, see who's doing it, and then see what programs they're associated with. Probably there's a mixed bag of geographers, planners and sociologists there, and maybe cultural studies and who knows what else (public health? Economics? Middle Eastern/African/Asian studies?) working on related topics. You'll could well end up applying to a geography department at one institution and a sociology one at another. 

[jmu]

I know this may not be helpful three weeks after your posting, but I'll give it a go anyway. Maybe not directly answering your question, but you might also consider interdisciplinary departments that sort of bleed between the two fields. The first one that came to mind when reading your post was Transborder Studies at ASU (https://sts.asu.edu/node/410). The second is my own department, Global and Sociocultural Studies at FIU.

I'm not super familiar with ASU's program and it seems to have a heavy focus on the Southwest US, but it might be worth looking into.

In my program, there are a few graduate students working on research related to immigration (and I'm happy to put you in contact with them.) We're a newer program but have a good track record thus far with graduate students have publications and external funding and with getting good jobs when they finish (R1 postdocs, TT and NTT academic positions, NGOs, government agencies, etc.) We also have a demographer, anthropologists who work on diasporas, and geographers on faculty within the department so you can do both. Again, I can give you more info if you're interested.

I also definitely agree with TK2 that you might look instead at particular faculty rather than programs themselves but with the caveat that you should be ready and willing to teach intro courses in whatever field(s) you apply to for a long time.