The Sociology Department aims to understand the social changes taking place throughout the world and relate them to the developments in contemporary United States. The curriculum emphasizes issues such as class, race and gender from socio-historical and global perspectives. The department focuses on the division of the world into rich and poor nations, as well as organized attempts to bring about change in the U.S. and globally. To earn honors in sociology, a student majoring in sociology must earn a grade-point average of 3.5 or above in sociology, 3.3 or above overall and have completed four courses towards the sociology major. In the fall, the student must enroll in the senior Honors Seminar (SOC 471), and in the spring in SOC 499 (to write the honors research paper). In order for the student to receive honors, that paper must be judged to be of honors quality. SOC 499 constitutes an 11th course, that is, a course in addition to the 10-course requirement to fulfill the sociology major.