Meet Our Students

Based on faculty and instructor nominations to the Undergraduate Studies Committee, the department chooses one undergraduate major  to feature as our monthly Sociology & Criminology Student Spotlight. This program recognizes the extraordinary achievements, accomplishments, and activities of our undergraduate students.

Current Student Spotlight:

Jeremy Carr.

February 2020: Uma Khan

Uma’s passion for fighting social injustice led her to major in sociology. She explains: “The sociology department has given me the platform to speak about the issues that our society and country don't talk about. I'm able to speak with confidence and passion about the issues of White Supremacy terrorism, the issues of Criminal Justice reform, the issues of Public policy and common-sense reform.” Uma says she chose sociology at UB because “One leaves with not just academic knowledge but current knowledge and experiences encountered by students, and students of color, immigrants in America.”

After graduation, Uma plans on completing a dual MBA/Master of Public Policy.

Previous Student Spotlights

December 2019: Katherine Worden
12/2/19
Katy chose to become a criminology major because she enjoys “learning about how crime is perceived and facilitated by society.” One of Katy’s favorite experiences at UB was studying abroad in London through the Sociology Department where she “grew as a person” and also had the chance to get to know other Sociology majors.
November 2019: Avery Sirwatka
12/2/19
Avery chose to become a sociology major because “the discipline is a way to directly interrogate disparities (social, economic, and health, etc.) within society.” In addition to majoring in Sociology, Avery is also majoring in Urban & Public Policy and minoring in Public Health and Environmental Design. Avery is also conducting research on food access and equity in the Food Systems Planning and Healthy Communities Lab at UB. 
October 2019: Allen Tabor
9/30/19
Allen chose to become a criminology major in the Sociology Department’s new Criminology BA program because he has “always been interested in the effects of crime in society and how it shapes law, especially focusing on substance use and the drug trade.”  He also picked criminology because of his professors. He explained that his professors “are all very passionate about what they teach and because of this, it makes learning the material much more interesting and rewarding."
May 2019: Joe Buttino
5/1/19
Joe admits he didn’t know much about Sociology before starting at UB and taking Sociology courses.  He says “I find the content incredibly relevant to understanding life more fully and how to address the most complicated problems faced by people of all ages.” Joe has been a particularly active member of the department community, serving as a research assistant, a CAS ambassador, and an officer in the Sociology Club.  This summer, Joe will attend the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association to present his research.
April 2019: Leah Barney
4/17/19
Leah says she chose to become a sociology major because, as a sociology major, “I have the ability to see beyond the surface of society and really begin to be critical of social life. Inequality has always been a concept of interest and sociology has really helped me expand that understanding.” Leah has particularly enjoyed her criminology coursework at UB because “We viewed content and subjects at hand in the sociological lens which was powerful in my opinion.”
March 2019: Mariama Fall
4/2/19
Mariama says she chose Sociology as her major because: “I’m very interested in how societies, and individuals in them, function as a living organism. I want to learn more about how different groups in societies interact with the institutions they live with on a daily basis.”
February 2019: Sara Gunkel
4/2/19
Sara started out as a Psychology major at UB but ultimately decided to add Sociology as a major. She describes her decision to doublemajor this way: “I found myself drawn to Sociology courses in my elective choices. With each successive class, my interest in the field grew. I began to feel a synergy between the things I was learning in Psychology and the wider application of many of those concepts to communities and human populations through Sociology. The questions that Sociology asks, the concepts that I learned and the research that I read drew me to the field.”