Meet Our Students

Katie changed her major to sociology after taking the Sociology of Food in London. She said: “I truly fell in love with the idea of studying our world and the complex social processes within it.” Katie says she enjoys her sociology classes because “learning from professors who absolutely love what they are teaching allows them to bring forth interesting classroom experiences that I have rarely found elsewhere.”

Kristin came to sociology after taking 101 as a prerequisite for her other major. Her sociology classes have not only given her “an entirely new perspective on the world,” but have also inspired her to seek a career in health education, health communication, or clinical mental health counseling . Kristin’s career path was motivated by the social and economic health inequalities that she learned about in her courses. She says that she wants to do what she can to “help educate individuals on their health and harm reduction strategies to try to reduce some health disparities.”

Bridget’s fascination with “how the unique lives of individuals come together to form a society and, in return, how the society affects those individuals” led her to select sociology as her major. She feels that studying sociology at UB has led her to look at “everyday situations in a sociological way” and has helped her better “understand the world and people” around her.

Originally an occupational therapy major, Zoe decided to switch to Sociology because she enjoyed the challenge of learning to think critically about structural forces and the world around us. She says, “When I switched to sociology, I felt a world of difference in my level of interest and engagement for all of my classes.”

Emily is a pre-med student whose experience in Medical Sociology led her to declare sociology as a major. She says, “I fell in love with the class realizing how useful the information I gained could be in my practice.” She says she switched her major from biology to sociology the day after she learned about the Department’s specialization in Health & Society.

A junior, Olivia switched her major after her first sociology course. “I found myself glued to the substantive topics,” and says she spent a lot of time “discussing sociological ideas with my classmates outside of class and calling my family to tell them what I had learned in class that week.”

Sarah is working on an honors thesis related to medical sociology. She is passionate about understanding health inequalities and health disparities. Her research explores the perceptions of people from different sociodemographic backgrounds about several hot-button health issues, including prescription drug advertising and health care reform.