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Department of Sociology

In our rapidly changing global environment, there has never been a more important time to look at the world through a social lens and engage in theoretically driven research and teaching that makes a difference.
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Welcome to the Department of Sociology at Durham

Our Department members, postgraduate researchers, and students collectively develop ‘sociological imagination’ and apply it to contemporary processes and issues. These include social inequality and its implications for social mobility, education and health; violence, abuse, and the role of help-seeking and state responses.
Find out more about us
1st for Criminology Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2024
20th in the UK QS World University Subject Rankings 2024
4th in the UK for research impact in REF 2021
Athena Swan Silver Award in Gender Equality

  

Study with us

  • Undergraduate study

    Find out more about our undergraduate degrees in Sociology, Criminology and Joint Honours in Sociology and Anthropology.

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  • Postgraduate study

    Explore our postgraduate study options in Sociology, Criminology, Social Research Methods and Social Work.

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Undergraduate study

Find out more about our undergraduate degrees in Sociology, Criminology and Joint Honours in Sociology and Anthropology.

Students reading and discussing a book with their tutor

Postgraduate study

Explore our postgraduate study options in Sociology, Criminology, Social Research Methods and Social Work.

Someone having a coffee break

Our research

We work in collaborative and participative ways with communities, both within and external to the university, locally, nationally and internationally to effect social justice and social change.

Underpinning our work is a concern to understand the similarities and differences arising from people’s intersecting identities, especially of gender, sexuality, ‘race’, social class, faith and age.
Research areas
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Find out more about our Department

What's new?

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Collaborating with Action for ME to improve understanding of ME

Dr Katharine Cheston, from our Institute for Medical Humanities and Department of Sociology, is working with the charity Action for ME to better understand what it is like to live with ME and long Covid.

Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion
Woman facing camera, smiling. Head and shoulders visible

Funding success for weight inclusivity training tool

We’re celebrating a successful funding application which will enable our experts to establish a new training tool to help tackle weight discrimination in healthcare.
Research news
Patient sat in medical consultation with healthcare practitioner to their left listening with a stethoscope

Twenty Durham researchers appointed to REF 2029 sub-panels

Twenty of our researchers will take important roles in assessing UK universities’ research quality.
Research news
Woman in lab coat holding microscope-like device

Report tackles modern air pollution

Professor Brian Castellani, from our Department of Sociology, has made significant contributions to a new report identifying air pollution as a public health crisis.
Global research
RCP report cover on a navy background

Summit explores regional inequalities facing women

Researchers, policy makers and politicians from across the North of England have gathered at Durham University to discuss worsening health and work inequalities for women in the region.
Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion
Five women standing behind a table. Two are leaning over the table, holding pens over a document

People with health issues denied medication in police custody

People in police custody with health issues are regularly put at risk because medication is delayed or unavailable.
Research news
Old-fashioned police lantern sign

Researchers collaborate on new app to improve support for hate incident victims

Researchers at Durham and Northumbria Universities have helped develop an app to better equip frontline practitioners to identify hate incidents and ensure victims get the right support.
Research news
The logo for the Hate ID app features three circles and the words Hate ID underneath
More news

Funding success for weight inclusivity training tool

We’re celebrating a successful funding application which will enable our experts to establish a new training tool to help tackle weight discrimination in healthcare.

Patient sat in medical consultation with healthcare practitioner to their left listening with a stethoscope

Twenty Durham researchers appointed to REF 2029 sub-panels

Twenty of our researchers will take important roles in assessing UK universities’ research quality.
Woman in lab coat holding microscope-like device

People with health issues denied medication in police custody

People in police custody with health issues are regularly put at risk because medication is delayed or unavailable.
Old-fashioned police lantern sign

Student updates

Find out what our students get up to at Durham University.

Highlights

Studying for an MSc in Criminology and Criminal Justice

Jagraj Singh gives us an insight into studying for an MSc in Criminology and Criminal Justice in the Department of Sociology
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A day in the life of a criminology student

Olivia Gough gives us an insight into a day in the life as a Criminology student
Exterior shot outside the entrance to Hatfield College

Get in touch

To find out more about our undergraduate and postgraduate options, please contact us using one of the buttons below.

Department of Sociology

Durham University
Mill Hill Lane
Durham
DH1 3LB

+44 (0)191 33 41400

Questions about studying here?

Check out our list of FAQs or submit an enquiry form.

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