Overview
The PhD in Sociology at The Ãå±±ÂÖ¼é of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a unique and innovative doctoral program that draws on our distinctive location along the U.S.-Mexico border and focuses on the department’s outstanding expertise in migration, environment, and health. The Ph.D. program specializes in the comparative study of national and social processes that connect and transcend the boundaries of the United States and Mexico, as well as other divided global societies.
The faculty in UTEP’s Sociology & Anthropology Department have a strong record of publication and research in each of these fields. Moreover, as an interdisciplinary department that contains Sociologist, Anthropologists, and Geographers, we provide training that goes beyond more narrowly focused Sociology departments. Additionally, UTEP, with a majority Latinx student body, is on the cutting edge of filling the clear need for more Latinx scholars with Ph.Ds.
The department houses an NSF Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program in “Immigration and Border Community”, is a member of the Rocky Mountain Research Data Center Consortium, and houses the Socio-Environmental & Geospatial Analysis (SEGA) Lab which provides training in GIS. It has established, world-leading experts on borders, spatial analysis, and political economy. Its faculty have also won three Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Awards for excellent teaching and numerous outstanding book awards from national and international associations.
Students in this program will engage in empirical research to produce new understandings of social processes impacting the world in a unique and highly dynamic context. Research will be conducted via one of the three concentrations that reflect the expertise of our faculty and the major social issues of our region: (1) Borders and Mobility; (2) Culture and Health; and (3) Environment and Society (described above). This tripartite structure maximizes the synergistic talents of a highly-productive faculty with a shared commitment to place-based research.
