Funding Opportunities

The Undergraduate Program in the Department of Sociology is a vibrant and diverse community of 400-500 majors and minors who are passionate about investigating social issues using empirical evidence and acting as agents of social change. Students in our program pursue learning opportunities outside of the classroom, such as volunteer work at community sites, faculty and doctoral student research assistance), study abroad, undergraduate speakers series events, and independent research and writing through our Honors Program in Sociology.

Contributions to the Department's annual fund play a critical role in sustaining selected activities and programs. The Department gratefully accepts contributions to a few specific areas.

The Sociology Department Strategic Fund (308214)

The Sociology Strategic Fund provides discretionary funds to the Department Chair to improve the academic and programmatic opportunities in the department. The Department has historically dedicated all funds donated to the Strategic Fund to our undergraduate students, providing funding to assist in research projects, internships, study abroad, and co-curricular speakers and events.
The Department of Sociology at the University of Michigan is one of the premier sociology departments in the country. The undergraduate program and our renowned faculty aim to instruct students on the value of recognizing & understanding social differences and utilizing various methods to think critically & creatively about the world. Students can choose to either major in general Sociology, or may specialize in one of our professionalization sub-major: Law, Justice, & Social Change; Sociology of Health and Medicine; or Sociology and Social Work. Your donation helps our program continue its goals of providing exceptional support and learning opportunities for its students.

SOUL - Sociology Opportunities for Undergraduate Leadership (328705) 

In Sociology, more than ⅓ of our majors are the first in the family to go to college. We recognize that first-generation college students at the University of Michigan face unusual social, academic, and financial challenges. But we also find that such students possess a unique set of qualifications and capabilities: curiosity, conscientiousness, persistence, risk-taking – in a word, grit. These are the characteristics of leaders. In order to nurture those characteristics, the Department of Sociology has created a program designed to cultivate and support our first-generation leaders in Sociology: Sociology Opportunities for Undergraduate Leadership, or SOUL.

The Sociology Opportunities for Undergraduate Leadership (SOUL) program supports first-generation college students majoring in Sociology through paid RAships, a 2-semester course for participants, faculty mentors, peer mentors, access to the Leadership Lab through the Barger Leadership Institute, tutoring, & more. The goal of this program is to improve the retention of first-generation college students, provide students with intensive research opportunities with faculty members, and provide well-paid work opportunities that are academically related.

Your support for SOUL will help the program continue to grow and ensure that a greater number of first-generation students are afforded the tools and opportunities to flourish.

The Xiaohong Xu Memorial Support Fund (311374) 

Professor Xiaohong Xu, sociologist of history, politics, culture, political economy, and China, passed away on December 12, 2023. Xiaohong will be remembered for his infinite generosity and dedication to critical inquiry, and to nurturing the next generation of scholars. Gifts to this memorial endowment fund will be used by the Department of Sociology to provide support to doctoral students with a preference for international students and/or students studying Chinese society.

Project Community (337646)

Project Community (PC) is one of the longest-running learning programs in the country, designed to allow students to participate in community-engaged learning experiences through a sociological lens. The rich history of PC spans over six decades. Project Community’s first beginnings were influenced by John F. Kennedy’s 1960 speech atop the steps of the Michigan Union that led to the establishment of the Peace Corps and his famous inaugural address in 1961 when JFK urged Americans to “ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.”

Students can gain new perspectives on social inequalities through their experiences with a variety of community sites, including elementary schools, afterschool programs, health clinics, correctional facilities, social services agencies, advocacy centers, and other nonprofit organizations in Southeast Michigan. We are passionate about helping students develop a critical consciousness of social inequalities and explore social change at the individual, community, and societal levels.

Project Community is dedicated to building mutually beneficial relationships between students and community members, promoting social justice both in the classroom and community, and fostering social action among undergraduate students during their time at U-M and beyond.

Your generous gift towards the Project Community fund will help support the program, provide life-changing experiences for UM students, and positively impact the Southeast Michigan community!

Gifts may also be made by credit card, online. To make sure your gift is given to the appropriate fund, please click on select areas to support link.  On this new page, scroll down, and click the box next to Sociology Strategic Fund, or click the box next to Other Area and type in Sociology Graduate Fellowship Fund (311374).

Thank you for your support.