Honors & Awards
Departmental Citation / Departmental Honors / Alpha Kappa Delta (AKD) / University Honors
The Departmental Citation is an award recognizing undergraduate excellence in the UC Berkeley Sociology Department. Each year we select one graduating senior to receive this award for his/her outstanding accomplishments in sociology. A faculty committee reviews the materials of students who meet the following criteria:
1) Officially graduating in Spring or Summer 2013, or who finished their degree in Summer or Fall 2012 and didn't apply last year.
2) Have at least a 3.7 major GPA with at least 6 sociology courses completed by the end of Fall 2012. The g.p.a. includes the prerequisite courses taken for the major.
These students will be sent an email in late March inviting them to submit an application and a copy of their most significant work in sociology (i.e. an honors thesis or draft of one, research paper, or project). These materials will be due by Friday, April 19th. In past years, the Departmental Citation has typically gone to a student in the Senior Honors Program who worked on a thesis in sociology. However, this is not a requirement and it is possible that a student who has done a significant piece of work in sociology in some other way will be chosen. The faculty committee takes into consideration the overall sociology record and activities of qualified students, but also focuses a lot of attention on the sociological research or project the student engaged in when determining who to select.
Departmental Honors in Sociology is awarded to students who have completed Sociology H190A and B, the Sociology Senior Honors Program. To receive honors in the sociology major students must complete a Senior Honors Thesis in this class and have maintained a 3.3 overall GPA and a 3.5 GPA in the major. At the Sociology Commencement ceremony honor students will be awarded a gold honor cord (provided by the department) and the title of their Honors Thesis will be listed in the graduation program. The level of honors achieved - Honors, High Honors, or Highest Honors - is determined after graduation, and will be noted on the student's diploma and final transcript.
Alpha Kappa Delta (AKD) is an International Honors Society in Sociology. The Department of Sociology at UC Berkeley has our own chapter, Chi of California. AKD members are identified by blue cords at Commencement. For further information, please see here.
The College of Letters & Sciences awards Distinction, High Distinction, and Highest Distinction in general scholarship (comparable to Cum Laude, Magna Cum Laude, and Summa Cum Laude, although UC Berkeley does not use the Latin terminology). These distinctions are based on overall GPA. Please see here for more information.