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June ‘Out of the Blue’ spotlights soci...

June ‘Out of the Blue’ spotlights sociology, anthropology pathways [+VIDEO]

Out of the Blue Shannon Hodge Sociology Anthropology

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Educational opportunities for undergraduate students interested in sociology and anthropology were highlighted on the June episode for “Out of the Blue,” Middle Tennessee State University’s television magazine show.

Shannon Hodge, program director and associate professor of anthropology in the Sociology and Anthropology Department in the College of Liberal Arts, talked with show host Andrew Oppmann, MTSU vice president of Marketing and Communications.

Sociology and anthropology are two distinct academic disciplines that focus on the study of people and how they function within society, Hodge said.

“We’re interested in people and how we operate in groups,” Hodge said. “We are the people who have the skills and the understanding and the training to understand how people operate and why we do what we do as humans and as humans as members of society.”

Watch the segment:

Hodge said both sociologists and anthropologists excel at problem solving to help communities in a broader sense.

“We are equipped to understand how people function, and then to help,” Hodge said, “but the other thing that we can help with is understanding and recognizing paths forward and what things are going well and how we can sort of engage with people to make things better.”

While similar, both disciplines have their own nuances.

Anthropology is focused on human cultures: “What are our lifeways, what are our foodways, what are our traditions, what is our kinship?”

Andrew Oppmann, vice president for marketing and communications
Andrew Oppmann

“Sociology is really more interested in how those groups are structured,” Hodge said, “and understanding how people work in groups, how groups work together.”

The foundation for these disciplines provide students with skills to tackle the problems that can be found in any segment of society and workplace.

“We’re really interested in communication, both interpersonal communication and also professional communication. That’s something that’s really great that students take out into the world with them,” Hodge said.

The department provides students several avenues to put those skills into work, including an immersive internship in Brazil and connections with museums, nonprofits, historical organizations and government agencies.

To learn more, visit https://soc.mtsu.edu/.

“Out of the Blue” is available anytime on the university’s YouTube channel, the True Blue TV channel, Roku, Apple TV and Amazon Fire TV. It also airs on Murfreesboro cable Channel 9 daily at 6 a.m., 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.; NewsChannel5+ at 6:30 p.m. Sundays; WKRN+ at 7 p.m. Thursdays and noon Sundays (12:30 p.m. on June 29); and streamed on the MTSU Jazz Network through WMOT.org at 7 a.m. on the first Sunday of each month. It is also available on other cable outlets in Middle Tennessee, so check local listings. 

It is also available as a podcast on iTunes and Google Play and as individual interview segments on Spotify at https://spoti.fi/453hxg3

Watch previous episodes of “Out of the Blue” at https://mtsunews.com/out-of-the-blue.

— Nancy DeGennaro (Nancy.DeGennaro@mtsu.edu)


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