The substantive focus of sociology at the University of Minnesota is to clarify the implications of stability and change within a framework of social action. The intent is to join the rich social scientific understandings of social and individual dynamics with wider issues of public concern. The vision informing our mission is of a proactive civic sociology, which draws attention to significant social issues and responds to the interests of the wider society. This vision of civic sociology is central to the future of the discipline and the departments educational mission. The department is committed to moving its concern with action and change across its multiple activities in education, in research, and in service. The department has five primary areas of emphasis: Family and the Life Course; Inequality: Race, Class, and Gender; Law, Crime, and Deviance; Organizations, Work and Markets; and Political Sociology and Social Movements.