Resources for Graduate Students
Graduate Student Profiles
Sara Skiles
![Sara Skiles [photo]](photo.jpg)
Doctoral Student
Sociology
As part of my decision-making process for which graduate program to join, I spoke with many professors and graduate students in Notre Dame’s Sociology Department. I was excited when so many of the people I spoke with emphasized the supportive environment within the program, but I was skeptical. How could it be that such a vibrant and productive department could focus so much of its energy working to ensure the success of each student?
Now that I’ve spent a year studying here, I understand that students and professors work together intentionally to build and maintain a community of scholars that expects and encourages all members of the department to work together as colleagues. Graduate students are given countless opportunities to involve themselves in the research of their professors, many of whom are leaders in their respective fields. Both in and out of the classroom, students are encouraged to consider the big picture behind their own work – not only how it contributes to the literature of Sociology, but how it answers wider questions about the meanings of social structures and interactions, and what it tell us about living life as social beings.
I have found that Notre Dame professors take seriously their roles as mentors, sacrificing time to help students find their places in the department and in the field of Sociology. I can truly say that I have found my place in a department that has the resources of a major research institution and the personal attention of a small Liberal Arts college.
