South Dakota State University is expanding its graduate offerings with the launch of a new social science Ph.D. program, an interdisciplinary program designed to address complex challenges facing rural communities and society at large.

Approved by the South Dakota Board of Regents in April 2025 and the Higher Learning Commission shortly after, the program will welcome its first cohort of students in fall 2026.

The program is housed in the School of Psychology, Sociology and Rural Studies within the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences. Rather than focusing on a single discipline such as sociology or psychology, the new Ph.D. brings together faculty expertise from across SDSU’s colleges — including nursing, natural sciences, agriculture, pharmacy and allied health professions — to train scholars equipped to tackle today’s “wicked problems.”

“The world’s complex issues require interdisciplinary teams,” said Paul Markel, professor and director of the School of Psychology, Sociology and Rural Studies.

The launch of the social science Ph.D. program also marks a new chapter for SDSU’s historic tradition in graduate social science education. The university’s sociology program dates back to 1925, once producing nearly a quarter of all doctorates on campus during its peak. Admissions to the previous sociology Ph.D. were suspended in 2020 due in part to faculty staffing and shifting academic focus.

Rather than simply reviving the former program, faculty and administrators chose to reimagine it. The resulting social science Ph.D. program addresses the current, complex research needs of the university in alignment with Pathway to Premier 2030 and the “R1 Our Way” initiative — SDSU’s commitment to reaching high research activity designation. The program not only advances interdisciplinary research but also increases the number of research doctorates SDSU produces, a key benchmark in the journey toward R1 status.

“The interdisciplinary approach allows complex problems to be taken seriously and explored in depth, so that you can come up with real practical solutions in a way that no single discipline could do alone,” Markel emphasized.

The program’s creation involved a working group of faculty representing multiple disciplines and colleges, including:

• Abigail Tobias-Lauerman, School of Psychology, Sociology and Rural Studies
• George Tsakiridis, School of American and Global Studies
• Heidi Mennenga, College of Nursing
• James Amell, College of Pharmacy and Allied Health Professions
• Jason Zimmerman, College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
• Jennifer Zavaleta Cheek, Department of Natural Resource Management
• Kimberly Johnson Maier, Department of Geography and Geospatial Sciences
• Londa Nwadike, College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences
• Shola Aromona, School of Communication and Journalism
• Stephanie Hanson, College of Pharmacy and Allied Health Professions
• Tyler Miller, School of Psychology, Sociology and Rural Studies

Members met regularly to design curriculum, define core requirements and develop the program’s first two proposed specializations: 1) environmental and rural development and 2) rural well-being.

“At one point we had rural sociology on our campus,” Markel said. “So even with this program, both specializations represent a rural theme, specifically rural development and rural well-being. It’s honoring and rejuvenating our rural studies roots.”

The program’s structure allows students to ground themselves in social science theory while applying research methods to practical challenges like sustainable land management or rural health disparities. It also aims to revive SDSU’s historic partnership with SDSU Extension through renewed attention to rural vitality, echoing SDSU’s land-grant mission.

“The rural environment is very complex, and there are incredible challenges in the rural space,” Markel explained. “When we identify a problem in a rural community, whether it’s health care, access to food, education or workforce development, it’s not enough for any one discipline to focus on the problem because we really need to bring in teams and have multiple disciplines looking at the same problem to make a difference.”


From concept to approval, the Ph.D. in social science moved with rare speed in higher education. The initial proposal, written by Markel in collaboration with faculty such as School of Communication and Journalism Director Josh Westwick, School of American and Global Studies Director Christi Garst-Santos and MaryJo Benton Lee, adjunct faculty member and evaluation specialist, was submitted to Dean David Earnest of the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences in September 2024. By December, the curricular paperwork was complete, and the program received final Board of Regents approval by April 2025.

The program is now included in SDSU’s Graduate Catalog, with recruitment and marketing underway for the first cohort’s admission in fall 2026. An advisory council composed of faculty from across participating colleges will oversee program evolution and ensure continued interdisciplinary collaboration.

The social science Ph.D. program positions South Dakota State University as one of the few institutions in the nation — alongside models like Syracuse University and Johns Hopkins — to offer an interdisciplinary social science doctorate.

“I am excited about the impact that the social science Ph.D. program will have on our local communities and university,” SDSU Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs Dennis Hedge said. “While providing a significant boost to our university’s Carnegie R1 designation pursuit, this interdisciplinary Ph.D. program will importantly provide graduating students with a solid foundation of perspectives and methods in the social sciences that will serve as a framework for addressing complex issues faced by communities in our state and region. By doing such work, our communities will ultimately be stronger.”

Markel summarized the program’s aim this way: the doctoral training will ground students in social science theory and research methods while requiring them to work with interdisciplinary advisory committees and teams so their research and solutions are applied and relevant to an ever-changing, complex world.

“We want to be able to take the research that comes out of this program and apply it in meaningful ways to the people of South Dakota and the region who are living in rural environments,” Markel said.