Applications Open! Enroll for Summer 2027 at 2026 Tuition Pricing Until Sept 30
Study society through research and sociological inquiry in this 2-week program for high school students on Georgetown University’s campus.
Course Description
How do culture, institutions, and relationships shape individual choices? Students use the sociological imagination to connect personal experiences with larger social patterns. Topics include culture, childhood development, family and social relationships, deviance, race relations, population, sexuality and gender, and large-scale social change.
The course also introduces sociology as a research discipline. Students compare experiments, surveys, field research, content analysis, and other quantitative or qualitative approaches. They examine ethics, literature reviews, hypotheses, validity, and reliability, learning how the design of a study affects the conclusions it can support.
Applied exercises move from critique to design. Students conduct a short content analysis and develop a simple field-research proposal or project. By connecting theory, method, and observation, they learn to ask sociological questions carefully and to examine social claims without reducing complex people or institutions to stereotypes. Discussion, practice, and feedback help students check their reasoning and improve how they communicate the work.
This two-week course takes place at Georgetown University. The course is available to residential and commuter students. Beyond class, students connect focused academic work with campus life, growing independence, and clearer direction about what students may want to study or pursue next. The program is developed by Georgetown University and offered in partnership with Summer Discovery.
What Will You Do?
• Apply the sociological imagination to culture and institutions
• Compare quantitative and qualitative research approaches
• Identify ethical issues in social research
• Formulate a testable hypothesis and select measures
• Conduct a short content analysis
• Design a simple field-research project
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the course, students will be able to:
• Explain how social structures and culture shape behavior and outcomes
• Compare research methods for a defined sociological question
• Design an ethical study with a testable hypothesis and appropriate evidence
Students leave with a content analysis, a research design, and a stronger method for examining claims about society.
Why Sociology Skills Matter
Sociology helps students see how individual outcomes relate to norms, groups, organizations, and historical conditions. That broader lens can reveal patterns that are difficult to notice when every issue is treated as a matter of personal choice alone.
Research methods make the analysis accountable. Students learn to formulate testable questions, select measures, consider ethics, and distinguish reliable evidence from an interesting anecdote. These skills support academic research, policy analysis, journalism, public health, and informed civic discussion. Together, the work reinforces careful reasoning and the ability to revise a conclusion when new evidence changes the picture.
Who Should Attend?
This course is for high school students who have completed 9th, 10th, 11th, or 12th grade and are interested in society, culture, identity, institutions, inequality, research, or social change. It fits students who want to examine how individual experiences connect with larger patterns.
Participants should be ready to discuss complex topics respectfully, read research, compare methods, and question assumptions. Students who enjoy observing patterns and asking how evidence was gathered will be a strong fit. Success depends on careful preparation, steady participation, and respect for classmates’ perspectives throughout the course.
Recommended by More Than 4 out of 5 Students
Based on students surveyed in 2026 about Summer Discovery High School programs at Georgetown University campus.
Why Georgetown?
Summer Discovery at Georgetown gives high-school students the opportunity to explore an academic interest while experiencing campus life in Washington, D.C. Its historic campus and surrounding neighborhood sit near embassies, institutions, and organizations that shape national and international conversations, giving the summer a distinctive sense of place.
Summer Discovery students learn alongside peers with similar interests, navigate a new environment, and gain independence through everyday choices and responsibilities. Time outside class helps students experience the broader rhythm of university life while considering what subjects, communities, and possible directions feel right for them. For families, Summer Discovery offers a combination of substantive academic exploration, personal growth, and clearer insight into what a student may want to study or pursue next.
The program is developed by Georgetown in partnership with Summer Discovery.
Summer Discovery Certificate of Completion
After successfully finishing this course, you will be awarded a certification completion for your accomplishment.
*This is a preview, not what you will receive