<P> Various other early social historians and economists have gained recognition as classical sociologists, including Robert Michels (1876--1936), Alexis de Tocqueville (1805--1859), Vilfredo Pareto (1848--1923) and Thorstein Veblen (1857--1926). The classical sociological texts broadly differ from political philosophy in the attempt to remain scientific, systematic, structural, or dialectical, rather than purely moral, normative or subjective . The new class relations associated with the development of Capitalism are also key, further distinguishing sociological texts from the political philosophy of the Renaissance and Enlightenment eras . </P> <P> Formal institutionalization of sociology as an academic discipline began when Emile Durkheim founded the first French department of sociology at the University of Bordeaux in 1895 . In 1896, he established the journal L'Année Sociologique . </P> <P> A course entitled "sociology" was taught for the first time in the United States in 1875 by William Graham Sumner, drawing upon the thought of Comte and Herbert Spencer rather than the work of Durkheim . In 1890, the oldest continuing sociology course in the United States began at the University of Kansas, lectured by Frank Blackmar . The Department of History and Sociology at the University of Kansas was established in 1891 and the first full - fledged independent university department of sociology was established in 1892 at the University of Chicago by Albion W. Small (1854--1926), who in 1895 founded the American Journal of Sociology . American sociology arose on a broadly independent trajectory to European sociology . George Herbert Mead and Charles H. Cooley were influential in the development of symbolic interactionism and social psychology at the University of Chicago, while Lester Ward emphasized the central importance of the scientific method with the publication of Dynamic Sociology in 1883 . </P> <P> The University of Chicago developed the major sociologists at the time . It brought them together, and even gave them a hub and a network to link all the leading sociologists . In 1925, a third of all sociology graduate students attended the University of Chicago . Chicago was very good at not isolating their students from other schools . They encouraged them to blend with other sociologists, and to not spend more time in the class room than studying the society around them . This would teach them real life application of the classroom teachings . The first teachings at the University of Chicago were focused on the social problems that the world had been dealt . At this time, academia was not concerned with theory; especially not to the point that academia is today . Many people were still hesitant of sociology at this time, especially with the recent controversial theories of Weber and Marx . The University of Chicago decided to go into an entirely different direction and their sociology department directed their attention to the individual and promoted equal rights . Their concentration was small groups and discoveries of the individual's relationship to society . The program combined with other departments to offer students well - rounded studies requiring courses in hegemony, economics, psychology, multiple social sciences and political science . Albion Small was the head of the sociology program at the University of Chicago . He played a key role in bringing German sociological advancements directly into American academic sociology . Small also created the American Journal of Sociology . Robert Park and Ernest Burgess refined the program's methods, guidelines, and checkpoints . This made the findings more standardized, concise and easier to comprehend . The pair even wrote the sociology program's textbook for a reference and get all students on the same page more effectively . Many remarkable sociologists such as George Hebert Mead, W.E. Du Bois, Robert Park, Charles S. Johnson, William Ogburn, Hebert Blumer and many others have significant ties to the University of Chicago . </P>

The first department of sociology in the united states was established at